Revitalizing Churches and Reaching “Paulistanos”

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.

Dear friends,

Thank you for your faithful prayers, engagement and financial investment. Read about a pastor who travels 6 hours to preach, a Digital Magazine on YouTube channel and “don’t come in, we are too high”. Intrigued? Please, read on.

Church Revitalization
Four months ago, Pastor Fabiano from Lupercio Baptist Church (started by my grandfather – John Hatcher) contacted me asking for help. We meet at a coffee shop and spoke for 3 hours. He explained “two years ago a church (that is now 47 years old with and average attendance of 25 people) here in São Paulo asked me for assistance, they were without a pastor for 8 years and were considering closing the doors. I agreed to travel 6 hours into the city to minister to them once a month. The church really wants and needs a full-time pastor, but they don’t have enough funds to sustain one.” He went on to ask me to help them in revitalization, growth and eventually bring in candidates for a new senior pastor. I agreed. I do training there on Wednesday evenings. We’ve worked through several series “Letting the Philippian Joy become Yours”, “Taking an X-ray of this Church”, “How to Effectively Share Christ”, and now we are walking through “How to Disciple a New Believer”. The church is considering a pastoral candidate I indicated, Helder Castro. Helder accepted Christ through my father’s ministry. I served as his mentor for several years and officiated his wedding ceremony. He has pastored in Manaus for 12 years. He visited the church twice for interviews and preaching. They will vote in the end of August for him to start in January 2020. In the meantime, I will step up my role to serve them as an interim pastor until December 2019. Helder will move with his wife and two sons to serve in making disciples through “Igreja Batista em Jardim Maria Virginia.”

I am excited as this church has also agreed to participate in sending people for church planting with us and will also be a part of our “Life Together Network” of churches in São Paulo. Helder and Renatha will be a great contribution, as they are also church planters and we’ve worked together for many years. If the Lord lays on your heart to contribute in prayer and financially assisting Pastor Helder during his first year in this church revitalization, please do so by designating to “J.H. – Pastor Helder / Church Revitalization” through BFM.

Imagine, a Baptist Church
Church planting is intense, especially with multiple fronts. Over the last year, we are enjoying the most fun we’ve ever had as a family in doing what we have always loved doing. Imagine is focused on reaching out to the unsaved/unchurched urban São Paulo city dweller. “Paulistanos”, (as they are called in São Paulo city) are typically well informed, well-educated and cultured. If they are not “church going people” type, they don’t plan to go… Period. We have done a lot of strategy customizing to finally reach our target audience. “Paulistanos” are known in Brazil as “workaholics” and in their down-time they want to hangout with friends and family, not go to “some religious meeting”. So, we, the Church are going to where they are and doing what we know will gain credibility and trust in their hearts. We have our weekly evangelistic gatherings in parks, sports stores, malls, hospitals and through home dinners. As people surrender to Christ, we schedule basic discipleship in their home. We have a “Celebration Gathering” once a month. In addition to this, we are currently working on our “YouTube” Channel to produce a Digital Magazine with episodes of 5 to 8 minutes, with Biblical teaching, insights for living and music. A “Paulistano” won’t listen to a 40-minute sermon while in the subway but will listen to us for 5 to 8 minutes at a time. I have invited a spiritually solid team to help develop the content, including my father – Paul Hatcher. I’ve consulted with well-known Brazilian YouTubers on how to get it all started. Video production takes a lot of time, but the library of content with easy access for anyone and anywhere is priceless.

Hope, a Baptist Church
This church is situated in the middle of three ghettos, the families we minister to are very poor. My heart breaks every time I walk into people’s homes and see the precarious conditions they live with their children. People’s hearts are very hardened and without hope. Here we have weekly Bible teaching, evangelism and home visitation. When we first started here, I wasn’t sure how we would be received by the people, but as a rule (when the adults aren’t high or drunk) we get invited inside their homes to pray and we receive a listening ear. Adult women tend to be infantile, as most of them never had a real childhood, due to becoming mothers at a young age. Men are stern and often irresponsible with their families.  We do a lot of “Life Together” with people so they can see the light of grace. We’ve had pasta nights, pizza parties, hamburger meets. Kids attend well in the children’s ministry, adults are tougher, but we have made way in their hearts.

If you’d like to invest time in prayer for these and future church-plants, please do. Consider also in investing financially, you can do so by sending your contribution through Baptist Faith Missions, please designate “Jud Hatcher – Church planting”.

