Spring Conference 2022 Videos
Videos from our 2022 Spring Conference Sessions can be found on our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/BaptistFaithMissions. Special thanks to Grace Baptist Church of Fairborn, Ohio for capturing these and sharing with us!
[Click here for a YouTube playlist with all conference sessions.]
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Remembering Missionaries of BFM
May 18, 2022
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Thanks to our Lord for precious moments in our lives. This month is a special month as we remember the missionaries of BFM who have served the Lord for many years.
Kathy and I had planned a trip to my home state, Cruzeiro do Sul, for over a year. With all the pandemic problems we had to change it. But finally, this month we were able to make the trip. The day we arrived we got a message that Brother John Hatcher had gone to be with the Lord.
Many places we have been we have met people that were led to the Lord by Bro. John Hatcher and also Bro. Bobby Creiglow. What a special moment! These men of God were used to touch many lives and also left an example of serving through good times or hard times.
May God bless each person and the churches that have given to this mission and for uplifting all of us in prayer.
Our works in our ministry are doing well. While we are traveling, we have left those from our church that are doing leadership training caring for the work. Pray that this will encourage our members to want to do more.
We had a special evening with Mike and Beverly Creiglow. My Christian life and ministry started with them. I’m thankful for their influence in my life. May God continue to bless them and their ministry.
Thank God for each of you supporters of BFM. God bless each of you.
Odali preaching at his nephew’s church in Rio Branco 
Service at the Creiglows’ Church 
Service at the Creiglows’ Church 
Odali & Kathy Barros with Mike & Beverly Creiglow
Love in Christ,
Odali and 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.
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John Hatcher, 60-year Missionary to Brazil, Meets His Savior Face-to-Face
“…’Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.’” -Matthew 25:23
John Albert Hatcher, died on May 14, 2022, at his son’s home in Clermont, Florida, where he lived comfortably for the past eight years under the loving care of Paul and Wanda Hatcher, his eldest son and daughter-in-law.
John was born in 1925 in Alexandria, Kentucky, to Albert and Beatrix Hatcher. He was the second of four children, reared in a God-fearing home on a dairy farm. He trusted the Lord Jesus at age nine after hearing the Gospel story of the three crosses, which he later made into a visual pamphlet, translated into three languages, and shared with hundreds of people in his latter years.
Upon finishing high school at Campbell County H.S., amidst World War II, he signed up as a volunteer for the U.S. Merchant Marines. He served proudly for four years, including action on D + 1 day at Normandy, France. After the war he enrolled in Georgetown Baptist College, Georgetown, Kentucky, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree. He went on to earn a Master’s in Theology at Lexington Baptist College and a Doctorate in Theology at Luther Rice Seminary.
In his first year at Georgetown College he met his wonderful wife, Alta McKeehan, and they were married for 69 years. Throughout their college years they worked together in home missions in Kentucky. After graduating, he pastored in Shelbyville and Beattyville, Kentucky, and finally in Alton, Illinois before they followed God’s call to be life-long missionaries to Brazil, sponsored by Baptist Faith Missions.
He arrived in Brazil in 1955 with Alta and their children, and dedicated the first 19 years to church planting in the Amazon Valley, working in the city of Manaus and in villages along the Amazon River. During those years John founded Batista das Americas School and the Manaus Baptist Theological Seminary, and was involved in starting several churches. His many skills and talents were put to God’s use: piloting his boat, building churches and school buildings, making pews and desks, educating and training young pastors, translating theology books, printing Christian literature and song books, evangelizing and teaching by radio, using puppets, ventriloquism and magic to reach people for Christ. John played the saxophone and clarinet and loved Christian music.
In 1976 John and Alta felt led to move to the city of Garça, São Paulo, in southern Brazil. There he started ten churches in ten cities where there were no Baptist churches, along with a bus ministry and Bible Institute through which the churches were serviced with leadership.
In 1989 John moved 200 miles further south to Urai, Parana, Brazil. In the next years he repeated the church planting and leadership training, resulting in seven thriving churches in that region, each with its building paid for.
John Hatcher was known for his unwavering faith in God, incredible discipline and work ethic. As his late mission director, Hafford Overbey put it: John Hatcher works!
All of John and Alta’s children are actively involved in church work, serving the Lord as pastors and missionaries.
Only Heaven will tell the extent of John Hatcher’s influence in spreading the Gospel to the nation of Brazil. He is loved and will be missed by thousands. He fought the good fight, finished his course, kept the faith.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Alta McKeehan Hatcher, his daughter, Lynn McGary, his unborn son, buried on the banks of the Nhamunda River in the Amazon, and his brother, Charles Hatcher. He is survived by two sisters Neree Woods and Jessie Sills, his loving children, Ranaah Paul Hatcher (Wanda) of Clermont, Florida, John Mark Hatcher (Judy) of Toulouse, France, David Judson Hatcher (Pennie) of Manaus, Brazil, Kathy Amazonas Barros (Odali) of Iranduba, Brazil, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Arrangements
Visitation | Tuesday, May 24, 2022 | 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Becker Funeral Home | 806 W. Minneola Ave. | Clermont, Florida 34711 | Directions
Funeral Service | Tuesday, May 24, 2022 | 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Becker Funeral Home | 806 W. Minneola Ave. | Clermont, Florida 34711 | Directions
Graveside Service with Military Honors | Wednesday, May 25, 2022 | 10:30 AM – 11:00 AM
Cape Canaveral National Cemetery | 5525 US-1 | Mims, Florida 32754 | Directions
Memorials
In lieu of flowers, please consider contributing to John’s lifelong passion, missions.
