Marveling at God’s Creation in Celebration of Good News

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.

March 29, 2022

Dear friends,

March was packed with excitement for our family. My parents came to visit us in Wheaton, IL from Florida. It was short but sweet! Truly blessed by them. Melissa received the school district’s superintendent art award. This month we also celebrated Benjamin´s 14th and Sarah´s 17th birthdays. The Lord blesses us to see our children grow physically and in their knowledge of Christ with the desire to serve Him. We thank the Lord for them. What made this month particularly unique was the confirmation from my oncologist (based on the imaging and blood exams). I am cancer free! We bless the Lord and thank Him for His healing hand. Thank you for your prayers during this treatment time.

So, how did we celebrate? Raquel suggested that we marvel at God´s mighty creation handiwork by going to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. We love admiring His creation. We especially loved visiting the “Amazon” display. Seeing the variety of fish, fauna, and flora common to us felt like home. Four of us were born in Manaus, a city in the heart of the Amazon basin. We saw the largest fish, the pirarucu (which can grow more than ten ft. long) to the most vicious of fish, the piranha. (All of which we have stories to speak of and know what they taste like.) We watched the beluga whale show, the dolphins and the penguins, the seawater fish and the freshwater fish. It was a special day to admire the details of God´s fancy work within His creation. We were impressed! Part of our discussion that day contrasted what we observed with mankind, which was created in the triune God´s image. Yes, we are Imago Dei. Dolphins may be more intelligent than other mammals. But we are much more; we were designed in His likeness. Furthermore, He made us His chosen people through Christ Jesus. What a way to celebrate birthdays and cancer-free news!

This month three people surrendered to Christ in São Paulo. Preparations are underway for an evangelistic campaign during April. Pray with us and the leadership teams in Brazil for success in pointing people to Christ and people within the community to surrender to Him. This month I also was privileged to speak at the Addyston Baptist Church men’s retreat at West Harris, IN. Several churches participated in this marvelous weekend. Thank you Pastors Philip duBarry and David Pitman for organizing this event. I was also honored to share about our ministry and to preach at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Bellbrook, OH. What a wonderful weekend with church people, Pastor Darrell & Mrs. Messer. By invitation of Jarell & Beverly Sill (second cousins of mine), I managed to squeeze in a visit with my great Uncle Joe and Aunt Jessie Sills in Cincinnati, OH.

Grateful always,
Judson & Raquel

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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Healing Grace and Souls Saved

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Bobby and Charlene Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.

August 27, 2021

Dear Friends,

Charlene and I got a message from our daughter, Jessie, early in August telling us that she had COVID. She had been working at camp with a group of youth from her church the week before. Several members of her team had contracted COVID about the same time as she. Charlene and I have both had the virus, so we know it is a serious illness, but we both recovered quite well and were expecting that Jessie would do the same. After a week of Jessie getting sicker and being admitted into the hospital, Charlene and I decide that we should travel to Tampa, Florida to give our daughter some moral support. We wouldn’t be able to visit her in the hospital, but she would know that we were near. The day we arrived in Tampa, Jessie’s doctor called me and told me not to lose hope, that there were still a couple of things that they could do to try to help her. We didn’t even know that she was so sick that we should lose hope in the first place! The doctor made it very clear that Jessie was struggling for life. After getting off the phone with the doctor, Charlene and I nearly lost it. We cried like we have never cried before. Our baby girl was hanging in the balance of life and death and we weren’t even aware of it. In my prayer immediately after this call, I confessed to the Lord that I trusted completely in Him and that I knew that, before Jessie was my girl, she was His girl. I did also share with the Lord that I didn’t feel like I was ready for Him to take her home yet. I asked Him for mercy and healing grace. After our personal prayers, I contacted our sending church’s pastor, Darrell Messer, and the executive secretary of Baptist Faith Missions, Dave Parks, and asked them to spread the news of Jessie’s condition with everyone they could. I also contacted my church in Brazil and our ministry volunteers from Projeto Vida and asked them all to pray earnestly for Jessie’s healing. Folks, let me say to the Glory of God, He began immediately to bring healing into Jessie’s body. The very next morning, Jessie’s doctor called me again and told me that she was improving quickly. The next day she messaged me to say that if she continued to improve at the rate that she was improving that she would be released from the hospital in two to three days. It wasn’t two to three days, the next day she was released to go home. She was given some medicine to continue taking at home, but she never went backward after those prayers began to be offered on her behalf. Six days after the doctor first told me how sick Jessie was, she was already home from the hospital and back to work! Our God is an amazing God. He hears and He answers prayer. We know that He would still be God and He would still be good if He saw fit to take Jessie on to heaven, but we are extremely grateful that He had mercy on us, her parents, to heal her and give her more opportunities to serve Him here in this world. We praise His Name! We know that some of you heard of Jessie’s condition and prayed for her healing, and we want to take this opportunity to thank you for your earnest and effective prayers. 

We are also happy to share that our evangelistic outreach teams are being able to get back into the public schools and parks here in Brazil. This past week they ministered in a small town about halfway across our state toward Paraguay. The Lord blessed and there were over 20 professions of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Many of those who surrendered to Christ had never heard a clear presentation of the gospel. The team’s volunteers were amazed at how the Lord used them to minister to people who felt hopeless. We pray that the doors of opportunity will remain open and that no more lockdowns will interfere with being able to get into the public schools and town squares with the message of God’s love.

We serve a mighty and good God, and we are grateful. Thank you to those who pray for us and give so that we may continue to serve Him here in southern Brazil. 

In Christ’s love,
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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