News & Reports – May 2023
The Online Edition of the May 2023 BFM News & Reports is available at the link below. Read how God is at work through our faithful missionaries and continue to lift them up in prayer.
*Remember you can click on any headline to view the post/story on our website.
Peruse all our recent newsletters on our FaithWorks Blog by clicking “PDF Versions” under Categories on the right.
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Amazed at God’s Goodness
April 26, 2023
Hello Faithful Friends,
So much has happened since I wrote last year that I am amazed at God’s goodness to us. It is actually quite encouraging to stop and write about it because it’s a way to reflect on and count our many blessings.
We have been experiencing steady growth at our church. So much so that we had to find a larger building to move to. The Lord guided us to a great location that will allow the church to keep growing. Part of my role in this process was to organize the packing and labeling of everything the needed to be moved so that we could find it and use it almost immediately after our arrival there. I had some great volunteer helpers working with me and I am very grateful for them.
One of my roles at the church is as an assistant teacher. I work with the kids ages 8 to 12. Through the course of my years teaching, I have evangelized and taught children who are now grown up, have gotten married, and now I’m teaching their children in my classes.
One of my favorite activities in our ministry is to coordinate the preparation and decorating for special events like marriage seminars and evangelistic outreach meetings. I believe that even in small things like this we should seek to honor the Lord with excellence. One of the challenges is to apply excellence with a limited budget. I enjoy the challenge, though.
As a missionary’s wife, there is one area that is not pleasurable, and that is the “goodbyes”. There are so many of them and for various reasons. Of course, there are the goodbyes when we leave family and friends when coming to our field of service, but there are also the goodbyes on the field to those who we’ve evangelized and prepared to go out as missionaries to new places. Recently we sent Yago and Manoela off to Portugal to start new churches. I had worked side by side with Manoela for quite a while and we had become very close. As much as I was thrilled that God had called her husband and her to go, it still hurt to lose that constant companionship with her. I’m very glad that we have the promise of an eternal home to enjoy fellowship again, and without the goodbyes.
Bobby and I are going to begin a U.S. stateside furlough near the end of May. If you or your church would be interested in having us come and share personally how God is using our ministry, feel free to contact Bobby at: bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com.
I am so grateful for your prayers and concern for us and our ministry.
Yours in Christ,
Charlene Wacaser
Contact Info:
Bobby & Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280
Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online
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Coordinating Foster Care in São Paulo
April 25, 2023
Dear friends,
I’m excited to write this letter because God has done great things. We arrived in São Paulo, Brazil, a week before Christmas. Being with my parents’ family for the holidays was so special after all we went through the last 18 months in the US. Everyone was amazed by how much our kids had grown.
On January 16, I returned to my role as coordinator in a Foster Care Program, but this time, in a new location and with a new team:
- A psychologist
- A social worker
- A social worker intern
- A social worker volunteer
We have worked very hard to organize and structure the program. Our inauguration was on April 4. We met with our jurisdiction judge and her foster care team to align procedures and receive instructions. We were glad the judge was very welcoming and open to foster care; she prefers placing babies, children, and teens in families. This positive attitude towards foster care is not typical among judges in Brazil, resulting in 96% of children and teenagers who are removed from their homes being placed in institutions and only 4% being placed in families. We want to change this sad reality by educating, recruiting, training, and supporting families in our communities to step out of their comfort zone and become foster care families. Most of our presentations are done in churches, but we also present in universities, maternities, business meetings, and others. Currently, we have two families ready to receive a child and one family finishing training. Our goal is to recruit ten families by the end of the year.
The two-bedroom townhouse we rented to serve as our office, where biological families will come for supervised visits, where foster care families will meet with us, and where adoptive families will meet their children for the first time, needs many things. We need sofas, lamps, rugs, decorations, stoves, children’s books, toys, crayons, colored pencils, and many newborn supplies, like clothes, bottles, baby towels, pacifiers, and everything else babies need. We give those items to the foster care families when they receive a baby since they are volunteers and only receive 264 dollars per month to help with medications (children come with many needs, physically, mentally, and psychologically) and other urgent needs the child may have. If you can help with a one-time offer, or if you would like to support this ministry monthly, please, specify your offering to Raquel Foster Care.
