Missionary Update: John Mark & Judy Hatcher in France [December 2014]
Missionaries John Mark and Judy Hatcher have been serving the Lord in Tournefeuille, France since 1999. They define their ministry as “disciple-making.”
December 8, 2014
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Thank you for your faithful support and prayers. God is at work here in France and He is using you in the Great Work that He is doing. As you support us, we try to live here as children of the light walking circumspectly.
We were on schedule to start a new Bible study in the city of Pujaudran. This would have been our first Bible study in the department of Gers. Continental France is divided into 94 administrative departments. Each department is about the size of about 8 Kentucky counties. This would be the 3rd department where were have meetings. However, these plans are temporarily on hold. The wife in the couple who were to host these meetings in there home just gave birth 3 and ½ months early. The baby’s situation is touch and go. As you read this, please pray for this young couple, Darren and Eva, and their newborn child.
Youth in France November 2014
The Sunday meetings in Tournefeuille and the various weekday Bible studies are going well and we are encouraged by what we see. Believers are sharing the gospel with people that they know. This is how the kingdom of God works. Our Lord and Saviour uses those that He has redeemed to be light to those who are walking in darkness. This is happening on several fronts and we are delighted with each occurrence.
God has also continued to give us new contacts. This past Friday, Judy and I were able to visit, for the first time, a couple that is a few years older than us. They live less than a ten minute walk from us. We have set a time to meet them in our home this coming Friday. The husband in this couple was born in this town when it was about one tenth of the size it is today. We were introduced to this couple by a lady who just moved away from here after living here for two years. She met them in a laundromat. She is a believer that we met just before she moved out of our city. She is concerned about their spiritual condition. They need Christ. Did you follow this sequence? We are all important components in the ministry of reconciliation.
This contact is just one of several promising opportunities. Some of them have developed after years of friendship and prayer. To encourage us we have many different kinds of examples in the New Testament. The Philippian jailer trusted Christ after just a few hours of a cataclysmic encounter with Paul and Silas. Paul came to Christ after kicking against the goads of God for years.
So, be encouraged. God is at work. You are an eternal component in what He is doing.
Until next month,
John and Judy in France
4, rue d’Aspin
31170 Tournefeuille, France
JMHatcher[at]aol.com
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Missionary Update: The Tates in Kenya [December 2014]
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is indigenous church planting.
December 5, 2014
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This month’s update will be difficult to write, not because the subject matter is difficult to write about, but because I have so much to say in only a little bit of space. So, here it all comes, whether you’re ready for it or not. I will be as brief as possible.
Something extraordinary has happened in our family and in my heart, something I could never have anticipated nor previously wanted. The story probably goes back a few years. For five or six years now, Julie and Emily (especially Emily) have tried to get me to think about adopting a Kenyan child. There are 2.6 million orphans in Kenya, so the need for adopting families is very great. However, my response has always been, “NO! Absolutely not”. Emily would say, “I think you should think about it”. I would say “No!” Emily would say, “I think you should pray about it”. I would say, “I don’t need to”. Emily would say, “I think you should consider it”. I would say, “The conversation is over”. Ahem…have you ever noticed that God has a mysteriously, wonderful way of changing your heart?
Now, back up about 3 months ago. I was walking into a little dive of a restaurant in town where I go regularly to eat beans and rice for lunch. As I entered the opening into the “restaurant” where streamers hanged down from the lintel acting as a door, I looked down on the ground and saw a kitten that couldn’t have been a week old. It lay there in the dirt squirming and meowing, eyes shut tight, crying for its mother; I stood there looking at it. My heart went out to it because it was so weak and pathetic; I wondered how he got there, where his mother was, and why this innocent creature had to suffer so much. It was too little to take home as it would certainly have died in my care, thus, I left it there. I thought about it all day, continuing to wonder where his mother could have been. I returned for my beans and rice the next day and the kitten was gone. For the next three days the kitten kept coming into my mind. I wondered what happened to him, if he had lived or died, if his mother had returned or abandoned him. After the fourth day, a thought struck me so suddenly and severely that it set me back. I believed, even then, that the thought was from Almighty God. The thought from God went almost exactly like this: “Roger, for four days now you have been ultra-concerned about the kitten you saw suffering in the dirt. How could you be so concerned about this kitten when there are millions of people all around you that are made in my own image who are innocent and suffering and need help”? Can you see why this thought threw me for a loop? This thought, unspoken by me to anyone else refused to leave my mind, and I continued to ask God what it meant to me and what he wanted me to do.
