Ministry & Leadership Training Continues; Health & Family Updates
January 29, 2022
Thank you for your faithful prayers and generosity.
Family
Thank you for praying for our family. I am currently undergoing radiation treatment five times a week. Laura is adjusting to her cochlear implant. The device was activated three weeks ago. Hearing again does not come automatically, it will take almost a year for her to gain maximum hearing through the implant. She wears it every day at school as part of the initial process of learning to hear again. Her first hearing therapy this week provided a glimpse of her progress. There is still a lot of work, as the learning curve for the brain to adjust to the implant is a lengthy development. As she adjusts to the new hearing process the cochlear implant must also receive fine tuning. This fine tuning requires the audiologist and the cochlear implant technician to work in conjunction with Laura to customize the programing based on her monthly hearing progress. We are praising the Lord for each positive step as she regains hearing from her left ear.
Regarding my cancer care, a PETscan in mid-February will provide us with the current status of the cancer. Chemotherapy is completed and now I go in for radiation sessions five times a week. At this point, the main side effect is fatigue. I keep a healthy dietary plan along with a consistent workout regimen at the gym with my son Benjamin. He is a great workout partner, and his avid participation is an encouragement to maintain our exercise routine. The cold winter makes it hard to get out in the early mornings, especially when it is snowing. I have glided on the ice a few times on the way to and from the clinic, but the Lord has provided safety on the roads.
Our oldest, Sarah, recently received her drivers permit and just this week began her first job working at Culver’s restaurant. Melissa (10 years old) has maximized her time in the snow. There are several kids in the neighborhood that enjoy playing in the snow with her. She is having the time of her life every time she goes outside. Raquel has participated in several conferences and training seminars over the last several months and acquired a new counseling technique called EMDR, which is a tool that allows past traumas to be processed with new insights. This season in the States has been full of first-time experiences and wonderful opportunities for our family. We praise the Lord for each one.
Ministry
Jonatas and Charis are currently in the States as part of their mentoring and exposure trip. They have invested time in West Palm Beach with our dear friend Todd Thomas who serves at Family Church (First Baptist Church WPB) at the Sherbrook campus. While in Lynchburg, VA they stayed with our dear friends Scott and Cindy Phillips, and connected with folks at Living Word Baptist Church. They also attended classes at Liberty University in the Pastoral Leadership program of the School of Divinity, under the leadership of my beloved mentor, Dave Adams. Jonatas and Charis also had quality time with Scott Bullman, Matt Wilmington, Tim Grandstaff, Russ Dean and Doug Randlett at Thomas Road Baptist Church. This next Monday they arrive in Chicago and will remain with us for one week prior to their return to Brazil. This time with us will also be filled with mentorship and learning opportunities at Wheaton College and Moody Bible Institute. Please, continue to pray and to financially contribute as we make concerted training efforts in training leaders.
The ministry in São Paulo is regaining momentum as COVID tensions cause less disruption. Pastor Helder´s wife, Renatha, lost her father this last month and will be greatly missed by all who knew him. Please, pray for the family as they mourn his loss.
Again, thank you for your solid commitment to prayer and for your generous giving through Baptist Faith Missions.
Grateful,
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.
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Blessings in the Battles
January 25, 2022
Dear Friends,
Life is a battle! It isn’t ONLY a battle, but it is a battle. We thank the Lord that we are “more than conquerors through him that loves us.” Throughout 2020, the first year of COVID-19 in the USA and in Brazil, people commented on how bad of a year it was, anxiously waiting for 2021 to arrive. During that same year, our ministries and our personal lives were greatly challenged, yet we saw some of the biggest increases we’d ever experienced. Jesus was Lord in that year! Then, 2021 rolled in and the battles continued. We nearly lost our daughter to COVID, we did lose some church members and we had to adapt our ministries in ways that required extra funding while several of our members were out of work or income. The Lord still blessed, and the congregation grew, and more people were baptized, and we were blessed with the gift of an outreach ministry that only came about BECAUSE of COVID. The battles have been real and not pleasant at all, but through them all, Jesus continued to be our Captain and Lord.