You may do so at:
Baptist Faith Missions
c/o Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280
Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
Please designate to the “General Fund in memory of John A Hatcher”.
Condolences
Condolences may be made to the family at:
Paul Hatcher | 15905 Mercott Ct | Clermont, FL 34714
Click here to read the Autobiography of Alta Hatcher: “The Story of My Life as a Missionary”
“Disse-lhe o seu senhor: Muito bem, servo bom e fiel; sobre o pouco foste fiel, sobre muito te colocarei; entra no gozo do teu senhor.” –Mateus 25:23
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News & Reports – May 2022
The Online Edition of the May 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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A Time of Renewal
May 5, 2022
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
…..“but they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
One year ago this week, John and I returned to our home in France, after spending almost 2 years in the states with my sister, Peggy. We were thankful that we could be there to walk with her through the difficult days of illness. It was heartbreaking to watch as her body faded, yet found rest and peace in the knowledge that, as she faded here, she would rise perfected and whole in the presence of our Savior!
We returned to our home that was made spic and span by our church family here. How blessed can we be?! France was still in partial lock down from Covid, so our movements were somewhat restricted. However, our friends and family made our re-entry here warm.
Our year has been filled with “renewals”. Church meetings…after attending via Skype (for which we were grateful). What a blessing to sing together, pray together, share blessings, share heart needs, study together, in the skin! Our recent study has been on how to be the light in a dark world.
Youth meetings…how invigorating to meet, play, eat, and discuss God’s word with teens! Most are ones that have come over the years, so we are blessed to see their growth and commitment.
Bible study group in Mazères…we are encouraged and blessed as we see the quiet growth and expansion of the gospel in this little town, mainly through the dedication of a single Christian lady who lets her light shine. Several have been saved as fruit of the group that meets at her house. Last meeting our hearts soared as an 80…something year old friend just started sharing verse after verse that God had used to “carry her through”.
Old friends…after three times of being cancelled by Covid, we were able to share a meal and afternoon with a couple who are former neighbors. We count each other as dear friends. We continue to pray that they will commit to Christ.
New encounters…just out for a daily walk brought about a weekly English conversation meeting where we have been able to discern their spiritual needs and share Jesus.
The more I write, the more I’m reminded of God’s goodness to us over the past year, however, I’ll stop as I’m sure your eyes are tired!
The verse thought at the beginning of this letter is actually the conclusion of a declaration that begins in the preceding verse, “Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall… but…”. Today, if you’re tired, weary, I want to assure you, renewal will come!
Thank you for being a part of God’s work here in France.
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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Life in Kitale
April 29, 2022
Greetings from Kenya!
I pray this update finds everyone doing well. This is Carrie writing this month for the annual missionary wives’ prayer letter. I hope the weather is getting warmer for all of you. I’m sure you’re ready for nicer weather after the winter months. Here in Kenya, we are finishing dry season and entering rainy season. The dry season was long this year and especially hot (up to 90 degrees and no air conditioning anywhere). Everything became very dry and dusty and lack of water was a concern. But thankfully, the rains have started and things are beginning to turn green again and the temperatures are cooling down a bit.
Currently there is a fuel shortage in the country. The suppliers are trying to increase the price, but the government is refusing to pay it, so there is a stalemate. The government is working to get the suppliers to lower the cost, but it’s taking a while to do it. There have been reports of people waiting in lines at the gas stations for up to 8 hours to get just a bit of gas for their vehicles. This is really affecting the livelihoods of people such as taxi drivers and piki=pikis (motorbike taxis). In addition, there are fewer supply trucks to bring goods, such as food, from Nairobi to Kitale. We’ve had extremely limited milk for the past couple weeks, and the price of goods is also increasing rapidly, which causes a huge burden on all families and businesses here. The people are struggling to buy the food they need for their families. Please pray that the fuel situation gets resolved quickly and that prices reduce for the people of this country.
Homeschooling continues to go well. The girls really enjoy their classes and are doing a great job working diligently. We’ve been doing some PE activities as a family, such as morning exercise, which has been really nice. Cami enjoys learning to cook and Kenna has taken some drawing classes online, which has been a huge blessing. We’ve gotten a new kitten who is an endless delight for the girls. He’s a snuggly little guy and such a blessing for us.
Please pray for the girls as they are needing friends. We had a family with some girls their ages here, but they’ve moved to another part of Kenya. This has been a big loss for our girls as they were close and played a lot together. There have been a lot of changes in our community with families leaving and we’re all struggling with it to some extent. Please pray for us as a family. Missions can be so difficult with all the goodbyes we say. There are very few “wazungus” (westerners) left in our town. Please pray for strength and for new families to come.
