FaithWORKS Report [September 2014]
PRAY AND PRAISE in this issue…
- MIKE AND BEV CREIGLOW— PRAISE GOD for a time of fellowship, especially with Henry. PRAY for the people being saved in Bolivia in spite of persecution. PRAISE GOD for full Sunday evening services at First Baptist and in the chapels. PRAY for Idevaldo and his wife, the newest missionaries who will be sent to the field later this year.
- JOHN AND ALTA HATCHER—PRAISE GOD for His glorious Gospel He has given us the privilege of sharing with others. PRAY that you will be a faithful witness.
- JOHN MARK AND JUDY HATCHER—PRAISE GOD for the birth of grandchild #10! PRAY for committed first-generation leaders. PRAISE GOD for Philip and Amanda serving in France with them.
- PAUL AND WANDA HATCHER—PRAISE GOD for always providing. PRAISE GOD for working in the life of Francisco Santiago and for the 66th anniversary of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Manaus! Through this ministry, your giving and prayers, children, grandchildren, great children, and even great-great grandchildren churches have spread in more than half of the state of Brazil. PRAY as His work continues to spread.
- AJ AND BARBARA HENSLEY—PRAISE GOD for open doors to share the Gospel at a large new school! PRAISE GOD and PRAY for 52 young prisoners who put their faith & trust in Christ! PRAY that the Lord would open legal doors for vocational classes at the prison. PRAY for their upcoming “Mission Awareness” month. PRAY that the Lord would provide the finances for their blown motor.
- NATHAN AND CARRIE RADFORD—PRAISE GOD for Carrie’s permit for the hospital ministry being renewed! PRAISE GOD for answering prayers for safety. PRAY that the Lord will provide other children in Kitale who are their girls’ ages. PRAISE GOD for their new four-legged family member!
ROGER AND JULIE TATE—PRAISE GOD for a sweet time of worship in a tiny village at night. PRAY for the witch doctor’s village and for the Pokot Christians to be burdened to share the Gospel with their own people. PRAISE GOD for light in the darkness and PRAY that His Gospel will penetrate resistant hearts. - BOBBY AND CHARLENE WACASER—PRAISE GOD for His protection during an armed robbery. PRAY for the safety of new missionary Alysson, a new missionary they just sent out to the Tupi Indians, and that the Gospel would go forth with great success! PRAISE GOD for growing their church and for the volunteers who are helping work on the building.
CHANGED DATES FOR THANKSGIVING CONFERENCE
The New Hope Missionary Baptist Church will be hosting the Thanksgiving Conference again this November – but it will not be during Thanksgiving week this year. The new dates will be Monday-Wednesday – November 10, 11, 12. Please note and mark these new dates – plan to attend. [You can view the full schedule here.]
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 ye, always having all sufficiency in all things,
may abound to 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
‘Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you:
for I trust to see you in my journey,
and to be brought on my way thitherward by you,
if first I be somewhat filled with your company.”
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?
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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Kroger Community Rewards to Benefit BFM!
Baptist Faith Missions has been approved to earn funds through the Kroger Community Rewards Program! In the past, Kroger offered non-profit organizations the opportunity to hand out reloadable gift cards—that option is no longer operative and this new way is much easier. Once you’ve registered your Kroger Plus account to be associated with BFM, every time you shop at Kroger and use your Plus account, BFM will benefit.
Getting signed up is easy and takes just a few minutes! If you do not yet have a Kroger Plus card, they are available at the customer service desk at any Kroger.
Follow the steps below to register!
You can also download a printable Word document of these instructions with bigger pictures here. Or a PDF here.
Go to http://kroger.com/communityrewards.
- If you have already established an online Kroger account, click Sign In, skip to the bottom section of these instructions and start at the line below the red asterisks (***) where it says “The final step is to…”.
- If you have not yet created an online Kroger account, click Create an Account.
If you selected Create an Account, fill in all the required information and click Create Account at the bottom of the screen.
You will then receive a confirmation message that your account has been created.
Next, you’ll need to add your Kroger Plus Card to your online account.
Enter your Plus Card Number or the Alternate ID Number (usually the 10-digit phone number you provided on your Kroger Plus Card application) followed by your Last Name and click Save.
Once saved, click on My Account at the top right of the screen.
