News & Reports – March 2025
The Online Edition of the March 2025 BFM News & Reports is available at the link below.
*Remember you can click on any headline to view the post/letter on our website.
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A Note from David Pitman, President
Through the generosity of our donors we were able to send a $500 “bonus” at the end of 2024 to our missionaries and retirees. A small token but much appreciated. I was so blessed by Brother Asa Mark Bratcher’s response and I share it now with his permission:
“Dear Bro. David: Just a note to express my deepest appreciation to you and the directors of BFM, for the bonus I just received. It is so amazing how our Lord works sometimes. Exactly 2 minutes earlier I had transferred to a couple in Manaus, 500 dollars as a down payment for a piece of property, next to the building of the Bratcher Memorial Baptist Church in the middle of the rain forest. Thanks once again, and to our Faithful God, whom we try to serve, all the glory!”
We are very thankful for how our retirees continue to represent BFM so well. Please give to the Missionary Support Fund!
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Odali Barros Announces Retirement
Odali Barros has faithfully served as a BFM missionary in Brazil for over 30 years, ministering in São Paulo and later moving to Manaus. He will be retiring this month. Odali, a native Brazilian, was saved under the ministry of Mike Creiglow. He is married to Kathy, the youngest daughter of John and Alta Hatcher. Their ministry together has had a special emphasis on children over the years, including many orphans.
Odali and Kathy have expressed a desire to continue working among the people of Manaus for as long as they are able. We pray that God will continue to bless Odali and Kathy as they seek to bring yet more
lost souls to Christ.
A Note from Odali
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We want to thank each one that supports Baptist Faith Missions. We are thankful for your support and prayers for our ministry. I’m grateful for BFM because it was through this mission that I heard the gospel and was saved. Time has gone by so fast. We are retiring but will continue serving God where we are.
May God continue blessing each one and Baptist Faith Missions.
Love in Christ,
Odali and Kathy
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father…” -1 Thessalonians 1:1b-3
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GracExtended! Update
GracExtended is a new initiative where the BFM directors will identify other ministries to support in a strategic way, further extending our mission efforts. Some of this support will go to current BFM missionaries as they seek to train and encourage local pastors and engage in new opportunities. Additional support will go to selected ministries outside our normal outreach, as we seek to partner with like-minded church-planting organizations. Below is one of the projects our support assists.
Bethersden Baptist Church, England
From Grace Baptist Partnership:
“We are delighted to announce that Bethersden Baptist Church has issued an invitation to Gavin Peacock to become their Locum Pastor for a period of 12 months commencing in February 2025. Please pray for Gavin and his wife as they prepare to return to the United Kingdom early in the New Year. Please pray for Bethersden Baptist Church to be revitalised to Biblical health and enabled to appoint a new Pastor. Please pray for Grace Baptist Church in Bexleyheath and other churches in our Partnership as they seek to assist in various ways. Above all, pray that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ will be glorified through this endeavour.”
Ways to Pray:
>> Please pray for the churches in the United Kingdom that are part of Grace Baptist Partnership.
>> Pray specifically for Bethersden Baptist Church in Kent (Southeast England) to be revitalized to Biblical health and enabled to appoint a new pastor.
>> Pray for Pastor Gavin Peacock and his wife (pictured, left) as they return to the United Kingdom to assist at Bethersden Baptist Church for one year.
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Disciples in France Sharing the Gospel with Others!
February 17, 2025
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings from Southern France which is far north of where most of you live. Plaisance du Touch is about the same distance from the North Pole as Toronto, Canada. However, our winters are not extremely cold due to the Gulf Stream that warms western Europe.
God continues to touch lives around us. It is wonderful to be sharers of the Good News here and to be used by God to disciple those who have trusted Christ as Lord and Savior. Yesterday, Rose, a lady who was diagnosed with cancer a couple of years ago, told us excitedly about a door that God opened for her to share the Good News. She was waiting for minor surgery to remove the chemotherapy port that had been used for her treatment. A conversation with another lady awaiting the same procedure began and God guided her to be able to give her testimony and share about her faith as the other lady asked questions.
