Missionary Update: Bobby and Charlene Wacaser in Brazil [January 2015]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
Dear Friends,
We have just finished our first Missions Training Seminar for 2015! It was such an encouragement to see young men and women excited and willing to get better prepared to take the Word of Christ to the lost. After a week of classroom lessons, the volunteers went out into a couple of towns and cities to put into practice what they learned in class. We hope to hold 5 more such seminar/workshops throughout this new year.
I was away from the pulpit of our new church for 3 consecutive Sundays, but the reports from those who attended were great and that our newly ordained co-pastor, Alek, did a great job preaching and guiding the ministries in my absence. The Lord has truly shown that Alek is called to this ministry. His wife joyfully aids him and the church clearly loves them.
During this last month of ministry we had some amazingly diverse opportunities to witness the Lord at work around us, in us and through us.
Our young missionary, Alysson, who will be going to _________ in April shared with us how the Lord used him to lead a more mature man to rededicate his life to Christ this past month. The man has been a Christian for some years, but had backslidden into drinking and lax morality. His wife is a believer in Christ and never ceased to pray for him. After attending one of Alysson’s evangelistic meetings, the man repented of his sins and wanted to become active in evangelism himself. He started accompanying Alysson and his ministry partners on a daily basis and began to grow in his relationship with Christ. His wife and children now testify that he is definitely a changed man and they are living in harmony and walking with the Lord. We are trying to put together everything that Alysson will need to travel and spend two months in __________, which is a muslim nation. He understands that it may be very dangerous and that he could even be imprisoned or put to death for sharing the gospel there, but he feels certain that God is leading him in this direction. We are so thankful for young men with the boldness to trust the Lord with their complete surrender like this.
We have some exciting challenges coming up in the first weeks of this new year. We have begun the discussing the plans for making the first new church plant from our own relatively new church. My leadership team will begin to develop the practical steps necessary to pin-point the precise city and neighborhood for this new work in the next few weeks. I will keep you posted on those details as they develop.
God was great to meet our every need in 2014. We know that some of you were attentive to His prompting to contribute toward our ministry needs and we are grateful. We also know that some of you do not have the means to contribute financially, but have prayed for us faithfully and we are also thankful to God for answering those prayers. The plans we have for this new year are greater than we can accomplish on our own. We must be guided by and supplied by the Lord to do what honors Him. Continue to pray with and for us that we will constantly be attentive to His direction for what we do and our attitudes towards Him. He is our true delight and we want to please Him.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279-1
Sobrado 1, Bairro Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR Brasil
(813)481-7007
bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
Read more
Missionary Update: AJ & Barbara Hensley in Brazil [January 2015]
The Hensleys have spent nearly 15 years serving in Brazil. They run a vocational school and orphanage in Caraguatatuba and have also established a church and mission points throughout the city.
Well, Miss Barb and I have had a wonderful week and month here in Caragua. December has been very active, especially with the children at church. We have enjoyed a wonderful Christmas program with the children. The children completed some wonderful practices and the church was amazed at how well the program went. Not only that, but the children all received some wonderful Christmas gifts as a result of several people and churches in the States helping us with their presents. We are planning many things this coming year. We hope that with your prayers and your financial support all of these programs will be a success.
Let me review some of the things that we have accomplished this year. We have had some wonderful times at the Indian village. We have constructed a playground there and delivered over 50 food baskets to them. They received the food baskets with grateful hearts. This is a very poor tribe and they need a lot of help.
Some the other things that we have been able to accomplish this year, we have had four seminary classes. There were over 150 pastors from four different cities in attendance. This is helping reach more Brazilians for Christ. Because when you teach Pastors they go back and teach their congregation. In this manner we are able to spread God’s word faster and more efficiently.
Our evangelism this year with another Baptist Church and with our church has just been totally AWESOME. We had over 200 people accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. We have done a lot of discipleship this year and according to our records we have over 768 hours with one-on-one discipleship. I think this is just truly AWESOME.
