Informal Bible Studies in Full Swing
October 10, 2022
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Judy and I hope this finds you enjoying blessings from the Lord. We are very grateful for what He has done in and around us this month. When the school year begins, our regular activities increase. There are seven regularly scheduled Bible studies that take place apart from regular church services. I lead only four of these. Three of these Bible studies began recently. Judy has children’s Bible classes in the city of Campagne sur Arize while the adult study takes place. Meetings in this city began just a few months ago.
Many of you are aware that Bible studies have been a major tool in our ministry here. I was motivated to use this approach years ago through the reference to Paul doing so in the Book of Acts. The Bible studies are informal, but the goal is for people to see from the Holy Scriptures what God says. This is how most of the disciples here have come to Christ. After they trust Christ, they continue to grow as they continue to read, examine and follow His revelation in the inspired written word.
A new Bible study began last Thursday evening in the city of L’Union. We have prayed for an opportunity to start a Bible study in this city for a long time. There were 8 people at the first meeting. Most of the folks have little or no familiarity with the Bible. Besides Judy and me, one or two of the participants profess to be believers. Three of the participants are originally from Iran. Your prayers for these meetings are greatly appreciated. The couple who hosts these meetings in their home are not members of our (or any) church. The lady made a profession of faith as a child and her husband has Muslim origins but makes no profession of faith.
We are also thankful for the blessings of God displayed in the regular church and youth meetings.
God answers prayer. I will close with an interesting answer to prayer shared by a family in our assembly 2 or 3 weeks ago. They and the church along with them have been praying that God would enable them to become acquainted with people from the neighborhood into which they recently moved. Their desire is to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with their neighbors. This summer has been extremely hot and dry. Grass and many plants have died. A fire started in a yard of the neighborhood and through underground dead roots spread into several yards. Neighbors from many homes came out to fight the fires and the Veuillets from our church got to meet many of their neighbors!
Your fellow laborers,
John and Judy
Contact Info:
John & Judy Hatcher
4, rue d’Aspin
31170 Tournefeuille, France
JMHatcher@aol.com
Present USA phone 1-812-416-1033
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
Open Doors to Share the Gospel
September 9, 2022
Dear Co-Laborers,
Thank you for your faithful support in many different ways. Compared to last month this one has been relatively quiet. We enjoyed having Lydia and Adam (our daughter and son-in-law) along with their children with us for nearly a month. These rare moments with family are a great blessing.
One day when Judy was at the grocery store near our house along with one our granddaughters, she was stopped by a young lady who had heard them speaking in English. This lady has a son in grade school, and she wants him to become proficient in English. They set up a time to come by our house while our grandchildren were still here. Judy has had continuing contact and walks with this lady. God opens doors for us to have relationships with people with whom we can share the gospel.
One of the ladies in our church is a chiropractor and a people magnet. She called me the other day because one of her patients had approached her seeking information for her daughter’s sake. The patient said that her 12-year-old daughter wanted to get baptized. The family has no religious practice. The request is interesting considering the fact that only about 2% of French people are practicing Catholics, less than one half of a percent are evangelical believers. I do not yet know what instigated this desire in the girl. The mother told Anaelle, the chiropractor from our church, that she had approached her on the subject because she thought Protestants were more open than Catholics.
Anaelle called me to discuss the best way to talk to this lady and her daughter about baptism. The lady lives on the other side of the metropolitan area of Toulouse from us. Coming to meetings here would be quite a drive, but we are hoping to see her Sunday.
We are very encouraged with the Bible studies and hope to be starting a new one in a different city this month.
May God bless you and use you as His light where you are.
In His service with you,
John and Judy
Contact Info:
John & Judy Hatcher
4, rue d’Aspin
31170 Tournefeuille, France
JMHatcher@aol.com
Present USA phone 1-812-416-1033
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
A Baptism, A Wedding, & New Bible Study
August 8, 2022
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The past few weeks have been very busy and wonderful. Judy and I have driven hundreds of miles, have seen God at work in many different ways and have had wonderful moments with our family.
