May 2011 Missionaries’ Newsletters

JOHN AND ALTA HATCHER | MAY 2011
John & Alta Hatcher
Caixa Postal 112
Urai, PR – Brazil 86280-000
E-mail: jhatcher@uol.com.br
April 1, 2011
Dear Friends and Fellow Workers,
This month has passed quickly and our fall and winter is arriving. This past week, we had to take the heavy covers out of the mothballs. Most of our fall and winter weather is not too bad. This one is starting with a rather strong chill.
ALTA’S EYES
This month we went to Garca to see the eye doctor. The report is: she has cataract blindness in one eye and the other is partially affected. We are now in the process of deciding if she will be operated on in Garca, or if she will go to Manaus for the operation. She is having some problem in walking because of the sight deficiency. Pray for her.
VISIT IN GARCA
While in Garca, where we lived and worked for thirteen years, we had the joy of seeing old friends. Sandra was seven years old when she trusted the Lord. She has brought her mother to know the Lord. Sandra said to me, “Pastor, I was holding a chorus poster when I trusted the Lord to save me.” One day we had the joy of visiting with Maria, our adopted daughter, along with Noemi, an elderly faithful saint who was saved while we worked in Garca, Cida [from Galia] and her daughter, Claudia, and Gilberto, the pastor in Marilia.
While in Garca we stayed with Kathy and Odali at the children’s home. We were treated royally and did not lack for anything. On Sunday we attended the Sunday School and evening service at the Community Baptist Church that Odali pastors. There was a large group of children in Sunday School and we heard a good message in the evening by Odali from the life of David.
ASSAI
In my last letter I mentioned the need to get the approval from the neighbors on the four sides of our lot where we intend to build. Those people were visited and approval was granted by the City Hall. Hopefully, we will soon have news for you that the building is going up. Make this an item of prayer.
86 YEARS
Last but not least, on April 30, 2011, I had my eighty-sixth birthday. Fifty-six years in Brazil this year. THANK YOU! BFM! I praise the Lord for the home and parents where I was born, for my brother and sisters, for the Alexandria Baptist Church where my parents took me from the time I was about a month old, and where I was saved at the age of nine. I thank God for the many friends and Sunday School teachers who prayed for me, especially during the years I served in the Merchant Marines during the WWII.
I praise God for the dear wife He gave me. This year completed sixty-four years together. I thank Him for our five godly children: Lynn, in Heaven; Paul, in Manaus, Brazil; John Mark, in France; David, in Manaus, Brazil; and Kathy, in Garca, Brazil.
Pray especially for the work in Assai.
Thank you for your love and faithful help. We love you in the Lord.
John and Alta Hatcher

MIKE AND BEV CREIGLOW | MAY 2011
Michael D. Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24 | 69980 Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil
STATESIDE RESIDENCE:
1012 Balsam Drive | Lexington KY 40504 | 859.277.3716
May 1, 2011
Dear Brethren,
Over the last 30 days I have traveled 4,165 miles of river. That’s right: four thousand, one hundred and sixty-five miles on the Juruá River. Last letter I told you about the long trip to the mouth of the Juruá, getting geared up for our next big push down river with the Gospel.
Since then I have gone back up river from Cruzeiro do Sul to the Peruvian border. My visits were to Triunfo, Thaumaturgo, Foz do Breu and Porto Walter. We held services in these villages and towns with really big crowds in all.
At Foz do Breu we dedicated the new building, which turned out just plain beautiful. We held 3 services with over 200 in each. The high was 246 on Saturday night. There were 3 saved. After the Sunday morning service we went down to the river for a baptism service. This was a very international service. I baptized 15. Some were Brazilians, others were Peruvians and yet others were Indians from 3 different tribes. This was a first for me.
Hudson, Zico and I returned back home on a Tuesday. Hudson was sick the whole trip with malaria. Zico came down with the flu the next day. I spent a couple of days at home then got in my boat and headed down river to Ipixuna. Zico was not well, but better, so he and 3 other men from church went with me. I put down my foot and made Hudson stay hope and get over his malaria. Two of these guys weigh over 220 pounds! My poor little 60HP engine suffered to get the boat up on plane. We managed though and had a very productive visit with the church there. We ironed out the details of our partnership to put on a medical mission trip down their way in the middle of May. We will provide the doctors, dentists, nurses, medicine, logistics, tickets and hotel. The city of Ipixuna will provide a big enough boat to hold the clinics, fuel and food for the team. The church there will also provide some team members to work on the evangelism along side our missionaries. We plan to hold clinics in 4 villages.
Unfortunately YOU are going to have to put up with me as I will be in the States and not be here for this exciting mission trip. Beverly says she is looking forward to getting her husband back. I think she actually has a plan to kidnap me.
I found time to visit some of our churches here close between trips. All is running smoothly.
Our church has been experiencing extraordinary growth. This month we have had over 20 saved. I missed the last 2 baptisms, because of my river trips. This year we have held 3 baptism services. The first was 60, the second 49 and last Sunday my son-in-law, Dauro baptized 73!
It is going to be hard to break away, during such a time of blessings. I’m counting on you to fill in and share your blessings while we are there in the States on furlough. Our furlough begins May 4 and is scheduled to end on October 15. Hope to see you soon. Pray for us, please.
Thanks for all of your prayers and support. God bless you as much as He has us.
In Christ, Mike Creiglow