Thank you all for the encouragement you send and the prayers you say on our behalf. We appreciate them more than you know. Each of you is a blessing to us and we’re thankful for you. God bless you all as you head into the summer months.
In Christ,
Nathan and Carrie Radford
Contact Info:
Nathan and Carrie Radford
naterad[at]yahoo.com
P.O. Box 4150
Kitale, Kenya
East Africa 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.
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A Love for Children
April 27, 2022
Dear friends and family,
Looking back on our time serving the Lord in Brazil shows me where God wanted to use me. Over the last 26 years, my service to the Lord was through the children of Brazil.
Our first years in Garça were with Odali and Kathy Barros establishing an orphanage. There I worked mostly with boys 9-23 years of age. Then we moved to the city of Jacaree hoping to start another orphanage. This dream did not come to life as the mayor of that city did not want Americans opening an orphanage. As we lived there, I worked with the neighborhood children. Then God moved us to Caraguatatuba. In Caraguatatuba, we started Saturday Bible classes with children. When we started a new church in that same area, our first attending were those same children.
So, as you can see my area of service has been always with children in my life. God has always directed my heart to the area of children. Even as a child and teenager myself, anywhere I sat in church, there was always a group of children.
As we have now had to switch gears because of AJ’s cancer, my focus changes. We came back to the States for the treatment for his cancer. Because of this coming back, we thought God was through with us on the mission field. AJ went to Dave Parks to say that he would resign BUT Dave said that he did not think God was finished with him. So, we have entered a new episode of our lives. We now are focused on the Seminary that we had started years back. This way AJ can continue in his doctor’s care in the States but continue traveling to Brazil for the Seminary. I am looking for my place in this new work, asking God what he wants me to do. Can you pray with me as I seek God’s will?
Looking back over these past 26 years I realize that every life we touch leaves a lasting impression. For example, AJ and I have two children that God gifted us, but I have many more that God has placed in my heart from Brazil. When there is a special day for mothers, I not only get cards and calls from my biological children, I also get cards and cards from my heart children from Brazil. This is just a reminder of how God works through each life that passes through your life.
Continue praying for me as I wait for clear knowledge of God’s will in this new area of my life.
I am sending some pictures for you to see some of the beautiful children that God has put in my life in Brazil.
Serving a risen Lord,
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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Faith Strengthened Through Cancer Journey
Wheaton, April 24, 2022
Dear friends,
It is with joy I write to all of you. I hope this letter finds you well.
Life in Chicago has been full of adventures. When God led us here last August 2021, we didn’t quite understand, nor did we know what was coming ahead. But our God is an omniscient God, He knows each one of our days, He knows our past and our future. Just a few weeks after we were settled in one of 24 missionaries’ apartments, Jud received the news of having lymphoma. I confess, it caught us by surprise. The days ahead were difficult, as Jud and I tried to swim in the waters of the unknown. We didn’t say much during those days, but we could almost read each other’s thoughts, one of them being: “It’s our turn to glorify God through pain and sorrow, and to continue to trust and love Him in the valley as on the mountain.” We didn’t question God. We chose to live one day at a time, without speculating into the future, or falling into the “what if” trap.
The most emotional time was when we shared it with our children. To see their tears and their eyes and their confused/sad faces broke our hearts, and we all cried together. But it wasn’t a cry of desperation, it was a cry of submission. During our journey, my faith was strengthened. Not because I had everything under control, quite the opposite, I had no idea what our future would be like, but I had someone, Jud, who modeled to our family what it means to be thankful in all situations. He showed us daily, what it means to trust God without asking “Why me?” or “Why now?” or “Why this way?”. He demonstrated to us what it means to have joy despite pain and uncertainties. In the middle of it all, Jud’s example helped me to have the same attitude. As Paul said in I Corinthians 11:1 “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” This verse has a personal meaning to me now.
Raquel & Jud 
Jud & Raquel
We, Christians, are called to glorify God with our lives in everything we do, and, as we do, we elevate Jesus Christ high for everyone to see. When people see Jesus, they can’t help it but give Him glory also. That is why faith without works is dead. How will people see Jesus if we don’t show Him with our actions? James 2:16 –17 “If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
More than ever, I understand it now. Before, I thought Paul could ask people to follow him as he followed Christ, because he was the chosen of God, he was special. But, we all, if we are Christians (disciples of Christ), we ought to do and say the same thing. We need each other on this journey. God knew we couldn’t make it without one another. We need to see in each other’s lives, what it means to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5).
Jud is cancer free now; God chose to heal him. We don’t have enough words to describe how thankful we are to have received the gift of life on this earth, but we are even more thankful to have received eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. I want to say thank you for your prayers, your supportive messages, your cards of encouragement, your gifts, and your financial assistance. Everything you did for us; you did it for Jesus. We’re forever grateful for Baptist Faith Missions, and all our brothers and sisters who live this journey with us during sad and joyful times.
Love,
Raquel 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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