Now, back up to seven weeks ago. I was sitting in my office doing some work and minding my own business when Julie called me. There was a baby, she said, that had been committed to a nearby children’s home. The baby was premature and needed care the children’s home was not able to provide her at that particular time. Julie asked me if we could take her in and care for her until she was a little stronger and the children’s home was in a better position to take her full time. I told Julie I would need to think about it. Within the hour I called her back and told her we could temporarily take the child if it would be beneficial to the child and the children’s home. The children’s home assured us it would be an answer to their prayer if we were able to take the child for a few weeks. The baby, Chloe, came to our house the next day.
The shock of her arrival overwhelmed me. She was definitely the most pathetic and weak thing I had ever seen, and my thoughts immediately went to the message of the kitten. She was already one month old, but she still weighed less than three pounds. She had been abandoned by her mother at the hospital and had been fed by a feeding tube at the hospital for a month. I don’t know if she had been held at all during that time period. I looked at her and wondered how she had even lived so long. She was gaunt, she had no meat or substance to her at all, her skin hung off of her. He arms and legs were skin and bones only, her fingers as thin as toothpicks. Later that night when I changed her diaper for the first time I wondered as I looked at her, “where is the rest of her”? She did not know how to suck from a bottle and we initially had to feed her from a syringe. Julie and I have raised three babies of our own but this one scared me to death. I wondered if she would live through the night or if she would die in our care. This was a very serious and legitimate thought. Well, she lived, and not only did she live but she very quickly began to respond to the love and care we gave her. She learned to suck, started to put on weight and would even occasionally open her eyes and look at us. She wasn’t exactly what you would call “cute” (Amy even said so verbally),but we thought this little girl made in God’s image was beautiful.
After we’d had Chloe for about two weeks I knew exactly what God wanted us to do. He clearly revealed to us that, just as he took us when we were weak, pathetic and helpless and loved us and decided to adopt us into his family, we should do the same with Chloe. However, I was resistant. I had plenty of excuses why I should not adopt her. I was too old. I didn’t have enough money. The Kenyan government won’t let us keep her. I should think about saving for my retirement someday. I was happy with my current family situation. I was glad to not have to change diapers and get up in the middle of the night, and so on. But God showed me that all the reasons to go ahead and adopt Chloe were good while all the reasons to not adopt Chloe were selfish. One by one he stripped away the excuses, and what was left was the realization that I loved her and I wanted to keep her. The last step was to verbalize this to Julie which I did the night of my 45th birthday. This was the decision she had already made in her heart and was just waiting for me to make as well. We wept tears of joy together and thanked God for this little blessing he had brought into our family.
Yes, we have made the decision to adopt Chloe! But there are many obstacles yet to hurdle before it will be legally finalized. One of the biggest hurdles is financial. Our research has found that it will cost about $5,000 to do a local, Kenya adoption (as opposed to a $25,000 international adoption). Right now we are about $5,000 short. If you feel led to help us financially in our adoption process we would greatly appreciate your assistance. You can send any financial assistance to the BFM treasurer and label it “Chloe adoption” (or click here to make a one-time donation securely online and put “Chloe adoption” in the Memo field). The biggest obstacle, however, will be the Kenyan government. I could write a couple of pages more just on this subject alone. Let it suffice to say that legally adopting Chloe is not a sure thing based on the current and past governments. But we know God wants us to pursue this and we are trusting God with the final results. Please pray with us, beloved. Pray that God would open all the doors for us to adopt Chloe into our family. Pray that God would bless our little girl and that someday her name would officially be Chloe Thamani Nasimiyu Tate (Chloe is the name given her by the children’s home staff, Thamani is the Swahili word for “precious”, Nasimiyu is the last name her mother gave for herself at the hospital).
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!
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Missionary Update: The Radfords in Kenya [December 2014]
Nathan and Carrie Radford serve the Lord in Kitale, Kenya. Their main ministries include indigenous church planting, a prison ministry, and a hospital ministry for mothers with premature babies.
December 3, 2014
Dear praying friends,
It is now the end of 2014 and we are rapidly approaching 2015. We hope and pray that each of you had a great 2014 and will have an upcoming year of 2015 that is filled with all the joys of serving the Lord and trusting in His promises each step of the way. The future can be somewhat of a challenge to us, as we live day by day, but what a joy to know that the Lord will not leave us, forsake us, and will be with us through all our challenges. I love the quote that says “I do not know what the future holds, but I know Who holds the future.”
