Training Pastors to Reach Brazil
The Hensleys have spent nearly 20 years serving in Brazil. They have established a church in Caraguatatuba and mission points throughout the city. They have also recently started a seminary to train pastors.
February 16, 2018
Friends and family,
When I was diagnosed with cancer, I started praying and searching for a way that I could continue to serve my Lord in Brasil because I did not feel that God was finished with me and my service in Brasil, knowing that the main emphasis for Baptist Faith Missions is to open new churches—so I began to think in that area. You know that sometimes the answer to your question is right in front of you and you just have to open your heart and eyes.
For several years now, we have been working with seminary training for local pastors. This Seminary training began in Caragua because we saw the need for the local pastors to have more Bible training. So, we began in our church and invited some of our sister churches to join with us for the first of many seminary classes. Before we knew it, other Pastors were calling us to see if we could do the same in their areas. With Dr. Coleman, myself and Pr. Jason, we organized the Caragua Baptist Seminary. Our first distant classes were in Orlandia, São Paulo, with 35 students. Although our goal was to train Pastors, we also included church workers in the classes. We did a lot of trial and error at first, making the occasional mistakes, but with the Lord’s leadership we have evolved. This year not only is Caragua Baptist Seminary accredited, we have also added a Master’s Program.
Although our objective is to train Pastors, it has grown even beyond our dreams and expectations. Training pastors is an AWESOME way to reach Brasil.
The way God revealed to me that I can continue to serve Him in Brasil is to continue to work with the Seminary training Pastors and sending them out to begin new works all over Brasil. You see, it was right under my nose—it just took God to reveal it to me.
So, I will continue to work in the Seminary, just from a distance. Each year I will go to Brasil 3 or 4 times for the classes to help with them and also to seek out other areas that need our Seminary.
As we teach these Pastors I am keeping my eyes out to see those Pastors who show a desire to begin new works. I meet with them and listen to their hunger to serve the Lord. Then I will encourage them during the time that we spend together to follow God in whatever they do. At this time, we have begun to help three pastors in their endeavors to start new Churches. One is in another country: Paraguay. His church start is in a rural area where there is no electricity. They have around 7 to 9 in attendance. The next two are in the state of São Paulo. The first of these two is having their services in the garage of their home with about 7 adults and 12 children. The other has a foundation dug for the Church building and they are having services in their home. To be able to get started they stepped out on faith and borrowed the money for the land and are building as God provides. How AWESOME! The Pastors we select to help start a church, we will give them an offering for the first year. We also pay for their seminary classes at Caragua Baptist Seminary.
The foundation for the third work
Talking about this calls back memories of how we started our last work. It began on the front porch of a widow’s home. After four years that work now has its building and a Brazilian pastor. What a blessing. AWESOME is the God we serve.
So, this is what God has laid before me as my way to serve Him in Brasil as I live in Lexington, Kentucky. This is so I can be close to the doctors. I have been to the doctor this month and the blood test that they did showed undetectable counts for cancer. Praise Him! The doctor said that if everything continued the same that I might be able to take a vacation from the injection that I am taking every 6 months.
So please pray for the Seminary as we are expanding into other cities and continue to pray for my health to continue to improve. HOW AWESOME IS HE WHO WE SERVE!!!
In His service,
Aj and Barbara
Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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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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God Thoroughly Confirms His Will to be Back in Brazil
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
February 3, 2018
Dear Friends,
We’re back in Brazil! The Lord blessed us in so many ways, both on our journey and since arriving. We couldn’t have imagined that we would see so much accomplished in such a short time, but He has thoroughly confirmed that it is His will for us to be here again.
We were wonderfully received by many of our old friends. Our former church sensed God’s leading to call me back to be their senior pastor and I have accepted. The Lord also blessed as Charlene began the process of refurnishing our home. She was very diligent in searching out good deals on appliances and furniture and we have been able to purchase the most important ones. You know; refrigerator, stove, table, chairs and a bed. Actually, the bed came as a generous gift from our fellow missionaries, A.J. and Barbara Hensley. We are very grateful to them.
One week after we arrived, we began our first Missions Seminar, which lasts for four weeks. We spent the first two weeks teaching the biblical theology of missions and then we took the volunteers out into the interior towns for another two weeks of practical application of what they learned in the classroom. This month we had nearly 30 volunteers participating from various parts of Brazil. During the two weeks of practical evangelism there were 62 people who made a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ. God’s word tells us that there is rejoicing in heaven at the repentance of a lost sinner and we rejoice also. Another wonderful side benefit of this endeavor is that the volunteers return with a strong sense of excitement about being used by the Lord in ways that they never expected.
