Missionary Update: The Stantons in Peru [January 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.
January 6, 2014
Dear friends,
Well we finally got the roof poured with concrete on the first floor of the new building for the Calvary Baptist Mission. It is in the curing process now for a few weeks. We rejoice in the Lord that He has provided up to this important point. Ebenezer (you Bible scholars will understand that one!). The biggest part of a building project is the first floor because you have to dig the footers and foundation, all of which takes a lot of hand-mixed cement. I sure missed my concrete crews from the States. You all know who you are! Building permits, architectural plans, electric and water connections – all done.
Any of you men in the States know how to hang drywall? It is a new building concept here in Peru and none of our people know how to do it. I’m hoping a small crew might get together in March and come down for a week to help and teach us how to hang drywall. It would also give you an opportunity to leave all that cold weather in the States right now! Temperatures average here in Huánuco between 70 – 85 degrees all year long. Any takers?
We are trusting the Lord that continued funds will come in to help us finish this building. At present we have spent all we had for this project. Every bit helps! The building is designed for four floors because the lot is relatively small. Each roof poured on each floor cost about $6000.00 and we are sure that the Lord will continue to bless with additional funds. Thanks.
We had one young lady accept Christ as her Savior two weeks ago and it looks like she will be the first baptism of 2014. We rejoice in all of God’s blessings upon His work here in Peru.
The mission works around the country are experiencing growth, both numerically and spiritually. Anita and I have the joy of supporting eleven national Peruvian missionaries. This is possible with the funds that we receive from you dear saints of God. We know times are rough in the States right now and we are very much aware of the many sacrifices folks from our supporting churches are giving. So many of the dear saints of God here in Peru also, give and sacrifice in the work of the Lord. Please know we love you all and thank God for you. Let us rejoice knowing that we all have our part in the spreading of the Gospel message and God’s love, throughout the country of Peru, and around the world.
With the blessings come the trials and Anita and I ask you to pray for us as we are experiencing an attack of slander aimed at destroying our ministry and therefore the work here in Huánuco. Our Heavenly Father protects us and strengthens us. However, Anita and I both have our moments of anger, depression and sadness. It has, however, been very encouraging to see, hear and feel the support of our brothers and sisters in Christ all around us here in Huánuco. Please lift us up in your prayers that the trials might soon be over. Thank you and may God continue to bless you all. Until next month.
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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2014 BFM Winter Conference
“LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS”
John 1:5 – “And the light shineth in darkness…”
2014 Winter Missions Conference
January 19-22
Hosted by Park Ridge Baptist Church, Gotha, FL
Street Address | 3629 Crystal St. | Gotha, FL 34734
Mailing Address | P.O. Box 12 | Gotha, FL 34734
407-295-6296
Pastor Benton Glover | 407.719.9861
Sunday, January 19
6:30 P.M. – Bob Jones
Monday, January 20
5:00 P.M. – Supper
7:00 P.M. – Elgie Hornsby
8:00 P.M. – Leroy Duncan
Tuesday, January 21
10:00 A.M. – Bobby Green
11:00 A.M. – Carl Morton
12:00 Noon – Lunch
5:00 P.M. – Supper
7:00 P.M. – Bobby Lakes
8:00 P.M. – Cecil Fayard
Wednesday January 22
10:00 A.M. – Doug King
11:00 A.M. – George Sledd
12:00 Noon – Lunch
5:00 P.M. – Supper
7:00 P.M. – Bob Jones
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DIRECTIONS TO PARK RIDGE BAPTIST CHURCH:
GPS: 3629 Crystal St, Gotha, Florida 34734
MapQuest
FROM THE TURNPIKE:
Take exit 267B (Ocoee / Hwy 50). Go east on Hwy 50 approximately ½ mile to Blackwood Ave. (Health Central is on the corner). Turn right and go 3 blocks (block one is four lanes; blocks two and three are a single lane) to Crystal St. and turn left. The church is just ahead on the left.
FROM THE 408 EXPRESSWAY:
Take exit 1 (last exit before Turnpike) to Hwy 50. Turn left and go one block to Blackwood Ave. (Health Central is on the corner). Turn left and go 3 blocks (block one is four lanes; blocks two and three are a single lane) to Crystal St. and turn left. The church is just ahead on the left.
FROM INTERSTATE 4 (WEST OF ORLANDO):
Exit at US27 and go north to Hwy 50. Go east on Hwy 50 approximately ten miles to Blackwood Ave. (Health Central is on the corner). Turn right and go 3 blocks (block one is four lanes; blocks two and three are a single lane) to Crystal St. and turn left. The church is just ahead on the left.