As I reflect on this past year, it was certainly filled with challenges for our family. Our time of furlough in America was very nice, and as always, it was very busy and filled with much traveling. Upon our return back to Africa, Kenya specifically, there were other challenges, such as getting used to the way of life here, getting our family adjusted back, and getting our daughter McKenna started in homeschooling. These were just some of the changes from this past year.
The hospital ministry is continuing along well. My wife comes back after going and many weeks there are more babies and mothers than the supplies she took for the ministry! We have to regularly order supplies for this ministry as there are many mothers and needy babies. We need to remember to have a sensitive to heart to those who are in need. Psalm 41:1 says “Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.” Please pray for my wife and all the babies there who are in need. Please pray also for the Gospel tracts that are given to the mothers, that the mothers would read them and be saved. We desire to be faithful and trust the Lord with the results.
The church planting ministry is continuing along, but there are definite challenges. One of the main challenges is to find men who will go out and be independent of us. Men that will rely wholly on the Lord and His provisions for them. Men that will be faithful to the Word and not change the truth of it. Men that will realize their responsibilities before God, their friends, and their families, and be faithful to them. These are the kind of men that we are looking for, and trusting God to provide in His time and plan. It is better to be patient and wait on the Lord than trying to rush ahead. Lamentations 3:25 says “The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.” We trust the Lord through all of these challenges, and know He will be faithful through it all. We appreciate your prayers, that the Lord would bring the right men to train in His timing.
In family news, it has been a good year, and a year of growth for our two daughters, McKenna and Camille. They have had to learn to get along, apologize to each other, and love each other through all the challenges of growing up. They both have a sensitive spirit and it is a joy to be their parents. McKenna has started homeschooling this year, and seems to be enjoying it. It takes much preparation for my wife, but she is trained in education and is enjoying this new role as schoolteacher. We thank the Lord that there is a family nearby with children around the age of our daughters that they can play with. This is a big answer to prayer, but we continue to pray for other missionary families to come who would have children to play with our children. Believe it or not, this is a major challenge for missionaries, to have friends for their children to play with. It is easy for the needs of children to be overlooked and unchecked, and I am mentioning this to ask you to pray not only for our daughters, but the children of missionaries around the world, as they have needs as well. God has been answering prayer for this, and we continue to pray.
We wish each of you a great 2015. May we each be faithful to serve, wherever the Lord has us. May we be fervent in our service, and faithful in our lives. May we continue to seek His will, pray, and have the spirit of service, even when it is difficult or challenging. Have a great 2015 and we will keep you updated.
Thanks again so much for all you do and your heart for missions in East Africa.
Serving in Kenya,
P.O. Box 4150
Kitale, Kenya
East Africa, 30200
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Missionary Update: Odali & Kathy Barros in Brazil [November 2014]
Odali and Kathy Barros served the Lord in Sao Paulo, Brazil together from 1987-2013. In late 2013, they transitioned to Manaus in Northern Brazil to start sharing the Gospel and planting churches in villages along the river.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings! Hope all of you are doing well. We are doing great and all are healthy. God has been so good to us. I just had my check up done and all is well. The boys and Kathy are doing well also.
The work is Ubim continues doing well. The children are faithful and are bringing others. The Adults are slower. The Assembly of God and Adventist churches are very strong in this community. Pray that God will open the doors so we can reach the adults and that through the children we can reach their parents.
We visited a community called Mutirão. It is about 30 minutes from where we live. We have been blessed with a lot to build a church. We went there last Sunday with my brother who knew where the lot was. We have made plans to get started. As we work on building we will look for a place that we can use to get started. They used to have services there so we are hoping to come across some of the people that used to come. There are so many little country roads around were we live. There is lots of work to do.
The work in Garca is doing well. One of the boys who lived with us, now a married man and a father, takes care of Alpha and Omega. Our son Titus is back there helping at the home and in the church. There are several that live there. Some of those who lived there when it was a children’s home and are now married and live there with their spouses. They are doing well. They had a special day for children and are now preparing for a Christmas special. Titus likes to visit the old people from the church. He goes to visit them and spends some time with them. They enjoy his visits.
We want to thank all of you that have been faithful through out this whole year, especially with your prayers and also with your support. Your prayers are a vital part of our ministry. May God bless each one of you.
Odali and Kathy
Odali and Kathy
Titus, Jonas and Gabriel
Odali & Kathy Barros
Caixa Postal 1
Iranduba, Amazonas 69.415.000
Brasil, S.A.
odali_kathy[at]hotmail.com
Blog
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Missionary Update: Jud & Raquel Hatcher in Brazil [November 2014]
Jud and Raquel Hatcher serve the Lord in Manaus, Brazil. They are part of the “SeedFactory” church planting initiative, which is a movement to plant churches in all 26 Brazilian capitals. Since 2006, 43 churches have been started in 5 states.