We have also started small groups in different homes. We think this is going to be a great resource for our church. At this moment we have seven that have been started. One of these seven is having a hard time getting people to attend but we realize that you cannot be successful in all fronts at all times. We know that the Lord is in control and He’s going to make successful where He wants us to be.
We’ve also had another great opportunity, we’ve been certified as police military chaplain. This is really going to open up a lot of other areas for our ministry. Pray for us in this area as this will open up all the hospitals, the prisons, and other areas that are state-run in our area. Speaking about prisons, we have been able to minister with the youth prison and the warden at this particular prison is especially open to to our church visiting the prison. Evangelism there at the prison, which includes a basketball camp and some games that we have made for them, has been a great success and opened the door for our ministry there at the prison. We have had success in the evangelism part of our ministry there. At the prison, we have seen 54 of the young men accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. We have been able to give to the prison from our church 75 Bibles.
January 4, 2015 we celebrated our two year anniversary of Igreja Batista Caragua. We now have 44 members baptized with around 7 to 10 people moving their letters. In regular attendance in the big church service which is Sunday nights, we have around 60 to 70 people regularly.
We’re also here in our particular area able to minister and work in the public school system. This is really an AWESOME blessing as this gives our church exposure to many young people who might not otherwise hear about Christ. We are able to give an invitation at the end of each presentation in these.
Something we’re going to need a lot of prayer warriors for this year is going to be our pastors conference in November. As I have mentioned before we had 175 in their last pastors conference. We’re going to be praying for 300 in this years pastors conference, just another AWESOME way to reach Brasil for Christ. Pray for this ministry and if you would like to help a Pastor attend just send your donation to BFM marked “Pastor’s Conference”.
Well I’m going to shut up for now, but what I would love to really leave with everyone is a prayer request. Pray for our ministry here in Brazil and for more opportunities for us to present the gospel.
Hopefully were finalizing the legal paperwork for the operation of the vocational school. This is been an ongoing I would say problem but it’s really more than a problem. Here there is so much legalism involved in the paperwork that it is unreal. So it looks as though it’s going to happen this year for us to legalize our vocational school, pray for this to happen and for God to give us wisdom in the running of the School.
We’re going to be home the second week or third week of January. We are planning to be there until the 13th of April. We are planning to renew fellowships with different churches and to give reports on what has been going on here in Brazil. If you would like us to come to your Church you can contact us at our e-mail address and we will see where we can fit yo into our schedule. Thank you so much for your time, your prayers, and your financial help over this year and all the years that you have supported us. Your prayers and your concern for us as we minister to the people of Brazil are greatly appreciated.
As always, we would like to invite you to come down and see what is going on here in Caraguatatuba. The bed is made and the food is on the stove. So COME ON DOWN!!!
In His service,
Aj and Barbara
Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
Read more
Missionary Update: The Creiglows in Brazil [January 2015]
Mike and Beverly Creiglow have served the Lord in Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil together since 1971. In addition to pastoring First Baptist of Cruzeiro do Sul, Mike builds his own boats and frequently travels up and down rivers to share the Gospel with those who have never heard.
January 13, 2015
Dear Brethren,
December was one crazy month. Every year the program that the church provides at Christmas time keeps growing and getting more complex. We manage to keep all the other programs running right up close to time for the presentations. This year we had one more night – six in all. We put out 4,000 less printed invitations. We had rain on 5 of the 6 nights, but the building was packed out every night. There was much more media coverage this year. It has become a fixture in Cruzeiro do Sul.
We don’t permit our members to be in the auditorium. They have to watch on a big screen on the third floor terrace of the annex. Many visitors ended up on the terrace, too! We also have many, many visitors from other Baptist churches and from other denominations. It would be nice if these folks would stay home and leave more room for lost visitors. There are hundreds that cannot get in and turn around and go home. We urgently need to do something to remedy that. It is in the works, but not in reach just yet. Please pray that we will be able to expand.
There were over 350 of our members involved in the program. There are 2 choirs, adult and children’s. There are all the actors and all the huge team that is back stage. We have black light and shadow presentations that help tell the story.
