Trying Times in Cruzeiro do Sul
Dear Brethren,
Grace and peace to all of you. The Creiglow crew is all in good health. I have been encouraged to see that the pandemic numbers have been dropping rapidly in the United States. The opposite is happening here.
This letter will be short. Why? There is not much positive to report. This is a new experience for me. I have had my share of difficult times, but this letter will be hard to write.
The second wave of the virus has hit Cruzeiro do Sul and all of Brazil for that matter. The numbers are alarming. Yesterday Brazil had 30,000 more new cases than the US and 250 more deaths with 120 million fewer people! We lost 2 more members last week. Then we had a border crisis, with 400 Haitians trying to cross the Peruvian border. On top of that we had a historic flood. 10 of the 22 cities of the Acre were under water. We had several families housed in our school buildings.
You, too, have had to deal with the pandemic, major winter storms and unbelievable flooding. We have been praying for you and hope that you will do the same for us.
We are under lockdown and had to stop our services for now. We do livestream 3 services every week. Our musicians, praise groups, the pastor and media folks are the only ones in the building. I also record short lessons that go on our FaceBook and YouTube channels 2 or 3 times a week. We are taking care of our members primarily through our small groups, even though they are not allowed to meet in person.
Since I can’t get out I have also been working on building my new shop. It is almost finished. My tools were scattered in 3 locations and I had no real place to work. Now everything including the boats and motors will all be in the same location.
Well I am sorry to not have much to report to you right now, but I hope you understand.
Thanks for all of your prayers and support. God bless you during these trying times.
In Christ,
Mike Creiglow
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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Bringing Hope to the Hopeless
Jud and Raquel Hatcher are third generation missionaries serving the Lord in São Paulo, Brazil. They are part of the “SeedFactory” church planting initiative, which is a movement to plant churches in all 26 Brazilian capitals. Since 2006, 43 churches have been started in 5 states.
CODE RED
The COVID scenario appeared to be looking better because of the vaccines currently being distributed in Sao Paulo. Then, reports came out at the beginning of March stating that deaths by COVID are higher than ever and that more severe lockdowns are scheduled. As of this letter, we are in code RED for all of the city and state of São Paulo. Critical care bed capacity in our city hospitals are beyond 150%. Please, pray for the health workers in São Paulo, infected people, people we minister to, and our family´s health.
PRESSING FORWARD
We continue with online meetings for worship, prayer, discipleship and team planning. We assist several families with monthly groceries, housing rent, and emotional support. So many people have lost their source of income and several have lost loved ones. My heart breaks every time I hear of someone´s dire Coronavirus infection and in several cases death. It feels overwhelming because it is. Thankfully, we trust in the one who holds our future. The one person who holds us and everything together is the Lord. He is our steadfast hope. But not everyone we minister to believes this way. It is very hard for those who fear death to face the “end”. Our role is to keep pressing forward and pointing people to Jesus, for He alone is the only hope for this pandemic and for the greatest pandemic of them all that rests in people´s hearts.
IMMERSED
When not in lockdown, we actively pursue community engagement. While our kids play, we connect with parents and this has led to many new friendships and opportunities to share Christ and invite people into our home (please see pictures). “Jesus and a table” – this is such a rewarding ministry opportunity. As it is an incredible evangelism strategy is to invite people to our home to play games, eat dinner, and point people to Jesus (see picture). Pointing people to Jesus is our desire through occasions such as these.
HOPE FOR ORPHANS
In the last 18 months, Raquel (my wife) has taken on a new project. Raquel assists in placing orphaned children with loving foster parents. Foster parenting is still “new” in São Paulo and most children are sent to an orphanage and get lost in the system. She is serving as an advocate for orphaned children, raising awareness with judges; recruiting, training, and certifying parents to become legal foster parents through “Aslan Brazilian Beneficent Association” for local courts to assign children into loving families with homes.
Raquel is a licensed psychologist, holds a doctorate in psychology, is a member of “World Without Orphans”, and “Orphans Rights Movement”. She is earning the trust of local judges and city authorities as she works with them. The legal process in the court system is often challenging, as most judges find it easier to send the child to an overcrowded orphanage instead of a foster family. The benefits of a child placed with a foster family instead of a government orphanage are obvious – foster parents embrace, know them by name, and love the child as their own.