***If you have already registered your account, start here!***
The final step is to enroll your account to benefit BFM!
While signed into your online Kroger account, scroll all the way to the bottom of the Account Summary page where it says Community Rewards.
Click Enroll.
Enter the organization # for Baptist Faith Missions: 11982 and click Search. (You can also search by organization name.)
Click the radio button next to Baptist Faith Missions to make this your organization of choice.
Click Enroll.
You should then receive a confirmation message and are free to Sign Out.
Now, every time you swipe your registered Kroger Plus card or use your alternate ID when shopping at Kroger, each purchase will benefit Baptist Faith Missions!
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Missionary Update: Mike & Beverly Creiglow in Brazil [September 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.
September 12, 2014
Dear Brethren,
Hello from the…….States! Right now Bev and I are on a short vacation in the States. So I am writing this from the mission house in Lexington, Kentucky. But before this could happen we had a lot to happen in Brazil.
The week before we left home I had several short mission trips to make.
The river is very low and the summer (dry season) is in full swing. Manuel and I headed 100 miles up river to Porto Walter to visit our congregation there and start the construction of their new building. It took us 9 hours in one of our aluminum canoes. Not bad for as low as the river is. We started laying out the position of the foundations and doing some digging the same day and worked into the night. The next day we managed to get a backhoe to do the biggest job on the lot. We managed to square up and level everything to begin the actual foundations. I just talked to Hudson and Manuel and they are up there, as I write, working on the footers.
The same week we went across river to Miritizal to build the first truss for that new work. We had plenty of help from the members so it went pretty quickly. Just yesterday they sent me a picture of what they have done. They have the building under roof. This is the way I like to see things happen. I gave them a little help, instructed them on how to proceed and the task is finished while I rest up here in the US!
The weekend before leaving Cruzeiro do Sul I was able to visit our missionary Rivaldo at Nova Cintra. Most of the year I would go there by river, but in the dry season it can be reached by a narrow dirt road. They are in a brand new building and had over 200 people inside and almost that many that couldn’t get in. They are doing really great. One woman made a profession of faith on Saturday night.
On Tuesday, August 26th, Bev and I went to Manaus for our conference at Nova Igreja Batista. David Hatcher is pastor and has done a super job with this training/fellowship conference that happens every 2 years. There were pastors and leaders from 13 states, 5 countries and 39 different cities. We had over 30 from our home town. Unfortunately for me I took the flu along for the ride. I was able to go to the opening banquet and the last service. By Saturday night I was able to preach. There were over 3000 present. Bev and I went from church straight to the airport to catch our flight to the States.
Thanks for all of your prayers and support. 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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Mission Sheets: August 2014 [PDF version]
Your August 2014 Mission Sheets are hot off the press and ready to be read! Get your advanced PDF copy at the link below.
BFM Mission Sheets August 2014
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Missionary Update: AJ & Barbara Hensley in Brazil [September 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,
This month has been a very busy one. Barb has been in the States, and this has been our Missionary Emphasis month, and we are adding more small group meetings to the schedule. Just AWESOME! Along with many blessings came more car troubles. But thanks to God, these were resolved with a head job on the motor – this cost only half what it would have cost to overhaul the entire motor. I am trying to look at the bright side. So now I do not have a pick up truck, I sold mine to lessen our transportation costs. I bought another used car with less age on it. It is just 4 years old. Please continue to pray for our vehicles as they are necessary to the mission work here.
Enough about cars, on to the next problem. On the Sunday night that the Missionary to the Jews here in Sao Paulo was to speak the entire sound system blew. But where there is a will, there is a way. We used the guitar equipment for sound. God blessed with two people rededicating their lives to Christ. AWESOME.
Speakers/sound equipment, with somewhat unstable energy, is hard to keep functioning. But with the help of some friends with lots of electrical experience and a background in small electronics and sound equipment, we now have a speaker working.
But all of our mics died! However, the blessing here is, Barbara was in the States and was able to talk to some of the Pastors there, and she brought back some used microphones to replace the blown ones. Thank you Churches that contributed.