Every year my daughter Crissy creates an original story that goes back and forth between present and past to tell the story of Christ’s birth, life, death, burial and resurrection. We have to build an extension to our stage, extra screens, more curtains, a motorized rotating section on one end of the stage, special lighting, sound and all the props. Practice starts in the middle of the year. It is a lot of hard work. The thing is that we get the gospel to hundreds of folks who have never really heard. Now some of these are very religious folks (priests and nuns) and know the story of Christ’s birth, but they have never really heard the gospel. One year the governor was even present.
This year there were 7 people saved. All of the work and dedication is worthwhile.
The first services of 2015 have been really good. The building has been full for every service. There were 5 saved the first Sunday and 2 more last Sunday.
We are still working through some disciplinary problems, but God is blessing our efforts to get things cleaned up. Besides the professions of faith of the past 2 weeks, we have had members confessing sin. Some more of the recently saved have requested baptism. We also have more folks joining by letter. In fact, whole families are coming our way. Pray with us that we will be able to get things cleaned up and running as He wants it to be run, soon. I have had many sleepless and tearful nights of late. There has been a lot more fasting and praying. I need your prayers, too.
I have made some more visits to our works in the interior, but more about that at another time.
Thanks for all of your prayers and support. God bless you as much as He has us.
In Christ,
Mike Creiglow
Mike and Beverly Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil 69980
mdcreig [at] hotmail.com
Read more
2015 Winter Conference Schedule
“SERVICE TO THE LORD”
Ephesians 6:7 – “With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men.”
2015 Winter Missions Conference
January 18-21
Hosted by Park Ridge Baptist Church, Gotha, FL
Street Address | 3629 Crystal St. | Gotha, FL 34734
Mailing Address | P.O. Box 12 | Gotha, FL 34734
Pastor Benton Glover | 407.719.9861
Sunday, January 18
6:30 P.M. – Leroy Duncan – Missionary to Jamaica
Monday, January 19
5:00 P.M. – Supper
7:00 P.M. – Bob Jones – Evangelist/Missionary
Tuesday, January 20
8:30 A.M. – Continental Breakfast
10:00 A.M. – John Hatcher – BFM Missionary to Brazil
11:00 A.M. – Myron Jackson – Southside Baptist Church
12:00 Noon – Lunch
5:00 P.M. – Supper
7:00 P.M. – Dave Humphries – Pastor, Tabernacle Baptist Church; Mims, FL
8:00 P.M. – Walter Jones – Pastor, Warren Missionary Baptist Church; Warren, MI
Wednesday January 21
8:30 A.M. – Continental Breakfast
10:00 A.M. – George Sledd – Pastor, Jordan Baptist Church; Sanford, FL
11:00 A.M. – Mike Channell – Pastor, Bible Baptist Church; Plant City, FL
12:00 Noon – Lunch
5:00 P.M. – Supper
7:00 P.M. – Paul Hatcher – BFM Missionary to Brazil
———————————-
DIRECTIONS TO PARK RIDGE BAPTIST CHURCH:
GPS: 3629 Crystal St, Gotha, Florida 34734
MapQuest
FROM THE TURNPIKE:
Take exit 267B (Ocoee / Hwy 50). Go east on Hwy 50 approximately ½ mile to Blackwood Ave. (Health Central is on the corner). Turn right and go 3 blocks (block one is four lanes; blocks two and three are a single lane) to Crystal St. and turn left. The church is just ahead on the left.
FROM THE 408 EXPRESSWAY:
Take exit 1 (last exit before Turnpike) to Hwy 50. Turn left and go one block to Blackwood Ave. (Health Central is on the corner). Turn left and go 3 blocks (block one is four lanes; blocks two and three are a single lane) to Crystal St. and turn left. The church is just ahead on the left.
FROM INTERSTATE 4 (WEST OF ORLANDO):
Exit at US27 and go north to Hwy 50. Go east on Hwy 50 approximately ten miles to Blackwood Ave. (Health Central is on the corner). Turn right and go 3 blocks (block one is four lanes; blocks two and three are a single lane) to Crystal St. and turn left. The church is just ahead on the left.
