Lack of Faith
December 10, 2022
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ,
Lack of faith.
Lack of faith is my trouble. When something terrible happens this week, my first reaction is “Why God?” Why did that horrible thing have to happen? Why, if you love me, did you allow that, when you could have changed it?
Lack of faith is my trouble. Why God, is my life like this? This is not what I designed for myself. I want my mind to think differently, and, God, I’ve asked you for help to trust. Why don’t you help me?
Lack of faith is my trouble. Why, God, does your Word not work for me the way that it works for others? Why do they find such comfort in it while I only struggle? Why do others find faith while I doubt?
Do you know what is interesting, though (for this newsletter)? I find the faith of Kenyan believers astounding.
Roger: “You have no money and no job. How are you going to provide for your family?”
Kenyan believer: “I don’t know. But God will feed us.”
Roger: “You have no income, no savings, and no friends with resources, and no plans. How are you going to pay your school fees?”
Kenyan believer: “I don’t know. But God wants me to go to this school and so he will provide my school fees.”
Roger: “Your husband has died after a long sickness. The hospital is demanding money. The mortuary won’t release his body until you pay. He was the only one with an income. What are you going to do?”
Kenyan believer: “I don’t know. I will trust in God.”
We are all in school together, my Kenyan students and me. We are all trying to learn God and learn God’s ways together. Our faith, theirs and mine, are constantly being stretched at the same time, but sometimes in different ways.
I have a lot of Biblical knowledge after years of study and I hopefully have a little wisdom from trying to apply that Biblical knowledge to everyday life for many years. I have a lot I can teach them. They have a simple faith (not a simplistic faith) that trusts God against reason, and joyfully. They have a lot they can teach me.
We are approaching the Christmas season. In Kenya, December is pretty much just like any other month of the year. Christmas consists of about three days for most Kenyans. Day 1: Travel back to your birthplace/homeplace. Day 2: Celebrate Christmas with your family by eating some roasted goat. Day 3: Travel back home. Whether we are rush-rush in the United States or eating goat in Kenya, may we all come and adore the King, our Savior, Jesus.
Joy to the world. Blessings to all,
Roger, Julie & Chloe
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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News & Reports – December 2022
The Online Edition of the December 2022 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.
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A Special Visit to Garça
November 21, 2022
Dear friends and family,
While in Brazil for the Seminary graduation we took a few days off just to go back to Garça to visit old friends, pastors, and churches there. This was where our ministry in Brazil started with Pastor Odali and Kathy Barros in the Alpha and Omega Children’s Home.
We spent time with Pastor Serjio and he took us to visit Pastor Epitacio in the old Orphanage property where he pastors the church Igreja Batista da Fe. During this visit we found out that Pr. Epitosio and Fatima will be going back to the northern region in January to start another mission. Then Pr. Serjio will assume the pulpit there. Pr. Serjio was the pastor in the Church where we held the Seminary in Garça and we discussed having our next seminary class for them there.
While in Garça, we met with some of the children who were in the orphanage from the time we were there. Luiz, one of the young men, now lives in the orphanage building and he is now a lawyer. He helps in the buildings and takes care of their legal business. Another young man, Edson, will be graduating in January as a veterinarian. He still lives in Garça where he goes to Veterinary school. How AWESOME is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. They call Barb and I mom and dad and we are very proud for them to have been afforded the opportunity to study and advance themselves. Some of you have helped in their educations as you have given to BFM and that was passed on to them.
The Seminary classes are now being planned for the year 2023. We are planning trips in January, March, July, and September. Some of those trips will be classes and others will be meeting new Pastors and churches where interest has been expressed for new classes.
We are planning our holidays a little different this year. We are living in Florida between trips to Brazil so we are bringing our two families to spend Christmas with us here. Our Brazil family is excited but sad because there is no SNOW. But the Kentucky Family is looking forward to coming to the warm weather in Florida. What is the saying? “You cannot please all the people all the time”? But Barbara and I will be pleased because this will be the first time in many years that we can spend the Christmas holiday together.
Speaking of the Holidays it would be remiss of me to not thank all our donors at Baptist Faith Missions for your support all year long. Your prayers and donations are what keep us going in Brazil.
There are no words big enough to show our gratitude so I will just use my favorite one – you are AWESOME!!!!
Continue praying for us and God’s ministry that He called us to do.
In His service,
Aj and Barbara
Edson, Barb, Luiz, & AJ 
AJ & Barbara 
Igreja Batista da Fé
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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Thanksgiving & Commissioning Service
November 19, 2022
Dear Friends,
This past week, our church celebrated our thanks to the Lord for this year’s provisions as well as His calling from our midst, Yago and Manoela Guedes, to go to Portugal as missionaries. We had a commissioning service for them and a Thanksgiving banquet at the same event. It was truly a joyous occasion. It was the first time that our entire church could get together at the same time and location for nearly two years. We met at a church member’s farm that has a pavilion that was large enough for us all. Yago and Manoela will have arrived in Foz do Arelho, Portugal by the time you are reading this letter. We will be praying for them and seeking to support their ministry efforts as they seek to reach the spiritually lost there. There is less than 1 percent of born-again believers in Portugal and this young couple will greatly need the Lord’s wisdom and power in sharing the gospel and winning lost souls. Please pray with us and for them as they seek to serve the Lord and obey His commission. If you believe the Lord is guiding you to aid this couple, you may contribute with the memo: “Wacaser-Portugal Mission”.