I have only been back in the pulpit for 2 Sundays. I can tell that my Portuguese has gotten a bit rusty for lack of use for 3 years. I know that it will come back to me, but it sure is frustrating when I go to express a thought and the word I want to use doesn’t come to mind. The people are very gracious and haven’t made any negative comments, but I want to get back into the clear presentation of God’s word as quickly as possible.
Charlene and I both are very grateful to you who have given special love offerings to help us purchase the appliances and furniture that we needed. Just a few more pieces of furniture and we’ll be able to start receiving guests again.
Thank you for your prayers and faithful support.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1[at]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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God is Opening Doors with the Hunikuim People
Mike and Beverly Creiglow have served the Lord in Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil together since 1971. In addition to pastoring First Baptist of Cruzeiro do Sul, Mike builds his own boats and frequently travels up and down rivers to share the Gospel with those who have never heard.
February 9, 2018
Dear Brethren,
Pastor Ezi and Zico (our missions coordinator) went with me to the upper Juruá River a couple of weeks ago. We spent 8 days visiting seven works and as many of our missionaries. We traveled over 600 miles on two rivers. The names of the places and people probably won’t mean anything to you, so I will skip right to the highlights. All of our missionaries reported and showed us first hand some good solid growth at each congregation.
At Foz do Breu (Mouth of the Breu River) on the Peruvian border we were pleased to find out that a few of the families who had left the village have now come back. Attendance has come back up. Our missionary there, José Costa, has gotten the congregation into a steady rhythm of mission trips. They have 3 teams that alternate visits to 3 villages downstream from them. Just last month 4 more were saved at Pedra Pintada. We had great services with good crowds. On Sunday morning I baptized 8.
On our visit to Tipisca, Peru we got to see José Maia’s excitement at making the first breakthroughs. Besides the Peruvians in the town there are 5 other ethnic groups and languages. Everyone is dirt poor. All there is to do is drink, drugs and prostitution. The children in the town have been the open door to the gospel. José and Silvânia have been working with about 40 children every day, sometimes all day and into the night. It was fun to watch Silvânia playing soccer with the kids at the end of the day behind the church building. Now some adults are coming around. Some of the kids are already saved and 2 adults, also.
As I have reported before the doors have finally opened up for us to reach the Hunikuim people on the Breu River. This tribe is called Kaxinauá (bat people) by most folks. They, however, call themselves Hunikuim which means the “original People” Their language is called Hanchakuim or language of THE people. We visited the São José village over 50Km up river from the Juruá, inland and east. This section had to be navigated by canoe.
The visit there was just crazy from start to finish. We were informed ahead of time to not take anything out of the canoe, because the Indians wanted to carry everything for us. The whole village was gathered at the river. They were dancing and shouting to welcome us. The men had their headdresses and paint on. The women were painted and dressed in long colorful skirts and blouses. The women had long decorated paddles that they were smacking together, too. I was the first one to set foot on land. When I reached the top of the bank 2 of the girls grabbed each of my hands while wielding those paddles and led me to their great house. I had no idea what was going on or what might happen. The village all came into the great house to welcome us and explain the local “telephone” system. They have these horns made of bamboo, armadillo tails and bees wax. They have different calls for meal time and meeting time. The Hunikuim love to eat and meet. Seems they are born “almost Baptists”!
The food, by the way, was pretty good. The hunting party came in with some monkeys, so that is what we had for the first dinner. I got a piece of neck, which was tough, but tasty. Most Baptist preachers should be able to see the hidden significance of that.
At the first service, more surprises. During the song service, in their language and to their kind of music, a group of the women and girls came into the great house and began to dance. They started out a kind of line dance, which morphed into a circle after several minutes. Then suddenly one of them reached out and pulled me into the circle. This may be a step too far, but try to imagine me trying to follow their steps and swinging arms while going around in circles. Well with that last sentence I probably lost all of my support! The headline, “missionary caught on camera dancing with a bunch of women, none of whom are his wife.” Well when the song mercifully ended, most of the congregation had been dragged into the circle.