This all brings me to the beginning of 2022. It has begun with more battles. At our first Missionary Training Seminar we were hosting volunteer missionaries from several states for two weeks of evangelistic outreach. The first week of Bible study went without a hitch. Then we proceeded to travel with them into the interior of two states to share the gospel publicly in parks and squares. In just a short time more than half of the team developed symptoms of COVID and the trip had to be aborted. Several of the leaders and volunteers are in isolation, even as I write. Charlene and I both contracted COVID for the second time, but by the grace of God, we have fully recovered. We don’t see these circumstances as being signs of another “bad year.” Rather, we see them as proofs that Jesus’ words that, “in this world, ye shall have tribulation” are true. But we also firmly believe that the rest of that sentence He spoke is true as well, “but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” We know we are in good hands. I can’t honestly say, “Bring on the battles,” without trepidation, but I can say that I know for certain that the Lord will be with us no matter what troubles come our way and I joyfully look forward to the victories that will be ours in Christ Jesus.
Oh, and by the way, we are dealing with the issue of not having enough space for the increase in attendance at our services and we have baptized more new converts in the last several months than in any other equal period in our 36 years of ministry. The Lord is so faithful to keep His promises! We love Him and praise Him.
Thank you who pray faithfully for us, and you who give so that we may be here to serve. We know that you are co-laborers with us in what the Lord is doing here in southern Brazil.
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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Training Church Leaders, Fruit of A&O
January 20, 2022
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We pray and hope that all you are doing well. We are doing well thanks to our wonderful Lord. I have been ill with cold symptoms but thank God I’m feeling better.
The virus problems seem to be increasing some so we are having the care we need to have. But we still are having services.
On Sunday we are doing training for church leaders and for music and children’s classes. We are having services in homes since everyone lives far away from church and many people do not have a car. So, we want to prepare more leaders to be able to have services in more places.
We had a wonderful time in Garça at the Alpha and Omega Home. There are several who were from the home who are married and live there. The fellowship was fantastic and a blessing. We also went and visited one of the young men that lived in the home and today he is a mayor of the city he came from.
One of the things that we need is to get a van that can carry more people than our truck and safer and that can go into the villages easier than our bus.
We want to thank each of you for your prayers and support! God bless each one of you!
Love in Christ,
Odali and Kathy
This young man is the one of the first kids Odali & Kathy Barros brought into their home. Today he is a minister of music, a lawyer, and takes care of all the Alpha & Omega things. 
We hope and pray with them that God will also use this young teen they have taken into their home now. 
This man was also at the A&O Home, now he is mayor of a city near Garça. 
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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A Move Further South & Seminary Plans
January 17, 2022
Dear friends and family,
Well January is turning into a really busy month. Starting with health issues, our son’s wife Jill was in the hospital for a health issue and contracted COVID-19 and was there for 3 or 4 days. She is home now, better with COVID, but still under the doctor’s care. Continuing with family health problems, Mary Katherine and her family in Brazil are also ill with COVID-19. Mary and her husband Walmir and their youngest Ashley are ill with COVID-19, but their oldest Chelsea is not. Keep both families in your prayers please. Mary’s family had the milder symptoms and are doing well.
Barbara and I are down with the flu, running eyes and nose, and have gone through 3 boxes of tissues. We are now in Florida, and we may have some allergies thrown in the mix.
Barb and I have decided to make Florida our permanent residence. Seems quite a challenge with the move and these health issues. This move will help us with our mission of reaching Brazil with the Seminary. This will make all our back and forth to Brazil less costly. Please pray for us in this transition.
Our plans for the Seminary these next few months are to begin in the last of February and the first of March with in-person classes. Dr. Edge pastor of First Baptist Church of Bastrop, Texas, will be the professor for these two classes (Survey of the Old Testament and Old Testament Elective). How AWESOME is the God we serve.
With the health issues here and in Brazil, please pray for these classes. We together with all of you praying, these classes will be under the blanket of prayer. And with this, everything will be protected by God.
