Missionary Update: John Mark & Judy Hatcher [June 2014]

Missionaries John Mark and Judy Hatcher have been serving the Lord in Tournefeuille, France since 1999. They define their ministry as “disciple-making.”
June 5, 2014
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Seventy years ago Americans along with others of the Allied Forces were embarking on the mission to recover Europe from the clutches of Hitler. Both Judy’s father and mine were a part of this massive operation. God used the involvement of our parents in the retaking of France to speak to our hearts about the spiritual needs of France.
In the Fall of 1997 Judy and I visited the beaches of Normandy during a trip to celebrate our wedding anniversary. This was our first trip to Europe together and we had no idea that God would ever place us here as His witnesses. During the week we spent in France, we saw no evidence of Biblical Christianity. This led us to start researching about the spiritual condition of France. It was the first of many sign posts that God used to direct us to France as missionaries.
It hardly seems possible that we have now been in France over 14 years in the service of the Lord. He has given us the opportunity to minister to French and Germans as well as many other nationalities during this time. The Good News of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, brings peace between us and God as well as between us and former human enemies. To God be the Glory.
But, make no mistake about it, we are still in a battle. However, we fight “not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” And this country is certainly living in darkness. Though followers of Christ in France are a very small minority, the light of God that shines through us is “mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds”. So, we give God all the glory and seek to be used by Him.
I am encouraged by the spiritual growth in the men of our congregation. Sometimes I get impatient because we so desperately need leaders who know God’s Word and are mature in Christ. So, you can pray for God to enable me through His Spirit to be patient. The congregation in Tournefeuille is doing well and we are thankful for what is happening in the various week day Bible studies connected to this congregation. We are also delighted to see how God is working in the lives of the children and young people who participate in the Sunday School and Youth meetings.
The meetings that we hold in Mazere, one hour south of Tournefeuille, are also a cause for rejoicing. There are now nine committed believers who participate in this Bible study and they are sharing the Good News with family members and others with whom they contact.
In two days we will be having our yearly neighborhood dinner. There are a number of new families in our area and this allows us to start relationships with them. Pray that God will enable us to use these opportunities to effectively communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Your fellow laborers in France,
John and Judy
John and Judy Hatcher
4, rue d’Aspin
31170 Tournefeuille, France
JMHatcher[at]aol.com
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Missionary Update: John & Alta Hatcher from Brazil [June 2014]

Missionaries John and Alta Hatcher have served the Lord in Brazil since 1955, planting over 70 churches that are still in existence.
May 29, 2014
Dear Brethren and Friends;
We (Alta and I) want to thank all of you that made our short visit to Lexington so pleasant and happy. Especially, we want to thank Brother Dave Parks and the people of Thompson Road Baptist Church for all the preparation of the Mission house. We lacked nothing and had more than enough. Thank you, Brother Parks, and your people!
As you know by now, our son Paul and his wife, Wanda, are caring for us in our traveling and housing. (It is not a sin to grow old, but sometimes it shows our weaknesses and inabilities.) Thank you, Paul and Wanda, for your care and love.

New Life Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky, was blessed to have the Hatchers visit on Mother’s Day.
We are sorry that there was not enough time to visit churches as we have always done. We thank the New Life Baptist Church and their pastor, Steve Wainright, and his wife for the special fellowship they shared with us.
MOVE TO FLORIDA. The Lord willing, we will spend the rest of our furlough in Florida where Paul arranged living quarters. Our address for a couple of months is:
615 Key West Ave.
Davenport, FL 33897-3600
The plan is for us to be at this address for about two months. Anyone desiring to write us can use this address. We will notify you of any future change of address.
INVITED TO PREACH. Brother Dave Parks invited me to preach on the next Sunday before we left Lexington. He did not think Paul would arrange our move before the end of that week. I had two sermons prepared, but we traveled on that Friday, and I did not get to bring the message. However, I decided to include one of the outlines in this letter. I hope it will be a blessing to someone.
THREE PSALMS TO GUIDE OUR LIVES
1. The Secret of Personal Spiritual Success. Psalm 1
(Verse 3 has one of the greatest promises made to man)
2. The Secret to having a Happy Family and Their Children. Psalm 127
3. The Blessed Future of a Godly Home. Psalm 128
Every word in this Psalm offers future hope and blessings for the Godly family.