After that I preached about the lost sheep in Luke 15. The chief’s brother interpreted for me. A few of those present had already been saved. Cosma and her brother Bibiano had been won through José Maia’s ministry. The chief and his brother had also been saved later. There were 6 other professions of faith. After the next service, the following morning, I baptized 8 of them.
There are 5 villages of Hunikuim on the Breu River. The head chief over all of them is called Zeca. He is not saved, but came around to tell me that the whole tribe has approved our presence in their villages to preach the gospel. What a turnaround. Just a few short years ago a judge ordered us out. Now the people have invited us back in. Their rule supersedes Brazilian court rulings. The same is happening in other tribes all around us and doors continue to open. Invitations are coming in from all around. This is exciting stuff. Please pray for us as we try to keep pushing the gospel to the most remote places on earth.
They have invited me to come back in March when they plan to gather the other villages for a 3 day meeting. Now here is where you come in with more than your prayers. This last trip cost me over $600.00 just in gasoline. I had to buy an extra 4 gallons of fuel at one of the villages. That was at $10.00 per gallon. Please keep me supplied with fuel and equipment. As long as my health permits I want to continue to reach as many people as possible, no matter how far or difficult it may be.
Thanks for all of your prayers and support. God bless you as much as He has us.
In Christ,
Mike Creiglow
Mike and Beverly Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil 69980
mdcreig [at] hotmail.com
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Back in France, where God has Underscored the Reality He is Still at Work
Missionaries John Mark and Judy Hatcher have been serving the Lord in Tournefeuille, France since 1999. They define their ministry as “disciple-making.”
February 6, 2018
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Did you notice? We have no temporary address. We are home! We arrived back in Tournefeuille on February 1. What a blessing it is. The innumerable good gifts from God cause us to rejoice with thanksgiving. Thank you all who have prayed for us and Peggy, Judy’s sister during the past year. God is answering your prayers. I was able to be with my parents on our return trip as we came back via Florida. It was enjoyable to visit with Paul and Wanda and other family members and friends while there.
Upon arriving in France we found that the ladies from Church had gathered for a work day to clean our home. They also brought food and plants and flowers to adorn the interior and exterior. There was a full house on Sunday and worshiping with our brothers and sisters in Christ brought joy to my heart and tears to my eyes. What a cause for thanksgiving it was to see the evidence of how God has been working in each one’s life and the spiritual maturity it has produced.
On Saturday night I was at the Youth meeting where 16 young people were present. There were a number who normally come who could not participate that evening. The interest of all present in spiritual matters during the study of John 6 was evident. Those who are saved bring their friends and these friends are hungry for spiritual things. In addition to the Jr. and Sr. High school meetings, Philip and Amanda are now having separate meetings for High School students and College students. We prayerfully anticipate the harvest of the seed that is being sown in these young lives.
Though it is winter and people are not out as much, the Lord has enabled us to reconnect with a good number of people to whom we had been witnessing before leaving early last year. This is one of our main reasons for wanting to be back and the Lord has magnificently underscored the reality that He is still at work and will continue to use us here for His glory.
Please, continue to pray for us, God’s people here and the multitudes who need Christ.
Rejoicing in Christ,
John and Judy
John Mark & Judy Hatcher
4, rue d’Aspin
31170 Tournefeuille, France
JMHatcher[at]aol.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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Praying for People to Turn to Jesus Amongst Political Discord
Jud and Raquel Hatcher serve 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.
January 24, 2018
Dear friends,
Angry Riots
The Brazilian ex-president (commonly referred to as “Lula”) from the Workers Party is currently under investigation for massive scale corruption. His successor, now ex-president “Dilma Rousseff”, was impeached in August 2016 under corruption charges. Lula and Dilma supporters allege fraud in the legislature and justice systems and assert the opposition has caused a “coupe”. Recently, “Lula” was sentenced to 9.5 years in jail. He wants to run for president in this year’s election, but this conviction makes him ineligible. Upon appeal, the 3 judges in the federal appeals court not only confirmed the conviction but increased the jail term to 12 years and one month (and there are still six other processes for sentencing). According to polls, Lula is so “loved by the people” that if elections occurred today, he would be elected. “Lula” and the Workers Party have led protests in opposition to the current rulings and have incited riots and chaos. In recent days, rioters ignited fire to tires blockading heavy traffic roads in the Greater São Paulo area. 2018 will be a year of political discord and instability. May God have mercy in the Brazilian electoral process, provide safety and pray that people will turn to Jesus in this time of political crisis.