FROM INTERSTATE 4 (EAST OF ORLANDO):
Exit at the 408 Expressway and go west. Take exit 1 (last exit before Turnpike) to Hwy 50. Turn left and go one block to Blackwood Ave. (Health Central is on the corner). Turn left and go 3 blocks (block one is four lanes; blocks two and three are a single lane) to Crystal St. and turn left. The church is just ahead on the left.
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A Word document of the conference schedule is available for download here:
2014 BFM Winter Missions Conference Schedule
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Mission Sheet: December 2013 [PDF & Flip-Through]
Your December 2013 Mission Sheet is now available in PDF format. Follow the link below to view it!
BFM Mission Sheet December 2013
You can also flip-through at the following link:
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Missionary Update: Mike & Beverly Creiglow in Brazil [January 2014]
Mike and Beverly Creiglow have served the Lord in Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil together for 40 years. 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.
Dear Brethren,
The new year has started at a little slower pace. Thank the Lord for that. There is so much to be thankful for that happened in the year that just ended. It was way too busy though. This year will probably get that way soon, but for now I am grateful for a couple of days of rest.
In early December Bev and I made a quick trip to the state capital, Rio Branco. We drove in my all Brazilian made “jeep”. Its real name is Troller. The road is in pretty good shape by our standards. You wouldn’t agree, by your standards. This was the quickest we have ever made this trip. It is exactly 400 miles. On the return we made it in exactly 7 hours. We needed some parts and equipment that we can’t get here. The church was in bad need of some new microphones. Things are still very, very expensive in Brazil, so we drove another 140 miles to Bolivia to do some of our shopping. One of the wireless systems we were looking for costs $1,350.00 here in Brazil. In all, we bought 7 different mics (same brand) for $1,179.00. Some of these were regular wired mics, but still a huge savings.
Once back home we continued the preparations for our Christmas program. This is a lot of work. Fortunately my part is more construction and a little oversight. The church does most of the heavy lifting (working with over 150 people!). Crissy and Andrew are the ones that actually put this together and pull this off. This year we had 6 nights from Friday through Wednesday the 25th. The crowds were way past overflow. We only permit visitors in the main auditorium. All the members go to the third floor of our annex and watch the program on the big screen. Because of the extension I put on the stage we have to trim our seating in the auditorium back to 800. We still had over 1000. Those who cannot sit down, stand shoulder to shoulder in the aisles and along the back and sides. Some nights we even had over a thousand in the annex. Every available chair and pew from every room is either in the main building or the annex. Still hundreds stand for an hour and a half. They don’t seem to mind. We do have a few members who complain about not being able to see it “live”, as in the auditorium. One of our elders even “invited” one of these complainers to find another church. He or she won’t, of course, but I understand the frustration.
Mike Creiglow holding the title for their new church property.
Every year there is a different story line and all new songs. The birth, life, death, burial and resurrection is worked in and depicted every year. We even have one of our newborn babies in the manger and Mary’s arms. This year 3 different babies played Jesus! Before the final act and closing song one of the pastors brings a 10 minute message. This year we had 45 professions of faith. Lots of creativity, talent, hours and money go into this, but it is more than worthwhile.
During our watch night service I was able to present the title to our new property to the church. Now that was a celebration and a half, just a week after the Christmas celebration. Because of this purchase, we have some bills to get caught up on. These are mostly “in house” and hopefully will be paid off soon. We now have over 18 acres just 3 miles from our present location. Please pray that by next Christmas we will be able to get a roof over a space that will seat a few thousand.
Thanks for all of your faithful prayers and support. May God bless you greatly in this new year.
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: The Radfords on Furlough from Kenya [January 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.
January 3, 2014
Dear praying friends,
Another month has come and passed, and the Lord has allowed us another year to serve Him. May each of you have a blessed 2014 and great upcoming year. May we seize the opportunities that we have each day to serve Him. This update will share ministry progress and prayer requests.
We are now in the process of contacting churches to come and present the ministries in Kenya. I thank the Lord for the opportunities that He has provided so far and would appreciate your prayers as I attempt to make contacts with the Lord’s help. If you would like me to come and present the ministries of the Lord in Kitale, Kenya, I can be reached at: naterad[at]yahoo.com. We appreciate each of you and your prayers for us.
In family news, it is hard to believe that McKenna will be six years old this upcoming April and Camille will be three years old this upcoming February. They are typical children, running, playing, arguing at times, but in the end, loving each other. We are so glad to have them as a part of our family and would request prayers for us as parents. We have a big responsibility before the Lord. Proverbs 22:6 states “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” How true, and may we rear the children to honor Him.
In this upcoming year, may we devote ourselves to prayer and seeking the will of the Lord. As I think back on my life, I am humbled by the opportunities that I have let pass by to serve Him. How we need to make the best use of our time, as life on this earth is fleeting, and eternal life is so near. Ephesians 5:16 says “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” I pray that we truly would redeem the time, and live for Him daily.