It has been many years since I have had any health issues and I am extremely grateful. These past two weeks, though, I have struggled with laryngitis and have had to call on my co-pastors to preach in my place. I haven’t felt very ill, but my voice was too weak and raspy to communicate without being a distraction. I am grateful to be able to count on these young men who are doing an excellent job of faithfully delivering the Word. I seem to be much better today (Saturday) and intend to preach at both services tomorrow. Challenges like this are great reminders to me of just how much I depend on the Lord for every large and small grace. I pray for His strength and ability to honor Him with my mind and my voice.
Just a little reminder that in Brazil, below the Equator, we are entering into our summer months and the 3-month school break. Since the public schools are our traveling evangelistic team’s main venue for outreach, we change our focus during this period to assist the home church with the Christmas program and to minister to the poor and homeless in our own city. The volunteers who are from other cities will get a couple of weeks to return home to visit with their families on the holidays but will return shortly after New Year’s Day to begin preparing for the outreach trips scheduled for next year. The Lord blessed greatly this past year as we were privileged to share the gospel to over 40,000 people in public venues. Thousands of those who heard responded by surrendering their lives to Christ. All honor and glory to our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Charlene and I are so thankful for the faithful prayers and support on our behalf. We humbly acknowledge and recognize that you sacrifice from what you could use in any number of ways but choose to give so that we may minister here. We thank the Lord for you and pray that you may be eternally and richly blessed.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and 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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The Seed Factory Church Plant Initiative
November 19, 2022
Dear friends,
Thank you for supporting and praying for us. We return to Brazil on December 19, 2022. Pray for us as the country is living through a season of unrest due to the recent presidential election and freedom of speech infringement by the supreme court. I often get asked by dear friends who pray and support us, “What do you plan to do once you return to São Paulo?” We are part of “The Seed Factory Church Plant Initiative.” Our vision is to have a church planting church in the capitol of every state. From the state capital, expand into other cities by sending church planting teams to make disciples and plant church planting churches where each church has its Seed Factory Training Center & Bible Institute/Seminary. A constant cycle of reproducing churches, leadership multiplication, team building, and Christ’s Kingdom expansion. Our purpose in Brazil is to recruit, train, place, and network pastors and leaders globally. Globally? Yes, we pray for Brazilian missionaries with the same vision and purpose to go to neighboring countries and other parts of the world.
Pastoral & Team Training
Pastoral leadership provides vision, Scriptural direction, and acceleration during church planting phases. A church planting team delivers the required synergy to plant and develop a multigenerational strategy.
Equipping & Sending Church Planting Teams to Every State
Theoretical & practical formation through mentorship nurtures the necessary framework for teams to function creatively and cohesively. Churches planting churches, each one with a Seed Factory Training Center to reach other cities.
National Leadership Network
Pastors train pastors & leaders train leaders. Developing a leadership pipeline within the local church that values theological integrity, spiritual accountability, formative mentorship, and metacognition / critical thinking skills under a steward leadership construct that delivers the necessary foundation for a continual leadership formation cycle, multiplication, & succession.
Foster Care Coordination
Foster care in São Paulo remains a novel concept. Through a divine appointment, Raquel engaged in foster care mobilization and coordination, and serves as a strong advocate for at-risk children. Metro São Paulo has 28 million inhabitants and has a large amount of vulnerable & at-risk kids.
Trust-Based Relational Intervention® (TBRI) Training
Earning and developing a child’s trust often comes with complex challenges and must be overcome relationally. TBRI is a trauma-informed care & empirical intervention approach developed at Texas Christian University. Raquel is a practitioner for TBRI training nationwide.
Salvation Decisions in the Northeast
Last weekend I received news from Pastor Raimundo Pinto and his team in Aracajú, northeastern Brazil. They had a Saturday night youth rally with 40 teenagers and eight salvation decisions. Pray for them as we have embarked on a building project that costs $35,000. If you’d like to assist with resources, please designate your contribution through BFM to “Jud Hatcher – Aracaju Church Plant.”
Leadership Pipeline Training Series
Our current leadership pipeline series (recorded on Zoom and posted on YouTube) was kicked off by two guest speakers: Jason Estes and Bill Repke. We are discussing the need to nurture a strong Biblical Leadership Culture within the local church’s leadership pipeline. The recordings are available on YouTube for pastors to use as a resource and have several hundred views.
Grateful always,
Jud Hatcher
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.
Read more
Saturday Night Services in Ubim
November 19, 2022
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Thank God we are doing well, and things are calm. We pray that all is well with our dear friends and supporters. There is news that the COVID is back and increasing, but here in our area things are calm. Thank God!
Now that our seminars for leaders are complete, we are starting back Sunday school for the children. Getting more members involved. We also plan on visiting a village not far from the church to bring people on the bus.