In recent days, rioters ignited fire to tires blockading heavy traffic roads in the Greater São Paulo area. 2018 will be a year of political discord and instability.
Decisions for Christ
Over the last few weeks, six people have surrendered to Christ. The Lord is leading us to so many unsaved people and these new believers need to grow in Jesus. Unfortunately, the end of December and beginning of January were slow discipleship months, as this is a typical Brazilian vacation period. Pray for our home meetings throughout the week, commitment level, excitement to share Jesus with others, and expansion into other locations.
School Break & A Love story Celebration
We were blessed by Manaus friends who purchased round-trip tickets for our three older kids to travel to Manaus and to stay at their homes during school break. Our children have wonderful memories and amazing friends in Manaus and miss them so much (Manaus is 4 hours by plane from São Paulo). Sarah, Laura, and Benjamin were overwhelmed when on Christmas Day they were informed of their trip to Northern Brazil. Tears of joy overtook their unbelieving faces. They had a fabulous time and have returned safely to São Paulo, with new and amazing memories. During their vacation, Raquel and I (and youngest, Melissa) celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary on January 8. We had a grand evening at Raquel’s favorite Italian restaurant rejoicing in what God has done in our lives as a couple and as a family. We are truly grateful for His blessings upon us.
Back to School
The kids will begin the new school year on February 5th and are enthusiastic to see their classmates and to get back into the “normal” routine. Sarah and Laura (7th and 6th grades) will study in the morning, while Benjamin and Melissa (5th and 1st grades) will study in the afternoon. The “Art and Culture Department” offers several workshops (i.e. acting/theater arts, guitar lessons, ballet, vocal training, etc) throughout the city – all six of us are enrolled and on mission to foster new connections to lead people to Jesus. Pray with us we befriend people and point them to the Savior.
Thank you for the your faithful prayers and support.
Grateful always,
Jud Hatcher
Judson & Raquel Hatcher
(859) 544-9040
judsonhatcher@gmail.com
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Praying for God to Raise Up Faithful Men
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.
February 2, 2018
Dear praying friends,
Another month has come and gone, and it is now time to give an update on life in Kenya, East Africa. We appreciate each of you so much and the cards, emails, and any other encouragements that you give. It means a lot to us, more than you will ever know.
Please continue to pray for our daughters, McKenna and Camille. They are both going to a Christian school here in Kitale which opened a little over a year ago. This is such an answer to prayer, as this gives them the much-needed social interactions with other kids their age, as well as many different activities. This past month, the school brought in a golf teacher to teach them some golf skills. They will also be able to participate in an art club. Please continue to pray for our daughters as well as the other children that attend, and the staff there.
We are excited to welcome my wife’s sister Jenna to Kenya in a couple of weeks. This will be her third trip to Kenya and we will love having her. It is always nice to have visitors, so please pray for her trip and the time she will have with us. As many of you know, leaving family is one of the major challenges of missions and homesickness sets in. We are very thankful for this opportunity to get to spend some time with her and for my wife to get to visit with her sister.
Concerning church planting, as many of you know, there are big challenges here, especially with the dependency in the culture. I (Nathan) have been praying over it and seeking Godly counsel and advisement. At this time I feel led to try to go to a village area around Kitale, seeking to train men to start ministries in their homes. Please pray for these endeavors, and that God would raise up the right men for the training. I plan to do it in Swahili, the language of Kenya, so this will be a big challenge, but this is how I feel led at this time. I think of the verse in 2 Timothy 2:2, which says “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” One of the key parts of this verse is “faithful men.” Please pray that God would raise up “faithful men” to be trained in the Word of God, discipled, then Lord willing, to start churches that glorify Him.
We will keep you updated. We appreciate each of you so much and thank the Lord for you. You are each a great blessing to us.
Blessings,
Nathan and Carrie Radford
Nathan and Carrie Radford
P.O. Box 4150
Kitale, Kenya, East Africa
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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Staying Busy Teaching Classes at the Pastor’s College
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is church planting.
