Missionaries John Mark and Judy Hatcher have been serving the Lord in Tournefeuille, France since 1999. They define their ministry as “disciple-making.”

June 1, 2016

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I have wept a lot in the last couple of weeks. No, I am not sad, I am rejoicing. Rarely do I cry when I am sad, but when I am overwhelmed with joy the tears flow. Sunday we had a baptismal service and four young ladies were baptized. Two of these are our youngest grandchildren who live here in France. Camille is 12 years old and Emily is 10 years old. They had both trusted Christ some time ago. One of the others baptized is a college student who has come to church meetings with her family for several years as well as youth meetings. She now is a regular participant in Bible studies that Amanda has with college girls. I will tell you a bit more about the other girl.

Seven years ago I was praying for opportunities to become acquainted with people in our community in order to share the gospel with them. Judy noticed in the local paper that a choir was being formed. I inquired and decided that it would be a venue for meeting and witnessing to people. The only people that I recognized out of the 70 or so at the first practice was a couple that arrived shortly after me. They had just moved into a house about 100 feet from ours. We started going to practice together and I soon found out that he was reared in an atheist family and she had received catholic baptism as a child. They had a boy and girl about the age of our older grandchildren here.

We invited the children to come to the next Vacation Bible School we held. They had other plans for that week but the mother asked about the Sunday classes for children. Her daughter was interested in coming. The rest of the family has never come once on Sundays but the daughter has come regularly for about 6 years. Last year her mother told me that when her daughter first started coming she was afraid of dying but that this was no longer the case.

Two weeks ago, the mother and daughter stopped by because the daughter wanted to follow the Lord in baptism and the mother said that they would like for us to use their house for the service and baptize in their pool. There were over 50 people at the service last Sunday. The son of the hosting couple beamed the whole service and baptism live using “Skype” to both sets of grandparents. The paternal grandparents are both atheists. The message given by Philip was a clear presentation of Salvation by grace from Ephesians chapter 2. The parents were both greatly moved by the service and baptisms. Pray with us for the salvation of this entire family.

I am including pictures taken by a young married man who has been coming for about five years. He was orphaned early in life. I think he was 11 when his mother died and 13 when his father died. They both professed to be atheists. He is the husband of one of our members and hardly ever misses on Sundays or the monthly men’s prayer breakfast. He has confidence that God opens doors that are good for them. Please pray for his salvation.

I am filled with joy as I see God at work in believers and touching the hearts of those who have not yet believed.

Rejoicing in Southern France,
John and Judy

John and Judy Hatcher
4, rue d’Aspin
31170 Tournefeuille, France
JMHatcher[at]aol.com

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