Dear friends,
Discover how the Lord has blessed our ministry and how you can better pray for us. Continue reading to learn about our special children’s Evangelist event, church health and growth, evangelist luncheon’s, breakfast mentoring, pastor’s gathering, our preaching festival and the romantic couple’s night.
Children’s Day
This month we had a big Evangelist blowout on Children’s Day (a national commemorative day) with over two hundred people in attendance. The church mobilized through planning and giving. We had lots of games, Bible stories, theater, puppets and a toy for every child.
Church Plant Health
As the church has grown, so has our outreach and discipleship. We have decisions almost every week. Discipleship is a regular necessity. On March 2015, our church plant celebrates its third anniversary. Next year we plan to start our Bible & Leadership Training Institute and our first full time pastor will come on staff.
Evangelistic Luncheons
The Lord has blessed me with many opportunities to personally share the Gospel to several folks. A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of witnessing to a couple. The wife is the muse to one of the famous local carnival schools. Both listened attentively and I believe will surrender to Jesus soon.
Breakfast Mentoring
On a regular basis, you will find me at a bakery for early morning breakfast with the men of our church. A lot of mentoring, coaching and counseling happens over a couple of coffee and hot bread.
Pastors’ Gathering
Our monthly pastor’s gathering is always a success. Since our church meets at a restaurant and we have a good partnership with the owner, we have delicious food for a great price. After dinner, we worship together in song and our night’s guest speaker preaches for 45 minutes. It is always hard to leave as everyone lingers around chatting. The fellowship is tremendous.
Preaching Festival
Over the last several weeks, we have had a preaching festival. Every Sunday, three or four of our men preach for 7 minutes. We are currently on a series titled “The Relationships of Jesus”, and the messages are about a person who lived during Jesus’ time and how the Savior interacted with them personally. In all, sixteen men have participated in this exciting preaching festival.
Couple’s Dinner
This month we had our first “Couples Only” gathering. The night had a Parisian theme, with a French dinner served in five courses, romantic French music, four love songs performed by some of our couples and a special message.
Thank you for loving, praying and supporting us. We are grateful.
Jud Hatcher
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FaithWORKS Report [November 2014]
PRAY AND PRAISE in this issue…
- ODALI AND KATHY BARROS— PRAISE GOD for the faithful children in Ubim! PRAY that God will open doors through these children so they can reach the adults. PRAISE GOD for the opportunities opening in Mutirão. PRAISE GOD for continuing to bless His work in Garca and using their son Titus there.
- MIKE AND BEVERLY CREIGLOW—PRAISE GOD for new buildings going up and new sound systems being donated and installed. PRAY for the trials and challenges they are facing in so many areas, that God would give wisdom, grace, and strength.
- JOHN AND ALTA HATCHER—PRAISE GOD for the sweetness of fellowship. PRAY for their son David as he takes care of their house and cars left in Brazil. PRAISE GOD for the opportunity to travel to the Thanksgiving Conference in Michigan!
- JOHN MARK AND JUDY HATCHER—PRAISE GOD for first-time attendees at their VBS. PRAY as they continue to reach children and parents through English Classes and youth meetings. PRAISE GOD for new friendships and reconnections and PRAY they will continue to effectively use opportunities God opens.
- JUDSON AND RAQUEL HATCHER—PRAISE GOD for a special children’s evangelistic event! PRAY for Jud as he mentors men over breakfast each week and fosters fellowship among pastors. PRAISE GOD for continued church health and growth!
- PAUL AND WANDA HATCHER—PRAISE GOD for time spent seeing family and checking on the churches in north and northeastern Brazil! PRAY for Pastor Ivanildo Ross as he encourages and helps the church plants. PRAY for the church plants as they face the challenges of incorporating.
- AJ AND BARBARA HENSLEY—PRAISE GOD for the couple who recently got married and PRAY for them as they continue to obey God! PRAISE GOD for saving 10 more young men through the prison ministry! PRAISE GOD for solid foundation of biblical truths being laid in the seminary and PRAY as they seek to expand to other cities. PRAY for their vehicles.
- NATHAN AND CARRIE RADFORD—PRAY for them as the holiday season nears and homesickness intensifies. PRAISE GOD for the group of men at the Annex Prison who are desiring to grow spiritually and are serious in their study of God’s Word. PRAY as he and Roger Tate continue to train and teach church planting leaders.