May our Lord Bless each of you is our desire and prayer. We love you and thank you for all you have done for our ministry in Brazil.
Sincerely,
John and Alta Hatcher
615 Key West Ave.
Davenport, FL 33897-3600
jhatcher[at]uol.com.br
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Mission Sheets: May 2014 [PDF]
Your May 2014 Mission Sheet is now available in PDF format. Follow the link below to view it!
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Missionary Update: The Radfords in Kenya [June 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.
June 2, 2014
Dear praying friends,
As I type this letter, it is so hard to believe that we board a plane later this week and begin our journey to Nairobi, Kenya. From Nairobi, Lord willing, we will then travel to Kitale after a few days of busyness and government paperwork. This is certainly a hectic week with much to do. Please pray for my wife as she has the massive job of deciding what to pack, leave, etc., for our term in Kenya. Please also pray for our daughters, as they will be going through transitions in the days ahead. They seem excited to be getting back, for which we are thankful. They are excited to get back and settled into Kitale and miss our animals. It is always nice to reunite and get back with our friends, missionary family, and others. I hear that Kitale has changed some since leaving, so we are excited to see what the changes are.
Thanks so much to each one who has been interested in the hospital ministry and also for those who have donated blankets and other supplies. We really appreciate your heart for the babies and the mothers and the Lord will bless you for your generosity. Proverbs 22:9 states “He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.” We appreciate each of you so much.
Please also pray for us as we apply for the hospital work permit for my wife. As I said before, she now needs her own permit. I also will most likely need to apply for a permit for the Annex prison upon returning. The Lord knows all of this and we trust Him for the necessary permits and paperwork. We need to trust Him and remember He is in control of all things. A quote I liked said “He is calm who believes God is sovereign.” How true this is. Proverbs 16:9 says “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.” How we need the Lord to direct our steps and wisdom from Him. Please keep these things above in prayer as well.
I will do my best to keep each of you updated who are interested, pray for us, give sacrificially, or are involved in any way in the Lord’s work in Kitale. We cannot thank each of you enough for your heart for missions and your assistance in any way. You are such an important part of the work. The famous missionary, William Carey, said “I will go down if you will hold the rope.” Thanks to each of you for “holding the rope” for us while we are in Kenya. May the Lord bless you abundantly for all you do. Please pray for our flights ahead, that they will proceed without any issues, and also for our transitions to Kenya and ultimately, Lord willing, Kitale. We will keep you updated. Please note and use our mailing address for Kitale, Kenya.
Serving in Kenya,
Nathan and Carrie Radford
P.O. Box 4150
Kitale, Kenya
East Africa, 30200
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Missionary Update: Paul & Wanda Hatcher on Furlough from Brazil [June 2014]

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.
May 29, 2014
Dear Friends,
God is always so gracious and wonderful. We are all doing well; and, each new day we are glad and rejoice in our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. We continue to have great joy as we visit and renew our friendship with so many we have not seen by reason of our distance overseas.
Since we’ve been in the states we had the joy of visiting and sharing mission stories with the following churches:
- Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church – Pr. Earl Thomas
- Thompson Road Baptist Church – Pr. Dave Parks
- New Life Baptist Church – Pr. Steve Wainright
We have also been blessed as we attended services and saw old friends at: Bryan Station Baptist Church, Ashland Avenue Baptist Church, Heritage Baptist Church and in Florida: Park Ridge Baptist Church, Jordan Baptist Church, Chapel Baptist Church.
We have found a place to rent in Davenport, Florida; and we are grateful as the Lord has opened up the doors before us. That which was difficult He has made clear and easy. Thanks to our wonderful Lord and Shepherd. We appreciate all those who prayed for us as we were looking and moving.
We are in contact almost every day with our brethren in Brazil. Our family is all well and the churches continue to be blessed and grow with the adding of those saved. Final preparations are being made to help the church plant in Macapá, capital of the state of Amapá in northern Brazil to organize as a church and incorporate. Incorporation is a rather lengthy and complicated affair; but God always sees it through. It has been taking about one year to complete the governmental process.
I have a special prayer request to share: Pastor Adolfo Escote, pastor of the Second Baptist Church of Santa Etelvina, in Manaus, had retina displacement in both eyes and is in serious risk of losing most or all of his sight. Pray for God’s grace to be richly and abundantly supplied to him and his family, as well as healing from the Lord Jesus Christ.