Raquel has received (court-assigned) newborn babies at local hospitals to place them into the arms of loving foster parents equipped to nurture them. We need your help. I ask you to consider a monthly contribution for this project. Please, designate “Judson Hatcher – HOPE Kids”.
Please, continue to pray with us.
Grateful,
Judson and Raquel Hatcher
Contact Info:
Jud & Raquel Hatcher
São Paulo, Brazil
judsonhatcher@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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Specific Ways to Pray for the Tates
The Tates have served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is church planting.
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ,
Thank you to all who spend time praying for us, for our family, for our ministry here in Kenya and for our spiritual well-being. Needless to say, we need this support from you all. Life and ministry are hard, as you know. And as I know, life and ministry are hard for you back in the United States as well. We all must press-on. And for those of you who are praying for us, on occasion I like to offer some prayer suggestions for you.
First, please thank God that things are going well at Upper Room Baptist Chapel. This past month we again had some new visitors to add to our new visitors from the previous month. Our attendance is still low but it is encouraging to have some new folks who show an interest in our simple, Biblical teaching and in our approach to loving and following Jesus with all of our hearts. They seem to appreciate what we are doing and we pray that some of them will continue to come and to grow with us as we follow the teaching of the Lord.
Second, speaking of the teaching of the Lord, I have started teaching our folks at the Chapel a new series from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. This is the longest and most concentrated of Jesus’ teaching found anywhere in the New Testament and we at the Chapel need to know the things that Jesus taught. My focus in this series is to show that Jesus’ teaching is counter-intuitive to the thinking of the world and that in this sermon Jesus wants to completely change the way that we think, act and approach everything we do in this world. I want our people to know that Jesus gives his followers principles for Kingdom living and that, as he says at the beginning of the sermon, his followers will be happy, fortunate and blessed if they believe and follow them. Please pray that we would truly grasp Jesus’ counter-intuitive teaching, that we would believe him even though what he says is contrary to what our flesh naturally thinks and believes, and that in believing what he teaches we would have the courage to follow him every day and hour of our lives. We have already seen in the short time we have been in this series that these things will not be easy.
Third, please pray for the Kenyan people. Times are still very hard for most people here. The economy is still sluggish, Covid is still effecting people, businesses are suffering, crime seems to be up (we even had a break-in and theft off our own compound last week), street children roam Kitale, and there seems to be just a general tension in the air. The people of Kenya and Kitale need God now more than ever.
Last, please pray for me, Julie, and Chloe. We face so many physical, spiritual, and emotional challenges every day that seem overwhelming and crushing. This seems to be an especially challenging time that even the other missionaries in Kitale are feeling acutely. Here on the mission field our faith is challenged in ways that I never did, but probably should have, anticipated. Please pray that God would give us strength, that his Spirit would draw near to us, that we would trust him completely and that he would be glorified in our lives. Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. He that has begun a good work in us will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. To God be the glory.
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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Retired Couple Gives of Themselves to Share God’s Love
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
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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Fine Tuning Presentation and Praying for Next Term
Nathan and Carrie Radford serve the Lord in Kitale, Kenya. Their main ministries include indigenous church planting, a prison ministry, and a hospital ministry for mothers with premature babies.
Dear praying friends,
Another month has come and gone, and we are now into the month of March. Time passes so quickly and the weather of spring is already beginning to start in the state of West Virginia. We had a cold spell for several days this past month and our electricity even went out several times. We are thankful for the nice, sunny weather that is coming ahead.
I (Nathan) have been in the process of contacting churches to speak for furlough. I worked hard on my missions dvd this past month, got it finished, and am waiting for the final copies to arrive soon. I have also been working on my missions presentation, so it has been a busy past month. Our new prayer cards are also finished, so I am thankful for all the accomplishments of the past few weeks. Please pray for me as I am working on fine tuning my missions presentation, and that God would receive all the glory. Please also pray that churches will begin to open up and get back to some normalcy after all the challenging months of coronavirus. God is in control.
My wife Carrie has been busy with homeschooling our daughters. She is doing a great job, although it can be overwhelming at times. Education is no small matter, and she wants to ensure that she is doing her best and that our daughters are getting schooling materials that will prepare them well for high school and university. Please pray for her for strength, wisdom, and guidance as she prepares for each year.