About the Guarani Bible project, there are two Churches in Brazil, and those of you who have sent money, so we are in contact with the publisher to help get the Bibles in the Guarani language. Thanks for your giving and praying for this project.
Please continue praying for us and the ministry as it becomes somewhat more challenging to “keep on keeping on”. Through it all, God is AWESOME!!! Also remember to pray for BFM and all the Churches and Pastors supporting our ministry and others throughout the world.
In His service,
Aj and Barbara
P.S. – A special prayer for Barbara as we fall in and over boxes and things in this transition.
CONTACT INFO
AJ & Barbara Hensley
592 Emery Court
Lexington, KY 40505
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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Seeking & Seeing the Lost Sheep as Jesus Did
January 17, 2022
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
What would you write about your last month? Most of the things that we communicate are similar to what is happening “in your neck of the woods”.
A member of our congregation just had a mastectomy. It’s been raining and frosting a lot. I just had a birthday. The holidays are past, and we are in a new year. The nation is trying to handle the Covid crisis.
However, the most important message I can transmit is that our Savior is right here with us. He is keeping His promise, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” His abiding presence encourages me daily not only by what I feel in myself but by what I observe in the lives of other believers. They are becoming more like Jesus.
Yesterday, a lady who recently became a believer and is now a part of our congregation expressed evidence of God’s work in her life. She expressed joy in the way following Jesus as He works in us is so different from being religious. For a good period of time before she came to Christ, she worked hard at being a good convert to Judaism. The member of our congregation that God used to touch her life and introduce her to Jesus was right beside her.
That’s how it works. Jesus in us helping us to see the lost sheep… like Lazarus, wealthy and still seeking satisfaction; the Samaritan woman at the well who had been married five times and was living with a man who was not her husband; Nicodemus who was religious but empty; the man laying by the pool of Bethesda hoping someone would help him get to the water … The questions I must ask myself are, “Do they see Jesus in me?” “Do I seek and see them as Jesus did?”
We are very grateful for your faithful support and prayers. The love of God works through you to enable us to be in Southern France as His witnesses. Pray that God will use each of us to be His witnesses in Bible studies, English learning meetings, children’s meetings, youth meetings and daily encounters.
May God bless each of you where you are.
Your fellow disciples,
John and 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.
Read more
Waiting…waiting…waiting…
January 8, 2022
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ,
Here is a shout out to all of our supporting churches out there. Bless you all for partnering with us in our missionary ministry here in Kenya. May all Kenyans know and follow the Lord Jesus Christ!
To all of our supporting churches out there we apologize that we have not seen you face-to-face in so long. Julie and I have not been able to take a furlough to the United States since 2013. That means it has been over 8 years since you all have seen us. That is too long. Paul left us a good example in the book of Acts when he returned to his sending church and reported on his work. We wish we could do this too but right now we cannot. When God brought Chloe into our lives, we really thought that the adoption process would work out in a couple of years. Now, after 7 years there has been no change or progress in the process because of the restrictions placed upon ex-patriot adoption. With no changes projected in the near future, we have been trying to get a passport for her so that she can at least travel outside the country. The right to a passport has been granted her by the courts. However, we still have not been able to even apply for it. Let me do my best to describe what I’ve gone through to try and APPLY (just apply) for her passport.
18 months ago to 9 months ago: Drive to Eldoret. Visit Immigration department. Show documents. Told by Immigration that they will review documents. Wait. Call Immigration. No response. Call again. Call many times. Finally reach someone. Told by Immigration to wait. I wait. And wait. And wait. Call Immigration. Call many times. Finally reach someone. Told by Immigration that the documents look OK and to be patient. I wait. And wait. Call Immigration. Call many times. No response. Can’t reach anyone. Drive to Eldoret. Visit Immigration department. No one there. Drive back home. I wait. Drive back to Eldoret. Visit Immigration department. Told by immigration that the person reviewing my documents is on sick leave. I ask Immigration if someone else can work on my case. Told by Immigration that this person is the only one who can work on my case. I ask Immigration what happens if this person dies. Silence. Drive back home. I wait. And wait. Call Immigration. Call many times. Finally reach someone. Told by Immigration that the documents have been reviewed and to come see them. Drive to Eldoret. Visit Immigration department. Told by Immigration that 1 date on 1 of my documents is wrong and that I can’t apply for Chloe’s passport. Told by Immigration that I need the Kitale courts to correct the document and then I can begin the document review process again. I groan.