God bless each of you; thanks for your prayer and faithful support to the work of missions. May God be your great reward. We pray for you that your remembrance and knowledge of our Lord, the only true God, may abundantly increase, that your trust and faith in him may be steadfast in all things, and that the love of the 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
615 Key West Avenue
Davenport, Fl 33897-6300
(239)227-6551
Click here to give.
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Missionary Update: The Tates in Kenya [June 2014]

The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is indigenous church planting.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This month I have included a picture of a rather unassuming and unimpressive room. This room is located on the edge of town in Kitale, on the second story of an unfinished and unimpressive looking building. Why have I included this picture of this small and easily forgotten room? Because I have leased it and want to use it to start the Kitale Baptist Church Planting Training Center (or some other appropriate sounding name). This room will have two main purposes as I see it.
1. Teach people, who have never received good Biblical training, about Jesus and the gospel
2. Train and model for disciples of Jesus how to start, organize, maintain and reproduce new Baptist churches in Kenya
For those of you who talked with me or saw my video during our recent time in the States, you know this is a slight alteration to my plans. My original thinking was to open such a training center in a mud house out in a village and then pursue the above objectives there in that house. After much prayer and thoughtful consideration, we have decided instead to open a church planting training center right in town. Without wanting to bore you with details, I would like to try and explain why we think this is the better option:
- It would be centrally located and easy to find. Everyone will be able to get to it from just about anywhere close to town. It would be easy to direct people to its location whereas directing people to a “mud” house in a village would be challenging.
- We would be accessible to many more people if we were in town than we would be out in a village (where we would be accessible pretty much only to the people of that village)
- It can be small and stocked with Kenyan furniture (much like we would have stocked the “mud” house) so that it can be used exactly as we would have used a mud hut in a village to model for the students/disciples/church planters our approach to church planting
- We could do some evangelism in and around town (and encourage some of our students to do the same). People who are interested in learning a little about the Bible and what it really means to be a Christian, but who do not want to be a church planter, could come to the center where we could teach them a Basic Christianity course. Again, in town it would be much more accessible and more people could come. Even if 99.9% of these people would be coming because of what they hope to get from the missionaries, at least they would also be receiving some good Biblical teaching about what a Christian really is as opposed to what they normally hear at the majority of the national churches.
- As we come up with different kinds of community help ideas that will actually work, I think it will be much more suitable and work better in town than elsewhere.
- We could always set up satellite training centers in villages if there was need or desire to do so.
The bottom line is that using this room in town keeps intact our model and approach to teaching Kenyans how to plant churches while keeping us centrally located and easily accessible. God can use this unimposing little room to start a church planting revolution here in Kitale if He so chooses. This is what we are praying for and that God would be glorified in this place.
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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FaithWORKS Report [May 2014]
PRAY AND PRAISE in this issue…
- ODALI AND KATHY BARROS—PRAISE GOD for preparing the way for them to begin holding services in homes along the river. PRAISE GOD for opening the door for a school ministry. PRAY for them as they begin working in these new places that God would direct every step of the way.
- MIKE AND BEV CREIGLOW— PRAISE GOD for good visits with 11 of their pastors and missionaries. Since the beginning of the year, Mike & Hudson have traveled 2,341 miles on 3 rivers to report on 17 mission works. PRAY for all of these works, that God would continue to grow them and strengthen them! PRAISE GOD for continued progress at their home church as well.
- JOHN AND ALTA HATCHER—PRAISE GOD for being able to celebrate nearly 60 years of service in Brazil with the pastors and people in Urai. PRAY for them as they transition to a year-long furlough.
- JOHN MARK AND JUDY HATCHER—JOHN MARK AND JUDY HATCHER—PRAISE GOD for opportunities to show Christ’s love to neighbors in France! (And PRAISE GOD for safety in that situation! Bzzz!) PRAY for their upcoming neighborhood dinner. PRAY for their new “English Club.”
- PAUL AND WANDA HATCHER—PRAISE GOD for an enjoyable time at the Spring Missions Conference. PRAY for them as they transition to a year-long furlough with their parents and seek to relocate to Florida.