As you can see we have a few needs not just wants. We need new speakers, the old ones are held together with bailing wire and chewing gum. Some Sundays they work well and some days they just buzz. The mics are working well, but we have a big worship group and we need more. Please pray with us about these needs. We are treading water with our old equipment until we can get new. I guess it sounds like we have been overwhelmed with problems these past few months, BUT we know that GOD is in control and we know the end of the story.
Wednesday prayer and Bible study has been absolutely AWESOME! We have been having more in attendance on Wednesday night than on Sunday night. We are seeing steady growth not only in Church but also in our small groups, (spiritual and in numbers).
This week we have been preparing for our 2nd semester of our Seminary. Dr. Derek Coleman of Gardenside Baptist Church in Lexington KY will be doing the lectures. We are expecting great things! This Seminary is to help our brother Pastors here in Brasil. This is an AWESOME outreach! What better way to reach Brasil for Christ than to train godly pastors. Pray for the weeks of August 8th through 18. We will be in Garca, Brasil for the first 5 days and then in Caraguatatuba for the last part. It will be 2 weeks of intense training.
Also during these two weeks we will have Dr. Cheryl Wolfinger of the International Sports Federation doing basketball camps in the schools. This is an AWESOME way to help evangelize our community. In addition to the schools, we will be in the youth prison (boys from 13-18 years old). So as you can see we will be very busy.
My Saturday English class has been growing by leaps and bounds. I have had up to 19 people in class. This is just another way I am trying to reach those that would not normally come to Church. We have gained one family for the Church from this class. Keep praying for this class.
Well I am going to shut up for now. But I cannot close this letter without thanking Baptist Faith Missions and everyone that helps financially and prayerfully with our mission here in Caraguatatuba, Brasil. It is Churches and individuals like y’all that make our ministry possible. One more time ‘THANKS’.
And as always, if you want to see your mission dollars at work “come on down, your bed is turned down and the porch light is on”.
In His service,
AJ and Barbara
Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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Missionary Update: Sheridan & Anita Stanton in Peru [September 2014]
Sheridan and Anita Stanton have served the Lord in Peru since 1983. Their main ministry is church planting and they have helped establish churches all over the country. Sheridan also works to train pastors and Anita works with the ladies’ ministry and developing children’s material.
September 9, 2014
Dear friends,
A lot has happened since my last report. First of all I want to report the construction project for the Calvary Baptist Mission is completed with just a few minor touchups to get done. We plan to dedicate the building on Thursday the 18th of September. Our sister Baptist churches in the area have been invited to come and celebrate with us. This means Sunday the 21st will be our first official Sunday service in the new building. Wish you all could come and participate.
Also we plan to organize the mission into an autonomous Baptist church on Saturday the 18th of October. Pastor George Sledd of our authorizing church will come down to oversee the proceedings. We are excited about this latest milestone in our ministry. There is a lot to do for a church organization in Peru. Our custom is that the church should have a pastor, be financially independent as well as being mature in the “faith once delivered to the saints.” After the organization the church must obtain its “personaria juridica” which is similar to churches in the States having your “articles of incorporation.” This allows the church to be able to legally own property. When this happens I will sign the property over to the church. Then Anita and I will be heading back to the States. Why you may ask? Because………..
On Sunday, August 31, the Berea Baptist Church of Hiddenite, North Carolina voted to call me as its new pastor. Anita and I have accepted! Yes, after thirty-two years on the mission field here in Peru, we are moving back to the States. We have felt the Lord leading us in this direction for about two years and we know it is God’s will for us to embark on this exciting new chapter in our lives. The Saints of the Berea Baptist Church are some of the most gracious and loving folks we have ever known, and Anita and I are thrilled about having the opportunity to serve the Lord with them as their pastor. This is not only exciting for us but also a very daunting step forward in our lives. We must sell all of our belongings here in Peru and start over again in North Carolina. We ask for your prayers because at our age this will be no easy task. However, God has never let us down and we know HE will continue to give His grace, strength and mercy towards these two heavenly pilgrims. For those of you that help support us we hope you will be so kind as to continue your support at least through the month of November (we should have everything finalized and in order here in Peru by that time). Thank you and may God continue to shower His richest blessings on each of you. I will be writing a few more monthly letters before we actually head to the States.