FROM INTERSTATE 4 (EAST OF ORLANDO):
Exit at the 408 Expressway and go west. Take exit 1 (last exit before Turnpike) to Hwy 50. Turn left and go one block to Blackwood Ave. (Health Central is on the corner). Turn left and go 3 blocks (block one is four lanes; blocks two and three are a single lane) to Crystal St. and turn left. The church is just ahead on the left.
Read more
Mission Sheets: December 2014 [PDF Version]
Your December 2014 Mission Sheets are ready to be read! Get your advanced PDF copy at the link below.
BFM Mission Sheets – December 2014
Read more
Missionary Update: Paul & Wanda Hatcher in Brazil [January 2015]
Paul and Wanda Hatcher have been serving the Lord together in Brazil since 1974. Paul pastors Tabernacle Baptist Church in Manaus, Brazil. Their main ministry is church planting.
January 05, 2015
Dear Friends and Co-laborers,
Blessed be the one and only true God and father, our Lord Jesus Christ. The scripture says, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” “John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” It is reassuring to know our Heavenly father has “given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue”. The word is ever reminding us to: “Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us”. Yes, we can trust God.
The New Year is come. The days pass us by, but the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ remains the same. We are fully blessed by Him. How we are grateful for all His mercies and marvelous Grace. Our prayer is that each new day we will reflect more and more of His Love in us.
I preached for Pastor David Humphries, the morning worship hour at the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Mims, Florida on the second Sunday of December. I had a blessed time with the Church and fellowship with our brothers in Christ. That evening at Temple Baptist Church at Arcadia Florida, with Pastor Doug King, I had the opportunity to share about what God is doing in Brazil. I also preached at the Chapel Baptist Church, here in Clermont, Florida.
Pray for my trip to Brazil now in the month of January. I am looking forward to seeing our friends and brothers in Christ. Pray that we can accomplish all that is needful and that the gospel of Christ may ever increase.
We pray for you that your remembrance and knowledge of our Lord, the only true God, may abundantly increase in wisdom and discernment, that your trust and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ may be steadfast always, and that the love of his Holy Spirit may fill and overflow in your every word and action, with thanksgiving to God though Jesus Christ our only Lord and Life.
Love,
Paul and Wanda
Paul and Wanda Hatcher
rphatcher[at]gmail.com
15905 Mercott Court
Clermont, FL 34714
(239)227-6551
Click here to give.
Read more
Missionary Update: The Tates in Kenya [January 2015]
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is indigenous church planting.
January 6, 2015
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Ministry here is always three steps forward, two and nine tenths steps backwards. It is constantly up and then down, encouraging and then discouraging. I keep asking myself, “Are we doing things the right way? What are we doing wrong? What do we need to do differently?”. When something positive seems to happen, if we give it enough time it will all seem to fall apart. So, I take my cup of tea out to the stable out back of the house (it is literally a stable) and pray, asking God to show me what he wants me to do differently, asking him to give me wisdom and to guide my ministry here. I want only to do what he wants me to do and say what he wants me to say.
I look around at other missionaries’ ministries here in Kenya and I ask, “Why is their ministry doing so well? Why are so many people working with them, clamoring for their teaching and following all that they say? Then I look closely and I know the answer: It’s because those missionaries are paying rent for their pastors, giving away motorcycles, throwing big parties and goat roasts or other similar things. I suppose I could also have a big, thriving ministry if I allowed myself to go that route too. It’s just hard when I compare my own ministry with theirs, when I see my group of students start at a meager six and dwindle down to one after a few weeks. Or, when starting up a new group with the promise of six to ten new students and none of them show up. Why do men plead with me that they want to be trained, set up a date and a time to start, and then never show up? Wouldn’t it be easier to just say you are not interested? I guess you all probably face some very similar problems back in the States, don’t you? I remember doing ministry back in Ohio (seems like forever ago). I would receive many promises from people that they would come to church. I think I remember about 1 in 20 ever showing up (and that statistic is probably on the generous side). Back here in Kenya I have been trying to reach out evangelistically to some of the motorcycle taxi drivers. I drive up on my own motorcycle to a group of 8 to 10 drivers sitting around waiting for work and engage them in conversation. I invite them to an informal Basic Christianity course at our training center. I say, “Come at 3:00. That’s 20 minutes from now. Will you be coming”? All of them promise me they will come. Back at the training center I wait for them to show up. Can you guess how many come? If you guessed ZERO you would be correct. After waiting until 4:00 for anyone to arrive I leave and return to the group that promised they would come. I ask them why they didn’t come. They all stare off into the sky, cough and laugh, and say, “We’ll come tomorrow”.