I’m also training professionals and foster care families in TBRI (Trust-Based Relational Intervention), a Trauma-Informed Approach. I got licensed to train while we were in the USA. TBRI was developed at Texas Christian University by Dr. Karyn Purvis and Dr. David Cross. If you would like to learn more about it, many TBRI videos are on YouTube. God has blessed us tremendously with many opportunities to serve Him through serving others. Our family is doing well. Jud is extremely busy with our church planting and training he does with pastors and church leaders. My oldest sister Valéria married on April 22; it was a beautiful celebration.
Lastly, Through World Without Orphans Brasil, we (WWO) are bringing Jodi Tucker to São Paulo on April 27. She is the mother of 9 children, some biological and many adopted. She wrote the devotional “Second Mothers.” She will be speaking to mothers by adoption and foster mothers. I will be the master of the ceremony (MC) for the event. We hope to bless those women who dedicate their lives to give hope to those without it.
I want to thank all of you for praying for us, loving us, and helping us financially. We could never do what we do without you. Thank you so, so much! My WhatsApp number is +(5511)99416-4149, if you would like to call me to get more information about our ministry. God bless you!
Love,
Raquel Hatcher
Forum at the International Foster Care Symposium at the University of Campinas 
Foster Care Presentation 
Inauguration of second Foster Care Program Center 
Jud & Raquel at her sister’s wedding 
Lecturing at the International Foster Care Symposium at the University of Campinas, São Paulo 
Meeting with the pastor of a Baptist Church 
Meeting with district court judge and and her child welfare team 
Raquel’s sister’s wedding celebration 
Raquel’s sister’s wedding 
Second Mothers Conference 
TBRI Training 
TBRI Training 
TBRI Training 
TBRI Training 
TBRI training with professionals who work at a residential care facility
Contact Info:
Jud & Raquel Hatcher
São Paulo, Brazil
judsonhatcher@gmail.com
(872) 400-6522
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
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The Many Hats I’ve Worn
April 24, 2023
Dear friends and family,
As I look back over the past years in Brazil, I think of the many hats I have worn. In the beginning, my hat was just helper to Aj and to Kathy with the children. Then we purchased the building where we all assumed the care of one corridor with all the children decided. At this time, my hat was that of mother and all we moms know that a mom wears MANY hats. First is the caregiver and the one who gives the love to all. There is the nurse hat when one of your ten to fifteen boys is sick and you sit up all night rocking him. Also, the nurse when the boys get into fights and you are left to give out Band-Aids to all. One of my hats was a water carrier hat. That is when you call them to get up for school and they sleep right through it, so I guess that hat is the firefighter hat because the water somehow gets on the sound sleepers.
Then there was the was the wash woman hat on wash day when you gather up dirty clothes for all of the boys and begin wash day. Some days the biggest part was washing on the scrub board their “million dirty socks”. Then the pile in the living room floor to fold and separate their clothes. Also, the confidant hat where you get to give advice and hope and pray that they will listen and obey.
For the first five years, those and many more were my hats. Then we moved to another location where we were working to begin another orphanage, but the town we chose did not want Americans taking care of their children because they did not want people to think they were not doing a good job. I was Sunday School teacher, neighborhood all-around listener and adviser. So, because we could not get permission from the politicians we were forced to move to another location.
Here I stepped right into the role of youth leader and also young children teacher. The church where we began helping had a large children’s ministry and there, I fit right in and worked with the children in the church and outside of the church. So, when we started our last church, I worked in the women’s ministry and the children’s ministry.
So, as you can see, God has used me in all kinds of areas, but what is so interesting is when I look back on my own childhood and youth, I see how He was preparing me to be the wife of a missionary and to do all the things He brought me to.
My life has been a full and fulfilling one and I have enjoyed every twist and turn. I could not think of not having done any part of it. I give thanks to God for every part of it. And I look forward to everything He will bring to me to do in the future. As Aj would say, “WHAT AN AWESOME GOD WE SERVE!!!”
Thank each and every one of you who pray for Aj and I and for the ones who financially support through Baptist Faith Missions. Without your faithful support we could not do all that you enable us to do.
THANK YOU.
In His service,
Aj and Barbara Hensley
CONTACT INFO
AJ & Barbara Hensley
30524 Mimi St
Sebring, FL 33870-0530
AJ: 859-539-2302 | Barbara: 859-539-1424
ajcaragua@gmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
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Answered Prayer after 30+ Years!