- ROGER AND JULIE TATE—PRAISE GOD for the opportunity to share Christ with the Pokot tribe! 5 hour church services, nightly worship gatherings, and several trusting Christ as their Savior during their hut-to-hut evangelism tour! PRAY for Roger as he seeks how God would have him minister to the people in Pokot.
- BOBBY AND CHARLENE WACASER—PRAY for their young missionary Alysson who is preparing to move for a two-year mission project. PRAISE GOD for using Alek Rossi to draw young people closer to Christ and PRAY for him as he will be ordained soon. PRAY for the Projeto Vida teams as they wrap up their school ministries for the year. PRAISE GOD for helping them get all their buses back in operation.
Block these dates and plan to attend…
2015 BFM WINTER CONFERENCE
January 18-21 | Sunday-Wednesday
PARK RIDGE BAPTIST CHURCH
Gotha FL [Orlando-area]
“SERVICE”
“With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men…” Ephesians 6.7
For more details, contact Pastor Ben Glover
BentonGlover[at]aol.com | 407.719.9861
Please be planning to give a generous Thanksgiving Offering to help us supply our missionaries’ needs. We must have a generous Thanksgiving Offering to finance the commitments and benefits we give our missionaries over the coming year.
Ask the Lord how generously He wants you to give. And, ask Him also to supply for you the offering He wants you to give.
2 Corinthians 9.8
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you;
that you, always having all sufficiency in all things,
may have an abundance for every good work.
When Paul was on his way to visit the saints at Rome, he asked them to be prepared to help him financially so he could continue taking the Gospel on his journeys beyond them.
Romans 15.24
‘Whenever I journey to Spain, I shall come to you.
For I hope to see you on my journey,
and to be helped on my way there by you,
if first I may enjoy your company for a while.”
In other words, “When I come to Rome, please help me with your offerings to continue my missionary ministry on beyond you!”
We are pleading with you on behalf of our missionaries to please help them continue their missionary ministries on through 2015 with the Thanksgiving Offerings you will give during this giving season. Will you help us help them on their way?
2015 THANKSGIVING OFFERING
Philippians 4.19
And my God shall supply all your need
according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Because, at the moment of this writing [18 November], we have already exhausted last year’s Thanksgiving Offering. What that means is, we are out of funds of any kind to carry us through December 2014 and on through 2015.
We will necessarily begin using Thanksgiving Offerings received this month – November – to finance our missionaries’ support services. Under ordinary circumstances, we would not begin using the next year’s Thanksgiving Offering until the beginning of the new year…in this case, 2015. If we have any Thanksgiving Offering funds left over at the end of the calendar year, those funds are also carried over to supply our missionaries’ needs for the coming year.
Looking at this situation just purely from a human perspective, this does not bode well for prospects of being able to fulfill the commitments and benefits we have committed to give our missionaries “as the Lord provides.”
Matthew 6.8
…for your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
So, let me appeal to you on behalf of our missionaries – with all the wisdom and passion God will grant me – to respond to their needs with as generous a Thanksgiving Offering as God will enable you to give.
2 Corinthians 9.8
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you;
that you, always having all sufficiency in all things,
may have an abundance for every good work…
Last year’s total Thanksgiving Offering was $49,058.41. It was given over six months, but I assure you, that’s OK! Your Thanksgiving Offering doesn’t have to be given during November! In fact, it will remain open for as long as you need it to be open!
THE THANKSGIVING OFFERING SUPPLIES OUR MISSIONARIES’ NEEDS THAT ARE NOT SUPPLIED FROM YOUR MONTHLY GENERAL FUND OFFERINGS.
Monthly General Fund Offerings
I know we have produced an attractive and informative brochure to explain how our Monthly General Fund Offering works. It is entitled “Caring for those who care for the world” and is available in PDF form on our website and also by requesting paper copies from the Executive Secretary. But, please allow me here to reiterate how we use your Monthly General Fund Offerings. The Essential Maintenance Transactions [EMT] that provide for their most basic living and ministry expenses are supplied from your Monthly General Fund Offerings. They include salary, housing and ministry expense allowances, hospitalization premiums, and Mission Sheets printing and distribution.
These total EMT disbursements add up to $43,300.54 every month. Only one month last year [January 2014] was the Monthly General Fund Offering sufficient to cover these disbursements. We supplied the following monthly deficits from February-March from the surplus received in January.