Family
Sarah and Laura started their new school year on July 30th, Benjamin and Melissa started on the 31st. They had a 6-week break between school years and were excited to start back. Stateside, the school year beak is in the Summertime and is synonymous with “Fun in the Sun”. Well, in the Southern Hemisphere, July is the coldest month of the year and homes do not have central heating systems. Electricity is so expensive that space heaters are not commonly used. Hence, our school year break is synonymous with “Eat your soup before it gets too cold.”

We are truly grateful for the school the Lord provided for them. A year ago, Melissa (7 years) had not learned to read or write at the school in which the kids were enrolled. After a year (and much hard work) at this new school, Melissa know how to read and write in English and Portuguese. We are elated with joy as our kids are inspired by their teachers to study hard.

Recently, Baptist Faith Missions (through the leadership of the directors and Bro. Dave Parks’ administrational skills) changed the health insurance provider, and all to the better. The plan gives us access to the best hospital in Brazil, located in São Paulo. As a result, we will be able to get more efficient treatment for Laura’s left ear severe hearing loss, that was caused by a punctured ear drum.

As always, thank you for loving us and praying. We love you. Want to visit us in São Paulo? We’d love you host you. Come on down (Just let us know before you arrive at our door).

Grateful always,
Jud & Raquel Hatcher

Judson & Raquel Hatcher
(859) 544-9040
judsonhatcher@gmail.com
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Adjusting to Various Challenges in São Paulo

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.

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.

February 1, 2017

Dear friends,
Thank you for praying and supporting us. Your love for us is always an encouragement. In this newsletter, I will share about our family’s health, kids’ education and ministry. Come visit us in São Paulo to see firsthand what the Lord is doing.

Family
The end of year has been an interesting one for all of us. Raquel, Sarah and Melissa are in good health. Laura has an ear infection that just doesn’t want to leave her alone. The antibiotics don’t seem to be having much effect. She is on a third round of medication and we are praying that she will recuperate. Benjamin has complained of stomach aches for a while. We took him to the ER a few weeks ago, but the exams were inconclusive. There are still more tests to run as we search for the root problem. I’ve had a lot of muscle issues. My hands and arms will typically swell up, go numb and my joints ache after carrying heavy luggage or after driving long stretches or holding heavy items for long periods of time.

This year we opted to homeschool our children using the A Beka curriculum. We have never done this before and it has proven to be a challenge for us. We are in the process of reconsidering our decision and enrolling them in a local school.
We ask that you pray for our health and our children’s education.

Ministry
We have connected with Igreja Batista Memorial de Alphaville (IBMA) here in São Paulo. Sidney Costa is the senior pastor and is a friend since 2004. He is a great leader and has coached us along this transition process (i.e. housing, local culture, friendship, banking advice, etc.).

I have an office at the church and lead the English and Spanish Communities, which are extensions of IBMA. The average attendance on Sundays is 90-100 people between the two communities. We are excited by this connection as it is an intensely missional church and extremely focused on Jesus as it plans to branch out into all regions of Greater São Paulo. In March, a new location is queued to begin in a section of the city called Berrine. We are enthusiastic with what the Lord is doing.

I am scheduled to be in the States for 9 days as of February 22. I will attend the Liberty University Pastoral Leadership Advisory Board, led by Dr. Dave Adams. I shall also meet with several pastors and churches in VA, TN & KY. Pray as the Lord opens doors.

Adjusting
We have made several new friends since we arrived in São Paulo, including the English-speaking expatriate community. We are still adjusting to pace in this massive metropolis. While the region has a lot to offer and has its advantages, traffic is always a killer. Getting to different areas where we must go can often take up to 2 hours. This, whilst dealing with crazy motorcycles that weave between cars and often bump into cars. Getting around town without Google maps or Waze is almost impossible.

Finding a good car mechanic that is close to home has been a tough one. The Lord provided us with a great car though, (a KIA Rondo, 7 seat, compact mini-van), but we’ve already taken it in for repairs. Finding parts for it is a challenge. Just the other day I needed to change the engine belt and it took me two days to find the crazy thing. It is an inconspicuous vehicle, great on gas and runs well. Adjusting has been tougher than expected, particularly because the cost of living is higher than we anticipated.

Our Prayer Requests are:
1. Family’s health. (Laura’s infection, Benjamin’s stomach, and my hands and arms.)
2. Children’s education.
3. Finances.

Grateful always,
Jud Hatcher

Judson & Raquel Hatcher
(859) 608-4742
judsonhatcher@gmail.com
Website | Twitter | Facebook
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