9 months ago to the present: I go to my lawyer in Kitale and show him the document. Lawyer tells me to give him two weeks to get the document corrected. I wait 2 weeks. I wait another 2 weeks. I call the Lawyer. No response. I call many times. I text the lawyer. I text many times. Finally reach lawyer. Told by lawyer that there is no problem, but I just need to wait. I wait. And wait. I repeat this process MANY times: call-text-call-text-wait-wait-told to wait-call-text and so on and so on. I get frustrated. Visit the lawyer’s office to speak to Bwana Mkubwa (the Big Dog, who happens to be the lawyer’s father). The Big Dog tells me he will take care of it, give him one week. I wait a week. And another week. And another. Call Big Dog. No response. Call many times. Finally reach Big Dog. Told by Big Dog to wait. I wait. Call Big Dog. Told by Big Dog that the courts can’t find my original document. Told by Big Dog to wait. I wait…wait…wait…wait…wait.
(In an attempt at brevity, I have not included everything in my preceding account. I have actually left many things out.)
What is my current status? I have a call in to Big Dog. He hasn’t responded. I’m waiting.
I’ve been waiting a year and a half just to APPLY for Chloe’s passport.
For those of you who have endured to this point in my newsletter, bless you. I went through this exasperating description to try and give you some idea of what we are facing and why you haven’t seen our bright and shining faces for so long. We want to see you. We want to report on our work in person. Until then, enjoy the newsletters!
Blessings to you all,
Roger, Julie & Chloe
CONTACT INFO
Roger & Julie Tate
P.O. Box 96
Kitale, Kenya 30200
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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Rough Trip Back to Kenya
January 5, 2022
Dear praying friends,
We hope this update finds each of you all doing well. We wish you each a Happy New Year. It is hard to believe that it is already 2022. Time passes so fast.
As I type this prayer letter, I (Nathan) am currently in a guest house in Nairobi with the family. We had a rough trip back to Kenya and unfortunately, our luggage for the whole upcoming term did not make it on our flight. So, we had to wait a few extra days in Nairobi for the luggage. We praise the Lord that our luggage did finally make it this morning, so we are planning to return to Kitale tomorrow morning, Lord willing. We thank the Lord that we have all our items with us.
What made this past trip so challenging was all the Covid protocols at all the airports and the various flights. We had to show all our documentation at each airport, and had to have a negative Covid test for all our family within 72 hours of traveling. Europe is also stricter now and has had a recent breakout of Covid cases, so it was challenging traveling there as well.
All in all, we praise the Lord that we have made it safely back to Kenya and we are looking forward to getting back to our familiar surroundings in Kitale. Please pray with us for this upcoming term, that all we do would bring honor and glory to God. We desire to please Him and serve where He leads.
There are many things that we need to get accomplished in the upcoming days, to resume ministry and life in Kitale. Please pray for us as we readjust and get set up again. We look forward to sharing more in next month’s update. We appreciate each of you so much and your heart for missions.
I will leave you with 1 Peter 5:7, which says “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” May we cast all our cares upon Him this upcoming year, trusting Him for all the results.
Blessings,
Nathan and Carrie Radford
Contact Info:
Nathan and Carrie Radford
naterad[at]yahoo.com
P.O. Box 4150
Kitale, Kenya 30200
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
News & Reports – January 2022
The Online Edition of the January 2022 BFM News & Reports is available at the link below. Read how God is working through the lives of our faithful missionaries and continue to pray for them.
*Remember you can click on any headline to view the post/story on our website.
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