Extraordinary Estate Gift
Then, in April, we supplied the deficit in the Monthly General Fund from the remaining portion of the extraordinary estate gift Ernest and Helen Palmer had left BFM in 2013.
Founders Day Offerings
By that time, you were giving your Founders Day Offerings from June through September. The special contributions you made to the Founders Day Offering [in addition to your faithful regular giving to the Monthly General Fund] supplied our missionaries’ Essential Maintenance Transactions over the next four months.
I repeat, all of these every-month basic living and ministry expenses are not provided for from the Thanksgiving Offering; they are supplied from the Monthly General Fund Offerings.
And, in the event that the Monthly General Fund Offerings don’t cover those Essential Maintenance Transactions – and we don’t have other designated funds to use – then we must reduce those standard commitments we have made to the missionaries that month by the amount of the shortage of funds. We had to enact that undesirable necessity last month – November 2014. [Please read the accompanying article: “OUR MISSIONARIES’ MONTHLY DEPOSITS REDUCED IN NOVEMBER”]
BUT – THESE DISBURSEMENTS ARE NOT SUPPLIED FROM YOUR THANKSGIVING OFFERINGS. Let’s get back to the Thanksgiving Offering now. The Thanksgiving Offering supplies all the commitments and benefits we provide to our missionaries throughout the year in addition to the Essential Maintenance Transactions we have noted above.
Those benefits include:
- furlough transportation expenses,
- children’s education allowances,
- hospitalization deductible reimbursements,
- postage to mail the Mission Sheets,
- maintaining the Missionary Furlough Home in Lexington KY,
- and all the professional services and supplies that are required to maintain all the activities that go on here in the States to keep their ministries going.
And, let me note here that in 2014, [1] we didn’t have the funds to disburse the Children’s Education Allowance benefit, and [2] we had missionaries who didn’t request reimbursement for their furlough transportation back to the States because they knew we didn’t have the funds.
AND SO – WE NEED THE THANKSGIVING OFFERING TO SUPPLY ALL THE OTHER COMMITMENTS, BENEFITS, AND SERVICES THAT ARE NOT SUPPLIED BY OUR MONTHLY GENERAL FUND OFFERINGS. I repeat, last year’s $49,058.41 did not supply all the benefits we would have given during the year if we had received a larger Thanksgiving Offering – and what we did receive is now exhausted before the end of the year.
Like Paul in 2 Corinthians 9, we are praying to God supply our needs with the means to give a generous offering – and also that He will plant and infuse the Grace into our hearts to give us the purpose, the willingness, and the joy to sow and reap bountifully [verses 6-8].
That is, after all, the way God Himself gives – and the way Christ gave Himself.
2 Corinthians 9.15
Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable Gift.
OUR MISSIONARIES’ MONTHLY DEPOSITS REDUCED IN NOVEMBER
First of all, we want to thank each and every one of you who contributes to the monthly General Fund offerings. You are the ones who supply our missionaries’ essential needs each month to the degree we can fulfill them.
If you are not contributing to the monthly General Fund offerings, please, may we encourage you for the sake of our missionaries’ essential support to begin doing so – as generously as you can?
During the month of November, it was necessary to reduce the modest amounts we have committed to our missionaries each month for their essential maintenance. The reason we had to do this is because our monthly General Fund support offerings were not sufficient to cover the full amounts of the modest disbursements we make to them each month for their salary and expense allowances. So, when the General Fund offerings are not sufficient to cover those commitments, then we must reduce the amounts of the disbursements we deposit to each of their accounts.
So, the effect was – we had to proportionately reduce the amounts we deposited in each missionary’s account for their salary and housing/ministry expense allowances. Our missionaries need and depend upon these modest commitments we make to their essential support needs each month – just like every one of us depends upon our basic essential income coming in regularly each month.
Please help us keep their monthly essential support supplied!
KROGER COMMUNITY REWARDS
All of you do not have Kroger stores in your locality – so this won’t apply to every reader. And if you do, not all of you shop at Kroger. But, if you do, you most likely have a Kroger Plus card to scan when you make your purchases to take advantage of in-store discounts and fuel discount points.
Some of you have also been participating in the Kroger reloadable gift card program. By depositing your money on the reloadable card and using the card to make your purchases, BFM received a ‘commission’ from those purchases.
Kroger has discontinued the use of the reloadable gift card. However, they have now made it easier to continue the benefit to your favorite Non-Profit Organization [BFM]. No extra steps. Simply register your Kroger Plus card online and choose BFM as your Non-Profit Organization. Then, use your Kroger Plus card as you always do and Kroger will direct the benefits to BFM.