April 21, 2023
I am writing this from Lexington, Kentucky. Mike and I are here taking care of some health issues. Our beautiful daughter, Monica, has been gracious to put up with us!
Some thirty years ago I started praying that God would open a door for us to be able to reach the deaf in our town. At the same time, I started nudging Mike. Finally, after all those years of praying and seeking years it has happened! I believe our church is the only one with this ministry in the state of Acre. There are 23 people who have finished the three courses (one year each). These courses were made possible through one of the women in our church who felt called to implant this new ministry. Tatyana had been the nursery leader for years. She trained another lady and team to take her place. Now a signing course for children has started. My granddaughter, Kayla, ten years old, is one of the students. Since we began last November, there have been at least six deaf people who have made a profession of faith. There are times when they “sing” along with the congregation. I found out recently that sign language in Brazil is different from in the US.
A couple of weeks before I came to the States a group of ladies from the women’s ministry asked to meet with me just to talk. They were curious about how I came to Cruzeiro do Sul. They wanted some input about raising children, being a missionary and pastor’s wife, among other things. I hope I was able to be of help. This is one of the many ways I get to participate and help out in the work here.
Not many people outside our church know this, but I am known at our church for giving the best hugs! Hugs are one of my favorite things. There is a group of children that come for a hug almost every service.
I arrived in the US just over two weeks ago. From what we have been hearing from many of the members of First Baptist things are going very well and souls continue to be saved.
Mike and I have no idea of how long his treatment will take, but we are anxious to get back home. I miss my church and kids/grandkids.
Love,
Beverly
CONTACT INFO
Mike & Beverly Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
69980 Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre
Brasil, SA
mdcreig@hotmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
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Holding Grief & Gratitude at the Same Time
April 21, 2023
Greetings to all of you from beautiful Kijabe, Kenya.
It’s interesting writing these newsletters every year. One of the neat things about it is looking back over the letter from the year before and seeing all the answered prayers. Last year I listed 10 things for you to pray for. Of those 10 things, only one has not changed in the least – adoption. All the others have been answered to one degree or another. That is so encouraging!
God has been good. Well, God is always good even when circumstances are difficult – which they still are. But God has shifted a lot of things for us. Many of them you already know about from Roger’s letters.
I will be honest with you. After going through several months where things were looking up with Chloe, this last month has been difficult and disheartening. I feel like we’ve taken several steps backwards, and that’s really discouraging. In the middle of that, it’s sometimes difficult to remember that things are still better than they were a year ago – on every level: Chloe; support from professionals; community; ministry; marriage; growing in patience, faith, strength, and perseverance…
One of the fundamental things God has been teaching me is that it’s okay to hold grief and gratitude in my hands at the same time: they are not mutually exclusive. I think this is difficult for a lot of people in Christian circles. Anytime someone expresses hard things our knee-jerk reaction is to remind them to be thankful or to minimize the pain they are trying to express. We want to fix things, correct things, and make people feel better about their situation and about God. We say things like, “But don’t forget,” or “At least it’s not as bad as…” or “But look at the important work God has called your parents/spouse/you to…” which communicates the message that the person talking to us isn’t allowed to express those difficult emotions. We shut them down and communicate to them that there is something wrong with them or that they are bad Christians…or even worse, that they are just collateral damage. We’re often not good at sitting with suffering and difficult emotions.
As a mom of three adult MKs now, I can look back and see how I did this to my own children way more than was healthy for them. It seems like experiencing trauma is considered a badge of honor for missionary families in many circles, and we lose sight of the fact that our missionaries and their wives and children need better support in processing those traumas without fear. This doesn’t negate the things we do well for our missionaries – not at all. So please, if a missionary says, “We need a little bit more emotional support right now,” don’t hear that as, “Y’all aren’t doing your job…” rather, just hear the humble admission that life is extra tough in this season and we need our far-away Christian community in extra-ordinary ways right now.
Well, this is where we are as a family: trying to remember that it’s okay to struggle, and it’s okay to ask God difficult things. It’s okay that we feel the “hard.” This “hard” isn’t unique to us. Of all the missionary families I know at RVA (and there are a LOT of them) there isn’t one that doesn’t have a LOT of trauma they are trying to process. And though there are very unique aspects of this for missionaries (especially and most devastatingly for their children), “hard” isn’t only part of missionary life – it’s just part of life, isn’t it? Only the details are different.