January 30, 2018
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I want to start this newsletter by thanking all of you who are reading this. It is through your prayers and your support that we are in Kenya, ministering the Word of God into people’s lives, helping people to know and follow Jesus and working to expand His kingdom here on earth. We do not take you all for granted and we know our work here is not possible without all of you on our side. We know that the work goes forward and the Word of God is ministered only through the power of the Holy Spirit but we also know that God uses His people in the work and that we are partnering with you in this work of the kingdom of Christ here in Kenya. Oh, and how Kenya needs the kingdom of Christ these days, especially today. Politically I don’t know what is going to happen in Kenya. This very day (I don’t know what time), the “opposition” party leader is going to have himself sworn in as the president of Kenya, even though he lost the election twice. This action is being considered treason against Kenya and is punishable by the death penalty. I am hoping and praying that all of this does not result in total chaos, rioting and death for the Kenyan people. The election fiasco has already caused great economic hardship and the last thing the Kenyan people need is any rioting and bloodshed. When you think of it, please say a prayer for Kenya in the proceeding days.
The month of January was an extremely busy month for me. After returning Amy and Josiah to school I worked frantically to finish preparing for two week-long classes I would teach later in the month at the Pastor’s college. The first class was Old Testament Wisdom and Poetic Literature (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon). I don’t know how many pages in the Bible that is but that’s a total of 244 chapters of the Bible. In other words, it’s a lot of material to cover in one week and many of my students had never even read some of these books before coming to class. Well, now they have read them and studied them as much as possible in a week’s time. Kenya desperately needs learned, discipled and trained pastors and the Scriptures are designed to, as Proverbs says, make sages out of the simple (including myself and Americans, not just Kenyans). My students are so eager to learn and it is indeed my prayer that they become Biblical sages. My second class was Daniel and Revelation. These are not easy Biblical books to understand. This material is quite advanced especially considering that for a few of my students this was their very first class at the school. Not only was this advanced material, and not only was it the first class for some of them but they also had to listen to my American accent and my American English. Bottom line, it was a challenging class but also a necessary one. Just to give you an idea of the challenges, consider this: Now I don’t know your eschatological view nor your political position but some of my students had been taught that the Beast of Revelation 13 is the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. They had been taught this because apparently the license plate of the presidential limousine has “The Beast” on it. Ha, Ha! Some of you may agree with that interpretation. However, since that is not an altogether Biblically sound method of interpretation, this class was a necessity for my students. I was glad to show them how to seriously investigate the Scriptures themselves and to seek through the help of the Holy Spirit to understand their meaning.
I have another class to teach in February, but I have taught it before and it does not require for me a lot of preparation time. With some of these other tasks behind me now, I hope to press forward in my plans for the new church.
Until next month, beloved.
May God’s peace and joy be with you.
For the glory of God in East Africa,
Roger & Julie Tate (and Amy, Josiah & Chloe)
rojuta[at]gmail.com
Visit their blog!
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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God is at Work in Multirão, Iranduba, Ubim, & at Pedras Vivas
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.
January 25, 2018
Dear Brother and Sisters,
Hope all is well with each of you and that you are enjoying blessings from our Lord and Savior. We are doing great and excited about what God is doing in our ministry! The end of the year was great and we had wonderful time of fellowship with the members of our churches.
The missions are doing wonderful and seeing God work. The mission in the community of Multirão has had several adults coming and some have been saved. The group working there is really excited.
The mission in Iranduba is doing great. We are excited to see the members getting excited about bringing and going out where the people are. We have started a new project on Saturdays. Instead of have youth meeting at the church, we go out to open places like parks. There we do different things, such as giving out something to eat or doing different activities with the kids. Then we give the people a pamphlet with the church’s address and the hours of the services. Last Sunday we had 12 visitors as a result of the visit to the park. There was a little girl there who left everyone amazed. She said, “I love God so much—if my mom lets me go to your church, will you teach me to pray?” We are praying for God to show us a lot in this city also. The building we are in is rented, is not in a real good location, and is not a practical building.
The mission of Ubim now has a lot. We closed on the land yesterday. It costed approximately $5000. We gave a down payment of $1600 and the rest was divided in five payments. We want to thank those who have given for the purchase of the land.
At the main church, Pedras Vivas (Living Rock), we have added more activities since we have more room now—especially working with teenagers. We have an increase in this age group and we are excited to see more and more youth getting involved. We are also working on increasing the number of people in the worship ministry. At this moment we have a teacher coming and teaching piano and we are also getting more people involved in singing.
We thank each of you for your love and support and your prayers. God bless each of you. Please continue to pray for each of these places.
Love in Christ,
Odali and Kathy
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