We have posted all the instructions you need here. If you’re going to shop at Kroger anyway – and still get all the present benefits of using your Kroger Plus card – then we encourage you to add BFM as a beneficiary also.
(You can also download a printable Word document of the instructions with pictures here. Or a PDF here.)
BFM BROCHURES
We now have TWO very attractive and informative professionally-produced brochures. We want you to help us get these promotional messages into the hands of anyone and everyone who is interested in the mission work the Lord is accomplishing through the missionaries who are supported by your offerings through BFM.
(1) The first of these brochures is one that will introduce you to BFM and inform you about the basic principles by which BFM functions. (click here to view)
(2) The second brochure is just now ‘hot off the press.’ This one is entitled “Caring for those who care for the world,” and is designed to inform and explain just how essential the monthly General Fund is to the daily living and ministry needs of our missionaries. (click here to view)
Both of them are full-color, either 6 or 8 pages 8 ½ x 11 format, pictorial, and informative. Will you please help us distribute these brochures as widely as you can?
If you will send your name and mailing address to:
Dave Parks, 3985 Boston Road, Lexington KY 40514
email: daveparks[at]twc.com | phone: 859.223.8374 –
and tell us how many sets of these brochures you want – we will get them back to you by return shipping.
For now, you can access an electronic flip-through version of the new brochure by going to our website and clicking on the brochure cover.
Again, please serve as ambassadors for your missionaries by helping us get either single-copy sets to interested persons or bundles to distribute in our churches. The brochures will ‘speak for themselves’ – for our missionaries.
MISSIONARIES ON FURLOUGH
Please note the new address and phone numbers for John and Alta Hatcher and Paul and Wanda Hatcher. Their address is: 15905 Mercott Court, Clermont FL 34714. Their home telephone number is: 229-529-8497. John & Alta’s email address is: jhatcher[at]uol.com.br.
Paul and Wanda’s cell number is: 239-227-6551 and their email address is: rphatcher[at]gmail.com.
We encourage you to pray for them and correspond with them.
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Missionary Update: Mike & Beverly Creiglow in Brazil [November 2014]
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.
November 20, 2014
Dear Brethren,
Hello from under water Cruzeiro do Sul. We have had more rain in November than I can ever remember. The Tarauacá River is already out of its banks with hundreds of people driven from their homes. Even the Juruá River, which is much bigger, is almost to the top of the bank.
Speaking of under water and banks, let’s use the same words for different things. Brazil’s banks are making record amounts of money, but Brazil is “under water”. We are officially in a recession. Cruzeiro do Sul is really in trouble. Our inflation is always 3 times higher than the rest of the country. Last month our church was over $4,000.00 in the red in a budget of $20,000.00. We have 9 missionary families to support besides a few other staff members. Since my return to Brazil after a month’s vacation in the US, we have been able to recover much of the loss. We have 2 new missionaries to send though. I know many of you are going through much the same thing, so that will help you as you pray for us.
We are also having some tough times in our struggles with sin. The wife of one of our chapel pastors fell into adultery and she has not told him yet. One of our single missionaries has fallen into fornication with a lost friend who is now pregnant. We are dealing with other similar cases inside the home church. This has hit us as a wave. I could go on, but you get the picture.
Our missionary at Foz do Breu has decided to resign and become the associate pastor at Thaumaturgo. Pray for a replacement. This is a strategic, very important field right on the border with Peru. One of our Brazilian missionaries, José Maia, who we sent to Peru had his work visa cancelled and is in a huge battle to try to get a permanent visa.
Now, after all the gloom and doom, let me finish with some good news. This month I visited Cruzeirinho. They are growing steadily. They have moved their old wooden building up on the hillside and are building a new brick one. They already have the foundations, slab and some of the walls up. I started this building just before vacation. Porto Walter has finished their foundations and they are gearing up to pour the slab. I started this building program in late August. The work there is also growing. They have been caring for one of our congregations further up river at Vitória. They had been meeting in the school. They just put up a big wooden building and it is already under roof. I was supposed to raise the money for the roofing, but they did it on their own!
Last week we held a Family Workshop and couple’s retreat. At one stretch during those 5 days we had 48 hours of nonstop torrential rain. We still had good turnout. Besides the camp team, there were 42 couples at Salém (our camp).
Then a couple of weeks ago I presented and dedicated my youngest grandson at church. Devin is Andrew and Eline’s fourth child. He is 3 months old today.