- AJ AND BARBARA HENSLEY—PRAISE GOD for safe travels to and from the States. PRAY for their health, for their finances, for the ministry, for the plans they are trying to complete at the church, and for the attacks Satan is trying to hurl at them.
- NATHAN AND CARRIE RADFORD—PRAY for their upcoming return to Kenya. PRAY especially for them and their daughters as they travel such a long way and adjust back to the culture of Kenya. PRAY for the people of Kenya they are blessed to work with.
- SHERIDAN AND ANITA STANTON—PRAISE GOD for continued progress on the building for the Calvary Baptist Mission Church! PRAY that God would provide the remaining funds they need to complete the project. PRAISE GOD for a good missions conference in Huaral.
- ROGER AND JULIE TATE—PRAISE GOD for a safe arrival back in Kenya. PRAY for them as they adjust back to the culture. PRAY that the Spirit would work in hearts to create lasting change.
- BOBBY AND CHARLENE WACASER—PRAISE GOD for the way He is working in the life of Toni. PRAY for the mechanical problems they are facing in their Projeto Vida ministry. PRAY for Elias and his wife that seeds planted would take root and grow.
YOUR APRIL GENERAL FUND OFFERINGS…
When you review the Contributions page in this issue, you will note that the monthly General Fund Offerings total given in April is $31,604.16. This is a $5-6 thousand dollar increase over the past three months.
First, we thank God and commend every one of you gives to the monthly General Fund. Without your faithful and sacrificial giving, our missionaries would not be receiving month-by-month what we are able to provide for them.
However, that being said, our total monthly commitments to our missionary families – which must be supplied from the monthly General Fund – amount to $43,300.54. Every month, that same amount must be disbursed just for their essential maintenance. If each of us will remember that number as we give to the monthly General Fund – $43,300.00 – it will help remind us of the gigantic financial responsibility just to ‘keep them on the field,’ ‘keep the lights on,’ and supply their essential living and ministry expenses.
When the monthly General Fund Offering doesn’t meet that disbursement threshold [$43,300.00], then we have no other choice but to reduce the amount of disbursements to our missionary families by the proportionate amount we did not receive in General Fund offerings.
We know you have heard this before – and we also know that we keep repeating ourselves – but the first of every month, it comes around again! Please make a generous offering to your missionaries’ General Fund right now – or increase your present giving!
You can give online by going to our website: baptistfaithmissions.org and clicking on the ‘Donate/Support’ tab. Designate your offering for ‘General Fund’. Thank you on behalf of our missionaries!
Click here to make a one-time donation.
Click here to set up a recurring donation.
JUNE IS FOUNDER’S DAY OFFERING MONTH: THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FOUNDERS DAY OFFERING TO THE CONTINUING SUPPLY OF YOUR MISSIONARIES’ ON-GOING NEEDS
We are coming up on June again, and we are appealing to you to give an extraordinary offering to our Founder’s Day Offering to supply our missionaries’ Essential Maintenance needs.
72 years ago, Hafford Overbey began appealing for and receiving offerings to assist in the support of a missionary who had returned to the Amazon Valley in Brazil. Baptist Faith Missions has been assisting Baptist churches in sending their missionaries to the nations of the world for the purpose of church-planting missions ever since.
We recognize that many of you do not remember Hafford Overbey or Z. E. Clark, the first Treasurer of Baptist Faith Missions. But, what you do need to remember is that your missionaries who are currently serving the Lord in the nations of the world are carrying on with the same missionary vision and ministry that prompted the very first missions offering in 1942.
So, will you please help us? Last year [2013], it was the Founder’s Day Offering that enabled us to NOT have to reduce our missionaries’ monthly funds. We devote the Founder’s Day Offering to supplying our missionaries’ monthly Essential Maintenance Transactions. What that means is: we will supply any deficits in our Monthly General Fund Offerings with Founder’s Day Offering funds.
So, by giving to the Founder’s Day Offering, you are helping your missionaries receive the full commitments of monthly funds they must have to maintain their living and ministry needs.