Our services in homes are doing well. Our plan for the next year is to reach out more and get more people involved. At the village of Ubim, we started having services on Saturday night. Several of the musicians from the church are going and helping with the music. Pray that we can reach more adults and that the youth who have been coming for several years can get more involved. This village has lots of young people and young adults. We pray that God will send a couple who would live there. There is so much that can be done.
Thank God we were able to drill a well for the church. We were using the neighbor’s. We want to ask for your prayers for what we would like to do in the near future. We would like to have a river ministry to go to the people who can only be reached by boat. This was the ministry that Bro. Hatcher and Bro. Bratcher did a lot in this area. These are continuing fruits of the labors of their ministry. We would love to continue this ministry. We are praying what would be best: to buy a boat or rent one. Pray that God will lead us to what would be best.
Thank each of you for your prayers and support! God bless each of you!
Love in Christ,
Odali and Kathy
Saturday Night Service in Ubim 
Saturday Night Service in Ubim 
This girl made a heart for Sis. Kathy 🙂
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.
Read more
Fellowship with Disciples, Meals & Studies with Seekers
November 14, 2022
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
It’s Thanksgiving Season and we are very thankful to our Heavenly Father that He has given us many years of fellowship with you. Thank you for your faithful support.
Thanksgiving is not a holiday in France but we always celebrate it as close to the US National holiday as we can. This coming Saturday we will be having Thanksgiving dinner together with Philip, Amanda and their two younger daughters. Camille is in her first year at a University here and Emily is a Senior in High School. We have also invited two couples who have been friends for a long time. Neither of these are believers. The primary way we share the Good News is in encounters and meals together. One couple are parents of Pascaline who trusted the Lord and followed Him in baptism several years ago. She is now doing University studies in the city of Lyon.
Friday night we were surprised by the visit of Marie Theophile. She was a part of our assembly for about ten years along with her parents and siblings before going to University. She is now completing Law School in Northern France. Many young people from our congregation are now in Universities in other regions and countries. Thomas just moved to Italy this past Friday to attend Medical School. We hope and pray that each of these disciples will follow the Lord faithfully where they are.
If you have prayed for our newest Bible study in L’Union, we have encouraging news. God is definitely at work in these meetings. Attention and participation has been great. Please continue to pray for the salvation of the seekers who need Christ and are attending these Bible studies. Since the good majority are lost and have practically no familiarity with the Scriptures, we are reading and discussing the first few chapters of Genesis and then moving to the Gospel of John.
These are some of the highlights of what God is doing here. We thought you would like to know!
Serving Christ along with you,
John and Judy
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.
Read more
Modeling and Teaching the Word of God
November 10, 2022
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ,
Modeling and teaching.
Biblical modeling and teaching is exactly what I am trying to do and accomplish here in Kenya for current and future Kenyan church leaders. And, fortunately, I get plenty of opportunities for doing both.
There is something I try and keep in mind as I model and teach future Kenyan church leaders. It actually comes from the books of Ezra and Nehemiah in the Old Testament.
First, Ezra. What did he do? The Bible says that when Ezra returned to Jerusalem with the other Israelites after seventy years of captivity in Babylon that Ezra focused on three things. This, in essence, is what I’m trying to model and teach. Look at Ezra 7:10 to see my own model:
- Ezra set his heart to STUDY the Law of the Lord.
It is the Word of God that gives us direction in life, in ministry and most importantly in our relationship with God. My desire is to set my own heart to study the Word of God and I want my Kenyan students to do the same.
2. Ezra set his heart to DO the Law of the Lord
One thing I reiterate over and over to my students, or church members, or anyone else who will listen is that we can know the Word of God very well, but it doesn’t do us any good unless we actually DO it and follow it. A disciple of Jesus is someone who FOLLOWS Jesus. We are trying to make and multiply disciples of Jesus. I also tell anyone who will listen: “A person who knows 90% of the Bible but only follows 10% of what they know is far less mature than a believer who knows only 10% of the Bible but follows 90% of what they know.
3. Ezra set his heart to TEACH the Word of the Lord
I have set my heart to teach the Word of God to any and every Kenyan person who is willing to hear it. I know I have few skills and abilities, but I can teach the word of God with passion and I pray that the Kenyan people and especially the future leaders of the churches in Kenya catch that same passion for teaching the Word of God to the rest of the Kenyan nation as well.
Second, Nehemiah. What did he and his contemporaries do? Listen to Nehemiah 8:8 – “They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.” Awesome! When they read and preached from the Word of God they also “gave the sense of it clearly” so that the hearers could understand completely. It is one of the hallmarks of my ministry to make the Word of God as simple to understand and follow as possible. That’s not hard for a simple man like me. But I want my Kenyan hearers to UNDERSTAND. I want them to understand, then follow and love Jesus, and then expand the kingdom of Jesus to the rest of Kenya and beyond.
Hey, y’all, I want the Word of God to come alive in this country and start a revolution of following Jesus and glorifying God. “Gracious and loving God, may this happen in my own life and in the lives of your beloved Kenyan people. Amen.”
Blessings,
Roger, Julie & Chloe
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.
Read more