Then to cap off the good news I got a call a few days ago from a brother in Rio Branco who decided to donate a brand new state of the art sound system to the church. He bought it at Brazil’s biggest technology fair in São Paulo. It is the most modern system in the world. He put the pile of boxes on a truck and sent a technician by plane to help us do the install. The tech, a half dozen of my guys and I took all day Friday and Saturday to tear out all of the old system and do a complete install from the ground up. I was skeptical about all they said it would do, but it works as billed!
Thanks for all of your prayers and support. Please take some extra time to pray for me as I deal with the huge problems and challenges we are facing. God bless you as much as He has us.
In Christ,
Mike and Beverly Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil 69980
mdcreig [at] hotmail.com
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Missionary Update: AJ & Barbara Hensley in Brazil [November 2014]
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.
Dear friends and family,
What a wonderful month it has been— yes there are problems that need solutions; yes there are needs that have to be met, but in all, God is so —so AWESOME!
The past two months we had the awesome privilege of doing another wedding. This one, for Barb and I, was somewhat special. This couple has been attending Church from the beginning of this new work. They have two beautiful girls and I had the privilege of baptizing one of these girls several months ago. To cut the story short, behind many hours of discipleship, counseling, and praying -the couple decided to get their life right with the Lord. After years of living together they decided to get MARRIED. How AWESOME is the Lord we serve. This is not an easy decision for most couples here in Brasil. Their wedding was beautiful, and now the rest of the story- they have asked to be baptized. They will need to have much prayer for them as they have chosen to obey the Lord in the two things in their lives. Satan will not be happy and try to destroy their relationship.
Other events that are helping to mark our Churches ministry:
1. The youth prison in our area. They house young men of 13 to 17 years of age. In the past two months we have had 10 more youth accept Christ as their Savior. What a field that is ripe for harvest. Would you like to come and be a part of this ministry, taking the gospel to these young men? On our last visit we were able to take Bibles to each of these young men. They are not allowed to have personal items in their cells but the one thing that they can have is a Bible. And thanks to many of you, we were able to purchase and deliver these Bibles this week. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
2. The Seminary. This ministry is helping to lay good foundations for the Churches that are to come. As a new Church start, we know the need for a good foundation for our Churches. And we know that this foundation is laid with Bible truths, so for the last year we have had two semesters of Seminary training. With this we have seen good results in respect to the spiritual walk of the members of our Church and this is a result of the training in the Seminary. Thanks to Gardenside Baptist Church and Pastor Derick in Lexington, Kentucky, who are sponsoring the Seminary and doing the teaching .
We are ready now to expand. Not only have there been classes in Caraguatatuba, there also were classes in Garca, Sao Paulo and Orlanda, Sao Paulo this year. In the three areas of classes this year we have had around 150 students and more than half are pastors. We see this as a great tool to reach our State and our Country, Brasil for the Lord. So we are expanding our vision of reaching more people for Christ. So maybe your question is “How do we reach more people for Christ?” behind a seminary. The answer is —Training pastors from various regions and sending them back to their Churches to train others.
This coming year we are planning 2 more semesters of seminary in 4 regions of Sao Paulo. The last of April and the first Week of May are the planned months for the first part of the year and then a fall semester hopefully in September. There will be an added city, the city of Sao Paulo, one of the largest cities in the world. It is over 54 miles across. This will add many new students to the Seminary. And these new students will spread the gospel even further and this is our goal for the Seminary.
The two cities outside of our city are both around 8 hours away from Caragua. So this means many hours of travel and much wear and tear on our vehicles. As you have heard in other letters our vehicles are old and giving us much trouble in repair work. But thanks to several Churches there in the States, we are being able to keep our heads above water in the payment of the repairs. Thanks to all who are helping.
We have had to sell our oldest vehicle as it was costing more to keep it running than it was worth. We have managed to purchase a semi-new vehicle with a loan from the States and are hoping to get many years of use out of this one. The bus continues to have problems but that is to be expected because of the age. But we will hold firm as the bus is a large part of our ministry. We bring many children to Church with this bus. So pray for our vehicles as the roads are better than they used to be but they remain the worst enemy.
Through it all, God is AWESOME!! We may have problems but we know that we serve an AWESOME God. With your prayers and financial help we can be successful.
Keep us in your prayers and THANKS one more time for your continued financial help.
We are gearing up for the summer season here and are anxiously awaiting your visit next year. There are many things to do for the Lord here, so come on down and help us. Your bed is made and the light is on on the porch.
In His service,
Aj and Barb
Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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