Roxane, a young lady who is a member of our congregation, studying to be an engineer, shared how God had given her the opportunity to share the Gospel with a friend for whom she had been praying. Roxane trusted the Lord and followed Him in baptism less than two years ago. She is the only believer in her family, but a flame of fire for the Lord in her gentle way of passionately seeking the lost and sharing the Good News.
We have regular Bible studies in six different locations in addition to the regular church meetings. Some of these are groups of saved people growing in the Lord and encouraging each other and some are groups of seekers meeting in the home of a believer with whom they are friends.
Several of those who were seekers have trusted Christ in the last year and are reading through their Bibles. It is exciting to receive phone calls or text messages from these new believers asking questions from their reading. Here are a couple of questions I received this past Saturday: “How come prophet Nahum proclaims condemnation of Nineveh when Jonah tells about their repentance and forgiveness?” “How were Pharaoh’s men able to do some of the same signs as Moses?” How would you answer these questions? If you need help, ask one of your spiritual leaders.
We are very grateful for your contribution to what God is doing here.
Your Fellow Servants in France,
John and Judy
Contact Info:
John & Judy Hatcher
2 T Impasse de la Picardie
31830 Plaisance du Touch
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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Remembering Joanne Felan
February 18, 1948 – February 4, 2025
We would like to acknowledge the passing of Joanne Felan, longtime member of New Hope Baptist Church and supporter of BFM. If you ever attended the annual BFM Thanksgiving Conference at New Hope Baptist Church in Michigan, you most likely experienced a warm welcome from Joanne, her husband Paul, and her sister Myrna.
Joanne’s sweet smile, generous hospitality, cheerful demeanor, and kind listening ear will be remembered fondly. She blessed many of us with her gift of music, playing the piano and singing in the choir. She and her husband Paul also frequently traveled to other BFM Conferences, encouraging our missionaries and other believers with their presence. It was evident that her love for the Lord fueled her love for missions and all things BFM.
May we all seek to serve the Lord with the same attitude as Joanne, radiating His love and encouraging others along the way! Pray that the Lord would wrap His arms of comfort around her family in their grief.
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Praying for the Persecuted in the Congo
February 10, 2025
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ,
How up are you on African current events? Probably not so much if you are anything like me. But because I live here and love Africa and the people of Africa, I may hear more about current events than y’all back in the States. So, what do you hear about the conflicts in Congo? Congo is “near” to Kenya, and although the conflict, fighting, and violence that is going on there does not affect us here in Kenya at all, we are still concerned about the people that live there and that are having to face the extreme hardships that surround them.
The conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, especially in the eastern region, has escalated significantly recently. I don’t know what they should be called, rebels or terrorists or what, but the group called M23, supported by the Rwandan government, has been on a rampage, causing widespread displacement of people and a severe humanitarian crisis. Over 700,000 thousand people have been displaced along with widespread reports of violence, executions and murders, sexual assault, and the burning of villages and crops. There are also concerns that the fighting will extend to surrounding countries like Burundi and Uganda (neighboring countries of Kenya).
I can’t pretend to say I understand any of the political, military, economic, or religious reasons behind the tragedies going on in Congo. Most assuredly they are fueled by decades of ethnic tensions, political rivalries, and probably corruption. But stripping all that stuff away, which I don’t understand, there are thousands, if not millions, of people and families that are being adversely and harmfully affected by the violence and viciousness of the uncaring and callous fighters/rebels/terrorists.
So, why am I telling you all of this? Well, first of all, because I want you to pray for the people and the country of Congo. Precious people and families are being destroyed, and we need to lift them up to our loving and powerful God. But, second, because I know people who are there in the midst of the suffering, doing the work of God and of the Kingdom, right in the center of the violence. You may recall that we had four students from Congo at our school who graduated just back in July of last year.