ROGER AND JULIE TATE | MAY 2011
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We have been very busy while in the States visiting churches and talking about our ministry in Kenya. While this has been a blessing for us as well as for the churches we have been ministering to, we find our energy level dropping a little more after every weekend. When we first started traveling I still felt strong after the weekend. Now I find myself exhausted after the weekend. Throw in a few conferences and it leaves us tired. I’m not complaining as I love visiting the churches and talking about our work, it’s just that being Stateside isn’t very relaxing or restful. But we thank God for the overwhelming support and encouragement we have received from the churches concerning our approach to church planting in Kenya.
I wasn’t sure how the models we want to follow once we return to Kenya would be received back home but I’m very pleased with the response that I’ve been getting. I am very encouraged with the strong backing that I’m getting from churches in all the states we’ve visited so far. Keep praying for us, beloved. We have less than two months before we return to Kenya. God has taught us so much be we know that there is yet so much more to learn and mistakes and failures to make. But we believe God will continue to be with us and bless our endeavors in Africa.
Let me go ahead and add some brief details to the models I have been speaking of. In the last few months I have been speaking of the things I CAN’T do: like I can’t build buildings, I can’t pay pastors and I can’t transport people to church meetings. If you can’t remember why I can’t do these things look at the last couple of newsletters and read what I’ve said.
This month I’d like to mention one of the “I CAN’S”. I CAN train a new church for action and not just doctrine. Now, I’m not being prideful and saying I have great ability and skill to do this. I’m saying this is something that fits into my model of ministry and church planting. New churches and new Christians obviously need teaching and doctrine. I think that’s indisputable. But I think just as important as doctrine is teaching and modeling for these young churches and Christians how to put their doctrine into action. I don’t want to fill churches with people who just know a lot of doctrine (Again, they need doctrine!). But, I want them also to act on their doctrine by following Christ with their actions. From the very beginning I want to teach them to actually do what they’ve been taught. Teach a little, do what we’ve been taught. Teach a little, do what we’ve been taught. Teach a little, do what we’ve been taught. That’s the process.
It’s a little different than teaching them in a seminary or institute for four years and then hoping afterward they will put into practice what they’ve been taught. The approach I want to take appears to be what Jesus modeled for his own disciples. Now, I’m not Jesus, but if he did it then it must be a good practice and I can try and model the same things for the Kenyan people. It’s better than a lot of head knowledge only. The doctrine should lead to action.
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 Emily, Amy, & Josiah)