Kenya is still getting hit with the coronavirus. I saw also that Tanzania, which is right next to Kenya, is also seeing a surge in its cases. They are many medical challenges all over Africa at the moment, so would you please pray for the continent of Africa in general? That the doctors, nurses, and medical facilities would not be overwhelmed, that a treatment/vaccine would come quickly, and that those who have contracted the virus would be recovering and healing. Hopefully things will start to get back to normal in the coming months.
Please also pray for the young men that I hope to train in our next term. Please pray that God would lead me to the right men for ministry, those that are hungry for the Word of God, have a servant spirit, and desire to see others discipled and churches started. Matthew 4:4 says But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Amen. May we be hungry for the Word of God, and allow it to feed us each day spiritually. Also, consider Matthew 23:11 “But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.” A servant spirit is something I desire in my students, and I am trusting God to lead me to these men in His plan.
We will be sure to keep you updated. Thanks so much for your prayer support, letters of encouragement, sacrificial giving, and interest in the work of God in Kitale, Kenya. You each are such a blessing.
Until next month,
Nathan & Carrie Radford
Contact Info:
Nathan and Carrie Radford
1126 Smith Street
Milton, WV 25541
naterad@yahoo.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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Depending on God in Trying Times
Odali and Kathy Barros served the Lord in Sao Paulo, Brazil together from 1987-2013. In late 2013, they transitioned to Manaus in Northern Brazil to start sharing the Gospel and planting churches in villages along the river.
February 16, 2021
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Hope all are doing well. We are doing well and being cared for by our Lord and Savior. So many times God protects us without us realizing how much. Our son Jonas and his wife were sick with some symptoms of Covid. So we decided to have them tested and we also decided to be tested to see if we had had it. Well, to our surprise, our son and his wife tested negative, and me and Kathy tested that we had been infected and were in the 2nd stage. We had felt no symptoms at all in the last 5 weeks. We praise God for His care and protection.
We had been without services since the last week of December. There had been lots of problems in the community around the church. We started back this last Sunday. We told the members that those who felt comfortable in coming to come. We had about 20-25 to come. Things in Manaus are really bad and many people are dying. Several people that we know have died. God, help us to be wise in doing our part and helping others. The real truth is that we depend on the Lord.
Kathy has not been going to the community of Ubim. Since she works with the children, she decided to wait until the situation in the village gets better. The virus had increased there and some people died. The Lord willing, she will start back next week. Kathy had planned on starting a project with the mothers of the kids that come to the kids’ ministry. That’s when the Covid virus broke out there. Pray that things will get better so that they can start this program with the mothers.
One of our new projects that we are doing with a pastor friend is drilling wells in communities where the people have no water. Where we live, there are many communities with that problem. The first one we did was at the church in Ubim. Now we are starting one in a village called Christ King. There are 40 families that live in this village. A pastor friend has a work there and his wife has a kids program she does there also.
We want to thank you so much for your prayers. Please continue to pray for God’s protection and for Him to give us the wisdom we need to do the ministry in the midst of all these difficult times. Thanks for your support. Things would be difficult if we didn’t have your help. We are helping a Venezuelan family that has 5 kids and 2 of them have physical problems.
Thank God for each of you!
Love in our Lord and Savior,
Odali and Kathy Barros
Drill for the well 
Kids in Christ King Community 
Church in Christ King Community
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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Plans: Subject to Christ’s Will
February 13, 2021
Dear friends and family,
Our hope and prayer for all of you is that you are healthy and doing AWESOME at home, in school, at work, and in Church and ministry.
While we had to cancel our courses for 2020, we are carefully pushing ahead and prayerfully limiting our schedule for 2021. We have had to cancel our plans for Amazonas for the 2021 classes there. However, after contacting our pastors and helpers in the region, we are prayerfully confident that we will be able to start our courses for the Seminary in Manaus and Rondonia and 2022.
In the meantime we have scheduled or should I say rescheduled our classes for 2021 in São Paulo for April and June. These classes will complete their studies and we can begin the planning for our first graduation. We serve a gratuitous and AWESOME God.
Our plans are to have four more courses in another town, Ribeiro Preto, this year. These classes are tentatively scheduled for July and September.