[Click here to download the BFM Founders Day Offering Appeal 2014]
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
Two of our longest-serving missionary families are on furlough in the States together at this time: John and Alta Hatcher and Paul and Wanda Hatcher. Paul has written in his Mission Sheets newsletter, “Wanda and I have been in Brazil for 40 years. During this period, we have taken only one full-year furlough.” But, they all have come together to the States for a year’s furlough. John and Alta Hatcher have been serving our Lord in partnership with Baptist Faith Missions for 60 years and wanted to come Stateside for this furlough. Paul and Wanda have come with them to accompany and help them. Also with them is Wanda’s mom, Willa McGary. ‘Miss Willa’ and Wanda’s deceased dad, Wilford, served as church-planting missionaries in Eastern Kentucky Appalachia for 35 years. Willa has also been living with Paul and Wanda in Manaus since Wanda’s only sibling, Ross McGary, went to be with the Lord in December 2013. But, living in Manaus was very difficult for ‘Miss Willa’ since she was away from her friends and in an all-Portuguese environment with different customs.
So, they are all living and traveling together. They plan to set up their residence in Florida during this time to give them better access to Brazil, especially for family and friends in Brazil to come and visit with them during this year.
Paul says: ‘We will be available to speak and share missions. We can be contacted at: (239)227-6551 or rphatcher[at]gmail.com.’ We encourage you to pray for them and correspond with them.
SPRING MISSIONS CONFERENCE UPDATES AND RECAPS
The Lord blessed us during the April Spring Missions Conference. You came and attended with us as we worshiped Jesus Christ, gave ourselves to work with Him in His “Day of Salvation,” and asked the Lord to stir and encourage us all to greater commitment and usefulness in His mission.
Ten preachers, pastors, and missionaries delivered God’s messages from His Word. 35 preachers, pastors, and missionaries were in attendance with us during the services. We thank each one of you for your prayers to God and your encouraging fellowship as we all seek together to follow Jesus Christ into the nations of the world.
You can still update yourself on the happenings during our Conference services by going to our website and opening the FaithWorks Blog page. On the right hand side of the page, you will find a list of links “Categories.” Click on the link that says “Conference recaps,” and it will open up a list of the services and give you a brief recap of the service [OR CLICK HERE]. I want to thank Steve and Sarah Wainright for posting these services for us. They are continually providing invaluable services for our Lord and our missionaries by updating and maintaining our website and Facebookm.
FOUNDERS DAY OFFERING APPEAL AND RESOURCES
For many years, we have remembered and honored our principal founders, Hafford Overbey and Z. E. Clark, by giving special offerings for the missionaries during the month of June. We call it our FOUNDER’S DAY OFFERING.
But, the Founder’s Day Offering not only memorializes our original founders in 1942 – we are also honoring our eleven faithful missionary families who are currently serving the Lord in Brazil, Peru, France, and Kenya.
Their support needs are great – and the supplies are low. We use the Founder’s Day Offering to help supply our missionaries’ monthly essential living and ministry support. And, these offerings will also help prevent our having to reduce the monthly commitments we have made to them due to a lack of General Fund supplies.
Here’s what each of us can do:
PASTORS – we encourage you to observe a special Missions or Great Commission Emphasis Sunday and give your church the opportunity to give to the BFM General Fund. Emphasize Jesus’ command to preach His Gospel to all nations. That is what our missionaries are doing. That is the original burden and vision that inspired the founding of BFM. We are continuing to perpetuate that vision and burden. That is what we are supporting when we give to BFM’s General Fund. We will use these offerings to continue to supply our missionaries’ on-going needs.
GIVING FRIENDS – if your church is not participating in our Founder’s Day Offering, we encourage you to support your missionaries by giving a personal offering. Of course, you can give as the Lord enables you to give, and no offering of any amount is insignificant. But what if every one of our missionaries’ Giving Friends gave at least a $70 offering in honor of the 70+ years our missionaries have been faithfully preaching the Gospel? But – please do give as the Lord impresses and enables you.
You can visit our website’s Donate/Support page to easily contribute through the options we have made available to you. Or, you can mail your offering to: Baptist Faith Missions, Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer, P.O. Box 471280, Lake Monroe FL 32747-1280
You will find on our website [Faith Works Blog] some PDF resources that will be helpful as you help us promote Founder’s Day:
BFM Founder’s Day Offering – Bulletin Insert
BFM Founder’s Day Offering – General Letter
BFM Founder’s Day Offering – Letter from Our President
BFM Founder’s Day PowerPoint Slide
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