Is my soul cast down? NO, NO, NO! We serve a great and mighty God. I am so thankful that He promises that His Word will not return to Him empty. Praise God that he loves me, that he loves you and that he loves the Kenyan people. We will keep trudging along, looking for the called and faithful, until God tells us to something different. Maybe next time one or two of those motorcycle taxi drivers will show up and learn about Jesus, their Lord and Savior.
In other news, Chloe is doing fantastically well. She is over ten pounds now and is healthy (except for some moderate to serious acid reflux). She is a joy to our hearts and lives. Thanks to all of you who have assisted us with your prayers on her behalf and your financial assistance in support of her adoption process. Blessings to you all.
Until next month, beloved.
May God’s peace and joy be with you.
For the glory of God in East Africa,
Roger & Julie Tate (and Emily, Amy, & Josiah)
rojuta[at]gmail.com
Visit their blog!
Read more
Missionary Update: John Mark & Judy Hatcher in France [January 2015]
Missionaries John Mark and Judy Hatcher have been serving the Lord in Tournefeuille, France since 1999. They define their ministry as “disciple-making.”
January 5, 2015
Dear Teammates,
We wish God’s richest blessings on each of you during the coming year. Yesterday evening we were looking through some family pictures with our granddaughters and their parents and one of the pictures was of my mother and father. It was taken on dad’s birthday many years ago. The cake made by my sister was inscribed in Portuguese with Psalm 65:11 – “Thou crownest the year with thy goodness.” How true this is for us this year.
Your faithful support is one of the blessings that we have received. It is a blessing to us as well as to those who hear the gospel or are helped in their Christian walk through our service here. We are thankful for the blessing of being able to shine the light of Christ in a country that is so dark. We are grateful that we do not have to do this in our strength. God opens doors. God gives contacts. God gives us the ability to communicate the Good News as the Holy Spirit empowers His Word through our mouths. How great is our privilege to be ambassadors for Christ.
Some moments are more difficult than others because we live in a fallen world where there is tribulation. Just a couple of weeks ago most of our time was spent helping a young couple whose baby died 6 days after an early birth. However, this couple knows the Lord and they have the hope of Christ in the middle of their sorrow. As we waited for the funeral service to start, I was able to witness to the wife’s distant cousin whom I had just met.
I am including a picture of the group that meets in Mazeres worshiping together. This group is quite an encouragement to us. We meet in the apartment of a single Christian lady who moved to this city for her library/museum job. She is truly a missionary in this area. During the week, she has two other Bible studies with ladies. She is one example of believers who have grown in the Lord and are truly disciples who are reaching others.
The group in Mazere worships together.
The group in Mazere worships together.
We are thrilled to see individuals of all ages, children, teens, men and women who attend meetings regularly who seem to be attentive to spiritual matters. It is our hope they will soon make public commitments to Christ.
Don’t give up praying for and seeking to share Christ with those that you know. We received the good news last month that our daughter’s father-in-law trusted Christ. He was led to the Lord by his son, our son-in-law. We have been praying for this friend since meeting him at our daughter Lydia’s wedding 10 years ago. “In due season we will reap if we faint not.”
Until next month,
John and Judy
4, rue d’Aspin
31170 Tournefeuille, France
JMHatcher[at]aol.com
Read more