So, I want to encourage YOU. If you are going through a difficult period, it’s okay to process that grief. It’s okay to talk about it without feeling like you have to couch everything in “Christianese.” It’s okay to be real. It’s okay to feel overwhelmed today. It’s okay to stop, plop in a chair, look up to God (whether physically or in your spirit) and just say, “Lord, this feels too heavy for me today. I’m overwhelmed. This hurts. I don’t feel like I can keep going today. I need You.” It doesn’t make you a bad Christian or a weak Christian or an ungrateful Christian; it makes you a real, broken person in a real, broken world who is learning how to lean hard into grace.
Roger and I are still learning how to leaning hard into grace in this pro-longed season of our lives. In the middle of all the answered prayer, in the middle of all the continued struggle (because we haven’t yet entered fully into the “rest” promised us), leaning hard implies the idea that we can’t stand on our own…because we can’t. And that’s okay.
God has answered many prayers. God has given us incredible opportunities. God has done amazing things. …AND… We’re hurting. It’s hard. We need your prayers. We need your encouragement. We need to know that our peeps back home still have our backs in this difficult season.
So now, may the God of all comfort comfort us all in all our afflictions so that we may be able to comfort others with the comfort which we have received from Him.
Love,
Julie
CONTACT INFO
Roger & Julie Tate
Moffat Bible College
P.O. Box 70
Kijabe, Kenya 00220
rojuta@gmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
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A Glimpse into the Life of Judy Hatcher in France
April 19, 2023
Bonjour from France.
First of all, thank you for your loving support for almost 24 years here. God is gracious! Fifty years ago this year, John and I started our life together. First, in Brazil for about a year and a half, then Evansville, Indiana for almost 25 years and then, here in France. Over the years we have lived in different cultures, reared children, enjoyed grandchildren, laughed and cried together, laughed and cried with friends and family.
While lots of things have changed, the basic hasn’t. We still have a desire to share the gospel and how it has changed our lives with people around us. Presently, what does my life look like? How do I fill my time? We are presently involved in three Bible studies: one where the majority are unbelievers…two with Christians who are growing in how to live their faith. I participate in these and also teach a children’s class at one of them. We host the church family each week in our home. I get to pray together with my French sisters in Christ. We connect with those who don’t know Jesus personally by way of English conversation class weekly. We share a coffee, listen to life problems, and counsel pre-marriage couples.
However, among the most exciting part of our days is walking! Yes, walking. French people appreciate the outdoors and it is not unusual to see people walking, running, pushing strollers, or riding bicycles. It has become our inroad to French life. Often and at the most unexpected times, God brings someone across our path that needs to hear about Him. Often, we will be walking along, someone will say hi…a conversation is started…et voila! Sometimes it’s because they hear us speaking English…often, it’s John’s friendly -never-meet-a stranger personality. Whatever the means, God opens doors that, humanly speaking, we would have no access to.
So, we pray, we walk, we talk, and God goes before us and opens doors!
May God bless you as you discover how to integrate into the lives of people around you and share His love.
Because of His love,
Judy Hatcher
Contact Info:
John & Judy Hatcher
4, rue d’Aspin
31170 Tournefeuille, France
JMHatcher@aol.com
Present USA phone 1-812-416-1033
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
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The Influence of My Mother on My Own Mothering & Ministry
April 18, 2023
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Hope and pray that the mothers will have a wonderful day and that God will fill each one with His love and wisdom.
Every day as I pray, I always thank God for my mother and the wonderful example she was as a mother and also as a servant of the Lord. So many things in my life as a mother and missionary have been greatly influenced by her example. I remember as a young kid doing visitation and witnessing with my mom. Today, that is a great part of my ministry. Also, having worked for so many years with kids and teens with problems, the Lord has helped me to use that experience helping people here in our new ministry.
My prayer and desire is to help the young people and the parents to not give up, but to seek the Lord each day and ask for wisdom. The enemy is in the world working overtime to distract this generation. As the Lord’s return gets closer, things get worse. That what God has told us in His word. May God richly bless each one of you and that we may reach out to all those God leads us to.
In Christ,
Kathy Barros
Kathy’s parents, John & Alta Hatcher 
Kathy’s parents with her daughters: KathyLee & Amelia
Contact Info:
Odali & Kathy Barros
Iranduba, Amazonas
Brasil, SA
odali_kathy@hotmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
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