We thank each of you so much for your prayers, sacrificial giving, and encouragement. Missions is difficult, and there are many challenges to face, such as culture shock, loneliness, homesickness, etc. Without each of you and your help alongside us, it would be even more difficult. How we thank the Lord for each of you and your heart for missions.
God bless each of you and may we serve until He comes. Have a great 2014.
Nathan and Carrie Radford
315 College Street
Youngsville, PA 16371
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Missionary Update: John & Alta Hatcher in Brazil [January 2014]
Missionaries John and Alta Hatcher have served the Lord in Brazil since 1955, planting over 70 churches that are still in existence.
January 1, 2014
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Happy New Year to each of you. May God bless you this year and give you a blessed year for His honor and glory.
Alta and I have had some great blessings in the final month of 2013. Our son, David, and his wife, Pennie have made these days unforgettable. David came to Urai and took Alta and I for a trip to Florida to visit with my sister, Neree and my sister, Jessie, and her husband, Joe Sills. While there we enjoyed eight days on a cruise. This was a delightful time. I was able to relive some of my Merchant Seaman days.
Returning to Brazil, we went to Manaus to David’s and Pennies’s home. Paul and Wanda, Kathy and Odali live there so we were able to visit our children and grandchildren. It was a marvelous time.
SPECIAL SERVICES AT NOVA IGREJA BATISTA
During the month of December, the NOVA IGREJA BATISTA, where David, our son is Pastor, presented a beautiful drama, THE CHRISTMAS DREAM, a story that takes place in a toy factory. The presentation is one hour and a half duration, and uses nearly two thousand persons. It tells the wonderful story of Jesus, from the angel’s announcement to Mary until the resurrection of Jesus. The presentation is breathtaking.
The drama was presented thirty-one times. 92,000 attended the drama and 8,500 persons made decisions, the majority of these were trusting Jesus as Saviour. The story of this church, originally the CHAPADA BAPTIST CHURCH, is one of the greatest works of God’s Grace that I have seen.
Organized about fifty years ago with 24 members it now has an attendance of nearly 5,000 each Sunday. The work was started in the boonies; today the area is the main part of a city of two million inhabitants. This church has also started other congregations in other cities and States. Praise the Lord for His Blessings!
The Lord willing, we will be returning to Urai on January 7. Paul will be taking us back since we are not able to safely travel alone. The TABERNACLE BAPTIST CHURCH where Paul is pastor has done many church plants in Manaus and several of the northeast States of Brazil. This Church has made over sixty church plants. Praise the Lord!
Odali and Kathy have moved north to Manaus to begin works on the rivers and in new villages that are being developed with the development of new roads.
Once more Alta and I wish you a New Year with God’s blessings, as together we continue to go preach, baptize and plant churches.
We love you in the Lord.
John A. and Alta Hatcher
Caixa Postal 112
Urai, PR, Brazil 86280-000
jhatcher[at]uol.com.br
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Missionary Update: John Mark & Judy Hatcher in France [January 2014]
Missionaries John Mark and Judy Hatcher have been serving the Lord in Tournefeuille, France since 1999. They define their ministry as “disciple-making.”
January 3, 2014
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We wish all of God’s best for the coming year and until our Lord Jesus returns to take us to be with Him. Yesterday, I spoke to my younger brother David in Manaus, Brazil to wish him a happy birthday. Next week is my birthday and I am not turning 29. Several years ago I read or heard someone say that there are only two things that are eternal in our World, God and people, and our job is to bring them together. People are the only thing that we will take with us. “And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.” (Luke 16:9) We must invest all that is temporal: money, things, and yes, even time into the eternal – therefore the two great commands are Love God and Love people.
During the past three weeks we enjoyed the visit of Judy’s only sister, Peggy. She has been a great co-worker with us during our entire adult life. She is now retired though she still works one day a week. The rest of her time is spent being a missionary where she lives. Two days a week she teaches Bible to children in 4th and 5th grade from the public schools. In this ministry, 3 trailers are moved around the county and parked outside public schools. Children in 4th and 5th grades are dismissed for a period of time once each week and go to these trailers to be taught the Bible. This is all done and supported by volunteers. While we lived in Evansville, our church staffed a similar ministry in the neighboring county. The lady who now heads up this week day Bible ministry that Peggy serves in was also a member of Emmanuel Baptist Church when we were there. Peggy is also involved in a couple of other outreach ministries on weekdays as well as working in the preschool ministry in her church. So, really, she is not retired. She is investing her earthly life into the eternal.
Judy and her sister Peggy with some of the ladies from the Mazere Bible study.