All our plans are totally subjected to the will of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We covet your prayers for these plans and for Barb and I as we have again purchased our tickets for April. We will get our second vaccine for COVID 19 next Tuesday so we will be ready for the trip.
Please continue your prayers for the Pastors and the people of Brasil (especially Walmire and Mary, Chelsea and Ashley, our immediate family) as Brasil has been very hard hit with this pandemic.
Your prayers and financial support has been AWESOME in these very trying times and we continue to request your prayers as we endeavor to do His will.
We also want to say how much we appreciate and love the supporters of Baptist Faith Missions. Without you and your prayers and financial help we would not be able to continue seeking to do God’s will in Brasil. As you pray for us, we pray for you and God’s protection from whatever the devil throws at you.
In His service,
Aj and Barbara
CONTACT INFO
AJ & Barbara Hensley
592 Emery Court
Lexington, KY 40505
AJ: 859-539-2302 | Barbara: 859-539-1424
ajcaragua@gmail.com
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Encouraging Opportunities as Addictive Activities are on the Rise in Kenya
The Tates have served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is church planting.
February 11, 2021
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ,
I get to report some small encouragements from the last month.
First, we have had a couple of new visitors to the Chapel this past month. It has been a while since I could say that. One of the new visitors is a lady that lives in the area and was invited to come from one of my “regular” attendees (the “regular” here is in quotes because she does come regularly – misses three weeks – attends – misses three weeks – attends – misses three weeks – attends). I don’t know a lot about this new visitor, but she seemed to enjoy our worship service and I hope she continues to attend so that we can get to know her better. The other new visitor is a young man that I have known for quite some time. I didn’t expect him to visit the Chapel and, in fact, didn’t think he would come to our services. I had started to counsel him on a weekly basis because of some major issues in his life. One of the issues that has been causing him problems recently is gambling. Oh, folks, this problem is growing in Kenya and I grieve over this for Kenyans, especially younger Kenyans. With the increase of technology, specifically smart phones, comes a wave of addictive activities, especially pornography and gambling. Everyone in Kenya has a smart phone now and with these devices always in their pockets or their hands these mentioned vices are also readily available, with little cultural safeguards against them. More and more people are into gambling, convinced they will win. And I am convinced the gambling organizations do let them win at first, knowing they will eventually get all the gambler’s money. With a few clicks on my phone screen I can load my entire paycheck onto it electronically. Then, with a few more easy clicks, I can quickly and easily load a gambling app, pick my sports team that I’m sure will win, and away we go. And from what I’ve heard, most people win pretty big at first, convincing them that winning is easy and consistent, and also tempting them into betting bigger and more. However, the winning doesn’t last while the addiction does. Then they got you. And this is what happened to my young friend. His gambling then led to lying, stealing, and manipulating. So, we are meeting to try and help him with his unwise decisions and to deal with his heart. And when I invited him to our services at the Chapel I didn’t think he would come. But he HAS been coming, every week for the past month. I pray he continues to come, that his heart and life may be transformed, and that his heart’s desire is to glorify Jesus Christ, our Lord and King.
Second, I am encouraged that we finally have power and water restored to the Chapel. We had been without power for about three months and without water for about two. Now we have both again. I don’t know how long these blessings will last but we will be thankful for them while we have them.
Did you know that there are things I never really thought about before I left the United States? Well, obviously there are. But one of those things hit me earlier this month. Did you know there are not a lot of non-white pictures of Jesus out there? That’s right, they are hard to find. You and I both know that Jesus came from an ancient Jewish heritage making him, I’m sure, darker skinned than me. This past month I wanted to hang some prints at the Chapel with some Bible verses on them. My Kenyan printer did a really good job designing some prints with some of Jesus’ “I am” sayings with pictures in the background. Some of his designs had pictures of Jesus on them – Jesus as a shepherd with a flock of sheep, Jesus praying, etc. I don’t really have a big problem with pictures of Jesus but I noticed all the pictures on the prints had a white Jesus on them. I already have a big enough problem being a white, westerner trying to minister in an African nation. I don’t want anybody here thinking I’m pushing a white, western Jesus on them. I DO want them to know the real, Biblical Jesus – Our Savior, Redeemer, Messiah and King of Jewish descent. I had to tell my printer to redesign the prints without any pictures of Jesus. Funny the things you get to think about when you minister in a different culture.
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.
Read more