Our four students were Steven, David, Jiresse, and Asifiwe. After graduation back in July, Steven and David remained in Kenya to continue their education but Jiresse and Asifiwe returned to Congo to begin ministering to their beloved Congolese people. As I write this, Jiresse and Asifiwe find themselves right in the mist of these conflicts and directly in the line of fire of the violence and aggression. We have been able to hear from them when they get a chance to communicate. They are part of the displaced people who are struggling to obtain food and water for themselves and their people. They have no electricity or amenities and basically no shelter. But they have not abandoned their training or their calling, even in the midst of suffering and distress. They are determined to continue to proclaim and teach the gospel message of Jesus to the refugees and broken families of Congo. They are seeing people being saved and entering the Kingdom of Christ even in the midst of tragedy. They are trying to help desperate people find food, water, and shelter, all in the name of our Savior. They are being true ministers and servants of our precious Lord, doing the same thing Jesus did when he came to minister to hurting people: “Proclaiming good news to the poor; Proclaiming liberty to the captives; Setting at liberty those who are oppressed; and Proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor.”
It is impossible to know how you might touch someone’s life who will then go on to touch someone else’s life, and so on and so on. I know that we have been able to touch the lives of Jiresse and Asifiwe in significant ways, for which we are thankful and blessed. Now, they are touching others with the love of Jesus in a place where we cannot reach. Please be in prayer for Jiresse and Asifiwe. Pray that God would watch over them and protect them from harm. Pray that they would have effective ministries to their beloved Congolese people. Pray that many Congolese people would know and experience the love of Jesus through their lives and service.
Thank you, beloved, for your prayers.
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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18 New Apprentices in Training & Sharing the Gospel
February 2, 2025
Dear Friends,
I was in Brazil the last couple of weeks training a new group of missionary volunteers for this new year. Our traveling evangelism ministry partner, Projeto Vida, tries to put together at least two training seminars per year: one in January and one in July. This past month we had 18 new volunteer apprentices coming from four different states. A couple of other veteran missionaries and I were the speakers/mentors for this conference. We spent one week in the biblical study of missions and evangelism and then the students accompanied our experienced team of missionaries on a 10-hour trip to the southernmost state of Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul. There in a coastal city called Canoas, they spent the final week in one-on-one evangelism and outreach. The Lord blessed tremendously in at least two predominant ways: Lost listeners heard the gospel message and surrendered their lives to Christ and, also, our new volunteers were overwhelmed with how much the Lord used them to share the love of Jesus to the lost and are excited about getting out there and participating more.
While in Brazil, my former co-pastor, now senior pastor, invited me to speak to my former church. The good folks gave me such a warm reception. It was very encouraging to see how well Cledson has taken up the reins and how well he and his wife, Fabiane, are leading the church. One of the impressive details about Cledson’s leadership is how he guided the church through a very difficult and painful move to other facilities. I know how hard that can be since I’ve done it a couple of times throughout our ministry. It was clear that the Lord was doing the leading, because of the better location and lower costs. The former building was located quite a distance from a major road or street, but their new location is right in front of a main city bus terminal and a neighborhood park. During the course of a week, tens of thousands of residents pass right in front of the new location. The park also offers ample opportunities for evangelistic outreach through social interaction with the visitors and residents. And, as I mentioned, this better location also comes with a better price. God is so good!
I spoke with Yago and Manoela, our missionaries to Portugal this week. They shared the news that Manoela’s pregnancy is going fine. Yago got some good news about his “tent-making” vocational income as well. Microsoft Portugal has handed him a new set of working orders which assure that they will continue to receive a good portion of their financial support for an extended period. He had told me a couple of months ago that they had not received any contract information, and they were concerned that their income might cease. Yago conveyed to me, though, that he and Manoela were certain that the Lord was not finished using them in Portugal yet, so they were prayerfully seeking His leading and sustenance. With this new work order information, they can rejoice now that the Lord has confirmed their presence there for some time. We continue to pray for them to win lost Portuguese people to Christ and to build the church there.
On a personal note: After nearly three months, Charlene and I were able to move out of the hotel back into our home. The repairs after Hurricane Milton are nearly done, lacking only the kitchen cabinet tops and a little bit of electrical work. We still have not had much success getting our insurance companies to pay their due protection, but we will continue to appeal the process and pray that the Lord will lead us to a viable solution.
Thank you for your faithful prayers and kind support. We pray that 2025 will be a year full of ministry opportunities and results.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Contact Info:
Bobby & Charlene Wacaser
Currently Stateside ministering to Brazil
Phone: (813) 501-9328
E-mail: 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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