A few days before Christmas, Angela sent us an email to tell us that Joachim’s father had died during his sleep the night before. A couple of days later, as I spoke to Joachim, he ask my advice on the biblical passages that he wanted used for his father’s funeral. Eight years ago, Joachim confessed his faith in Christ and followed the Lord in baptism. This couple was brought into our sphere of life when Amanda (our daughter-in-law) met Angela at children’s play group. Joachim was the first person baptized in our assembly here and just before they moved away, their son trusted Christ and followed the Lord in Baptism. One of these days you will meet these eternal friends.
Last Sunday, the last of 2013, we focused on thanking God for the blessings of the past year and praying for what God wants us to have during the coming year and future. God is soooo good. Oh, how He loves us. There are many others out there who need to know Him. Sunday afternoon while we were taking a walk with the family, we crossed a boy who came a few times to Sunday School who was on a bike ride with his father. The father, who has never been to any of our meetings, said, “We were just talking about you. Our other son (who also came to Sunday school a few times) asked us when God was born, and we said, that is an question we will have to ask John.” Well I gave him a short answer and told him we needed to get together so that I could talk to his son about it.
So, with your assistance, we continue to invest in people in the unexpected as well as the planned encounters. We are very encouraged by the open doors God is giving us with middle school and high school students. One High School student from a broken home attends our youth meetings regularly. She was invited by a girl from our church who used to be classmate. I don’t know exactly how many piercings she has and she used to “make up” quite “Gothic” (I think I have the right term.) For the Bible discussion at our last meeting a couple of weeks ago each child read a verse concerning Christ coming into the world to save us. I had printed these on strips of paper and passed them out randomly. As I called the text, each child read and we discussed the passage. As this young lady was leaving she said, “Can I take this verse, I think is beautiful. I will have it tattooed on me (I think she was joking about this part.)” We are hoping that she will soon be joined eternally to Christ.
That is what we are doing here;
Investing in the Eternal,
John and Judy in France
John and Judy Hatcher
4, rue d’Aspin
31170 Tournefeuille, France
JMHatcher[at]aol.com
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Missionary Update: The Tates on Furlough from Kenya [January 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,
As I’m writing this the new year has just begun. We have flipped from 2013 to 2014 and, just like that, 2013 is gone, filed away forever. In this update let me recap 2013 and give tentative plans for 2014.
Recap of 2013:
2013 turned out to be a good year and a difficult year at the same time. The difficulties came in facing the normal hardships of being missionaries. This includes long periods of time away from our home country and living in our host country. Maintaining close relationship with God can also be difficult given these circumstances. But 2013 brought many blessings as well. Throughout the year we saw advances in the ministry and the kingdom of God. We saw Shangalamwe Baptist Church organized, members baptized and a Kenyan elder appointed to oversee the work. We saw other groups come together for worship and Bible study only to see many of these groups falter and stall. However, we learned much from the failure of these groups and why they were never able to mature and ultimately be organized into New Testament Baptist churches. In addition, we watched as our friend and student, Titus, began starting groups on his own that came together to hear the gospel and learn from the Word of God. He started many groups, saw many Kenyan people being saved, was able to organize some of those groups into Baptist churches and baptized many. Sometimes we think that the work is progressing slowly (and it is) but when we look back we praise God for the many things he has accomplished. Then, finally, at the end of August of this past year we returned back to the States for our time of furlough and reporting to the churches of the work we have been doing in Kenya.
Plans for 2014:
Since no one can predict or control the future, these plans and hopes for this year are strictly tentative. We place 2014 into the hands of our Sovereign and loving, Heavenly Father and entrust what we do to Him. That being said, here’s what 2014 might look like. Early this year, in early January, we will take Emily, our firstborn, to Virginia to begin attending Patrick Henry College. This is a major event in the lives of the Tate family as I have written before. In just a couple of days our family dynamic changes dramatically. This event is lying heavy on my heart and on the hearts of the whole family. Then, in March, we return to Kenya. Again, this is all in the hands of God, but we do have return tickets already and barring some emergency we will be back in Kenya in March. The only other major event that I can foresee is that if Amy is accepted and there is an opening, she will probably be attending Rift Valley Academy starting in August. This is the same boarding school outside of Nairobi that Emily attended throughout her high school years. And, of course, in between all of these major events will be the work of the ministry. Our plans include renting a small Kenyan house in order to use for training of men to do the gospel ministry. From this house we will train, model, teach, assist, watch and lead faithful Christian men to reach their own people with the saving message of Christ and to start, organize and oversee New Testament Baptist churches. I would also like to see this house used as some kind of charitable outreach center that would could be used to help Kenya people with the many difficulties they face each and every day. There are many logistics to work out concerning these plans. May God’s will be done in our lives, in our family and in our ministries.
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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