The work in Peru is the Lord’s work and HE has given Anita and I the opportunity to serve HIM here for the past thirty-two years. However HE will continue to use you all to help keep it going. God continues to bless here and Anita and I thank HIM every day for the calling HE has given us to work in this beautiful country, among these beautiful people. Even without our physical presence in Peru the ministry of Baptist Faith Missions will endure until Jesus comes again. Thanks again for all of your prayers and support. I will keep you posted as to our progress in next month’s letter.
Being “in Christ” by God’s grace,
Sheridan and Anita Stanton
Apartado Postal 140
Huanuco, Peru
South America
(614) 500-8823 – Internet Number
sestantonperu[at]hotmail.com – Sheridan
arstantonperu[at]gmail.com – Anita
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Missionary Update: Odali & Kathy Barros in Brazil [September 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,
We praise God for all he has done in our life and ministry. We thank Him for His watch care and guidance each day.
The work is coming along and growing each day in the community of Ubim. The children are so receptive. The come every week and don’t miss and have been bringing their friends. My brother’s church was going with us to the services, but as of the beginning of the month, they started a mission point in another village. We praise God for this. We have plans to start in 2 other places. We are looking at the city of Iranduba. It has a population of around 70,000 and apparently only one Baptist church that looks closed. We saw a building this week that would be perfect. It has a nice size auditorium, 4 room and bathrooms. Pray that if this is the place that God will help us be able to rent it.
We have people working with us to learn how to start a new work and also learning how to work with the children.
The church my brother pastors moved in to the new church building the last Sunday of July. We pray that they will continue to be excited and will reach out to the people around them.
We thank God that He allowed Kathy to go see her parents in the US. She got to stay there 2 weeks. She had a great time and was also able to see our 3 children that live in the US.
Pray for us as we make plans for each community we work in. We are looking at possibly renting a place in Ubim so we can have services on Sunday. The family that has opened their house for us to use have been wonderful. But, needless to say, this limits us. Pray with us that God would show us just the right place.
We thank each of your for your prayers and your support. May God bless each of you tremendously!
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: John Mark & Judy Hatcher in France [September 2014]
Missionaries John Mark and Judy Hatcher have been serving the Lord in Tournefeuille, France since 1999. They define their ministry as “disciple-making.”
September 8, 2014
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We hope this finds you enjoying the Lord’s blessings. As I mentioned in my previous letter to you, we have been in the USA this past month to be with David (our son), Dulce and their family following the birth of their third child. We return to our home and primary place of service the day after tomorrow.
The news from France is good and we anticipate with joy the opportunities that await us there. God’s love and compassions are new every morning; great is His faithfulness. (see Lamentations 3:22-23). It is a wonderful blessing to be a child of God through whom His light can shine to those who live in darkness around us. This is the privilege of every believer.
The short time here has allowed us to enjoy a number of blessings. I was able to spend a whole week with Dad and Mom, Paul (my older brother) and Wanda. During the past 40 years visiting with them is a rare blessing as we have served on different continents. All of us are grateful for your giving, an act of faith, that has been used by God to meet our needs in other countries. This coming Sunday, my mother turns 89 years old. The Lord has protected her and used her in His service in spite of a couple of times in my childhood when she was at the door of death. She has lived to see her children and grandchildren saved and serving the Lord and many great-grandchildren who are saved and being discipled by their parents. If you ask her how she is doing, she always responds, “I have never felt better in my life.”
Judy, her sister and I were also able to visit many in their extended family who are still living and serving the Lord. This is very encouraging. We, with them, were able to recount and review the grace of God at work in the past and present. Judy and I were also able to have dinner with a number of those with whom we served together in Emmanuel Baptist Church in Evansville. We thank Peggy, Judy’s sister, who made her car available and traveled with us. There were many more that we simply did not have the time to visit. All of us, including you, are important participants in God’s great work of loving redemption.
And…we had great moments with our three children and their families who live in the USA. These moments in their lives are inestimable. God’s has blessed us beyond measure and His love overflows. Thank you, Heavenly Father for your great love and for your family in which you have placed us. Thank you, each one in God’s family, who give that we may take this overflow to a land that is spiritually dry and arid.
Rejoicing in the Lord with You,
John and Judy Hatcher
John and Judy Hatcher
4, rue d’Aspin
31170 Tournefeuille, France
JMHatcher[at]aol.com
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