NATHAN AND CARRIE RADFORD | MAY 2011

Nathan, Carrie, McKenna, and Camille Radford
315 College Street | Youngsville, PA 16371
For ministry donations: Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
May 6, 2011
Dear praying friends,
Another month has come and passed so fast, and it is amazing how quickly time passes. What a reminder it is to us to use our time wisely in service for the Lord, and make the most of our opportunities to serve Him. May we truly be mindful of the brevity of our lives and use our time wisely that the Lord gives us. Psalm 90:12 states “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”
This update will share our time in the States, as well as family updates and prayer requests.
This past month was an exciting month for our family. My wife celebrated her birthday in the middle of the month, and McKenna turned three years old on April 26th. McKenna is growing and developing so quickly and we thank the Lord so much for her. It seems just yesterday that she was a baby, but now she is growing and developing quickly into a wonderful three year old daughter. Please pray for us as parents, that we would be the Godly parents and example to our children that we need to be. What an awesome responsibility we have as parents, to train up our children in the ways of the Lord. Deuteronomy 6:5-7 states “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” May we remember our responsibility as Christian parents to teach and train our children in the ways of the Lord.
Camille is also progressing well, and we thank the Lord that she has been growing healthy. Please continue to pray for her health, especially at such a young age. She is now over two months old, which doesn’t seem possible, as the time has gone so fast. We are thankful for our family and ask you to continue to pray for us. I am attaching a recent photo of our two daughters and we would covet your prayers for them.
Our time for furlough has continued well, and we are thankful for the opportunities we have had to visit with friends, family, churches, supporters, and those who pray for the work in Kenya. Missing family is one of the largest challenges to missionary life, and it is so wonderful to be able to spend time with them while we are home. We have also appreciated the opportunities that God has provided to share with others and churches about the ministries in Kenya. I can be reached at: 814-688-4703 or by email at: naterad@yahoo.com if anyone would like to contact me to schedule a date to share the ministries.
Please continue to pray for the ministries in Kenya while we are home on furlough. Pray that the people would seek to stand on their own and trust the Lord to provide for them. Please continue to pray for the Rafiki ministry, prison ministry, and hospital ministry. In each of these ministries guidance, wisdom, and direction from the Lord is needed. James 1:5 says “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” What a tremendous promise this is from the Word of God, no matter where we serve Him.
May we continue to serve the Lord, wherever He calls us, through good and bad times. May we be faithful to serve, through blessings and trials. I will leave you with some words that greatly encouraged my heart that I read recently: “God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage.” No matter what trials we go through, He is with us each step of the way and we can trust Him. We will continue to keep you updated and thanks again for your prayers, sacrificial giving, and encouragement that you give to us. Each of you are so special to us.
Nathan and Carrie Radford

BOBBY AND CHARLENE WACASER | MAY 2011

Rua Manoel Valdomiro de Macedo, 2281
81170-150 Curitiba, PR Brasil
Phone: (813) 436-9980
E-mail: robertmw@brturbo.com.br
May 8, 2011
Dear Friends,
Today marks the end of the second month since we began construction on the building of our new church work. The progress is really exciting and the time that our team spends together working helps to make us one body united in purpose and love.
We will begin to weld our roof trusses this week, but in the meantime we’ve continued to hold our worship services between the walls with no roof overhead and the people still seem to love coming. Hopefully we’ll have the roof done in a couple of weeks before the frosts begin. Since we are south of the equator, our winters are from June to September.
Soon we will need to install our windows and doors. There will be 10 large windows, 4 small ones and 5 doors. If you would like to contribute to help us put in all or any one of these, we would be greatly helped and you would be truly blessing us. The medium cost of each is $325 or a total of $6,175.

Last week we hosted a wonderful group of youth (with their adult leaders) from the Bell Shoals Baptist Church in Brandon, Florida. This group, together with Projeto Vida (Project Life) our frontline evangelism partners, and our team of 12 translators spent a week ministering in two towns out in the mountains. Throughout the week we had the privilege of taking the gospel into 12 different public schools, reaching over 3500 students. We also presented the gospel through humanitarian services such as free haircuts, blood pressure checks and family counseling, reaching another 1600 people in the public squares of those towns. By the end of the week we saw over 115 individuals profess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. We helped to direct these folks to local Baptist churches for further growth and discipleship. I had the special privilege of working side by side with my whole family as translators in this great effort. Our daughter, Jessie, who is in college in Florida, came with the group and our 13 year old son, Brennen, got excused from school to aid us also. Don’t you just know that Brennen hated getting out of school?
We are dealing with some ministry philosophy issues back at our mother church and would like for you to pray for discernment for us. We pray that these issues will be resolved smoothly and that I and my former co-pastor can work together for the growth of both churches and for greater effectiveness in our culture. Hopefully next month I will be reporting to you that these issues will have been resolved with minimal ripples. But that is why I’m asking you to pray.
Thank you for your love, prayers and support.
In Christ’s love, Bobby, Charlene and Brennen Wacaser

JOHN AND JUDY HATCHER | MAY 2011
John and Judy Hatcher
Tournefeuille, France
jmhatcher@aol.com
May 10, 2011
Dear Team Mates,
Spring has arrived early this year and buds and blooms are ahead of schedule. Jesus often used plants and plantings as examples of the Kingdom of God and these metaphors speak to me because I love plants and like cultivating them. We would like to see an immediate and large harvest of disciples, but realize that the times and seasons are in the Lord’s hands; there is work to be done; and the kind surface where the seed falls has a bearing on the results.
Spring also brings storms, as we have noticed in the news from your side of the ocean. Our hearts go out to those who have lost loved ones, homes and much more. In the present world we will have storms, but God uses even these for our good and His Glory.
On Friday of this week we will be leaving on a 13-hour drive to baptize one lady! There are certainly biblical precedents of long journeys for the sake of one person; Philip to speak to the Ethiopian, for instance. Rosana, the lady that I am going to baptize moved into our neighborhood several years ago along with her family. They were backyard neighbors of an unsaved lady whose friendship Amanda, our daughter-in-law, had cultivated. Delia suggested we get to know this family as they were from Brazil.
We introduced ourselves and they began coming to Bible study; the family with me and Rosana also came to a ladies Bible study with Judy. One day, Rosana said, “I don’t think we are here by chance. We came here to get to know God better.” Later, this family moved with the husband’s job to Seville, Spain. We have continued to have live Bible studies using the internet. Rosana and her youngest son have been saved. Their daughter-in-law has also been saved and baptized, and lives in Portugal. We also have Bible studies with her using the internet. These people are actively witnessing for the Lord where they are. That is what it is all about. God uses us in the process of plowing, sowing, watering, cultivating and reaping. Your support enables us to be doing this in France.
We are thankful for the 35 or so folks who participate regularly here. We are grateful for the opportunities to have outreaches in Toulouse, L’Union, Plaisance, Mazere, and other places where members of the congregation of Tournefeuille are witnessing or where God has given us contacts.
With the tools God has given us we are able to teach and witness regularly in Spain, Portugal and northern France, as well as here. We praise God for those who were here but are now living as God’s children in other places. A couple of these are going to be with us next week. They now live in the Isle of Man.
You are a part of what God is doing here. God has also placed you in a field. Future disciples and missionaries and their support will come from the fields where God has placed us today. Is there darkness around you? Don’t curse it. Ask God to show you how you can let your light shine. As each of us plows, sows, waters, cultivates and reaps, God will bring in His harvest from the earth.
Until next month, John and Judy

SHERIDAN AND ANITA STANTON | MAY 2011
Mailing Address:
Sheridan and Anita Stanton
Apartado Postal 140 | Huanuco, Perú
Vonage phone: 859-514-0929
sestantonperu@hotmail.com – Sheridan
arstantonperu@hotmail.com – Anita
May 11, 2011
Dear friends and family,
April was a month of many blessings for the work here Huánuco, Peru. The Lord blessed us with record attendance at the Calvary Baptist Mission and two were saved during the month. The attendance remains strong each week.
We are rejoicing over our new property and we are now praying for funds to build. Would you like to give toward this project? Any help is greatly appreciated.
Anita and I are leaving for the Capital city of Lima today. We are in route to the States, where we will be spending a few weeks with my father, Ralph Stanton. His health continues to deteriorate due to his battle with prostate cancer and Alzheimer. As I mentioned in my last letter, this ordeal has been hard for my mother, please continue to pray for her also. Thank you so much for your prayers.
Though, we plan to spend most of the time with my mom and dad, Anita and I will also be visiting a few days with all four of our grand-children! We are excited to have the chance to spend this short time with the kids. Some more exciting things have happened these first few days of May, but I will report on that in my next letter.
Thanks again for all the prayers and support. We look forward to seeing everyone next year (2012) when we come to the States for furlough. Please remember our son, Joshua, as he continues to serve in Afghanistan. Until next month.
In HIM by HIS grace, Sheridan and Anita Stanton


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