Early in the month was our neighborhood dinner. It was at the very first of these that we met the first person who started coming to our first Bible study and who later trusted Christ as Savior. This year we met four new families with children who have moved into our neighborhood. All of these are in homes within 100 feet of ours. I was able to speak briefly with two of these couples about what we do here. They informed me that they respected the beliefs of others but were themselves atheist. This is an answer we hear often.
On July 24 we drove north about 200 miles to baptize an 80-year-old lady, Michelle Pascale. We met her for the first time 15 years ago and she trusted Christ 7 years ago. She asked me to preach from John 4 about the Samaritan woman Jesus met at the well. “I am that woman,” she said. This lady has 6 children and all but one were at the baptism along with their spouses and children. This weekend was also Michele’s birthday. She invited her children to celebrate her party hoping that they would also attend her baptism and hear the Gospel. Some said that they would not attend the baptism. However, God allowed us to befriend most of them before the baptism and I invited them to attend. ALL of them attended and in later conversations with me and other believers, they expressed how they were touched by the message. Please pray for Michelle’s family.
Our daughter, Lydia, and son-in-law, Adam, and their four children (our grandchildren) arrived from Chicago on the Tuesday after the baptism. They came to attend Nathalie’s marriage. Nathalie, our second grandchild and Philip and Amanda’s second child was married to Brice Arlot on August 5. Brice is a fine Christian young man from the city of Briançon, the highest European city in the Alps. Philip and Amanda are not only family, we have been working together in the mission work here for 21 years. We cannot begin to describe the central place they and their daughters have had in the service of the Lord in Tournefeuille and surrounding cities. I was honored to be asked by Nathalie and Brice to celebrate their wedding. What a joy it has been to see her come to Christ and herself serve as a missionary to refugees in Austria.
The trip to the Alps was about 400 miles each way around, up and down mountains. It was well worth it to be able to enjoy the outdoor wedding in a beautiful setting in the Alps. We met many believers and many who need Christ who are members of Brice’s family and friends.
Philip bringing in Nathalie to be married to Brice. 
Philip and Amanda Hatcher. Parents of the bride. (Our son and daughter-in-law and co-workers.) 
Marriage setting
Judy and I are delighted to be starting a new Bible study in the city of L’Union in the home of a family to which we have ministered for many years. Several people, seekers that we have never met are planning to attend this Bible study. Thank you for your prayers for this new opportunity.
We are continuing to enjoy Adam, Lydia and their children as I write.
May God’s riches blessings be enjoyed by you. We are delighted to be in the Lord’s service with your help.
Your brother and sister,
John and Judy Hatcher
Contact Info:
John & Judy Hatcher
4, rue d’Aspin
31170 Tournefeuille, France
JMHatcher@aol.com
Present USA phone 1-812-416-1033
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
New Opportunities to Witness & Make Disciples
July 8, 2022
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Thank you for your prayers and support. We are very grateful for your faithful commitment for many years to the making of disciples here in France. Sometimes when things seem to be going slow God opens a new door that becomes an opportunity to witness and make disciples.
Let me tell you about a couple such events this month. At the time I received a message from my brother saying Dad had passed into the presence of the Lord, Judy and I were on the road returning from the home of Laure and Henri. Laure started coming to the Bible study at Mazere about 8 or 9 years ago. Henri started coming with her after they were married, and they hosted the Bible study at their place from time to time.
About two years into their marriage, we helped them move to a little town that is quite distant from our home and Mazere. He is a cabinet maker and she an elementary school teacher. Shortly after the move, their first child was born, and she stopped teaching to become a full-time mother. We remained in touch but his working hours at a distance from their home and caring for a child made it difficult for them to drive to a Bible study an hour away. There is no church close to them. Within 5 and half years they had four children. During a good part of this time, we were in Indiana caring for Judy’s sister who is now with the Lord. When we received notice of the birth of their fourth child we were back in France and made arrangements to visit them. Their home is a bit over an hour’s drive from us. This visit was the one from which we were returning when I got the news about Dad.
They were really concerned about their inability to be in Church and their children not being in Sunday School. We suggested to them what God had laid on our heart; starting a Bible study in their home including a time of Bible teaching for the children. They were thrilled with the idea, and we had the first meeting a couple of weeks ago. They invited Henri’s aunt and her husband, and they attended and showed a great interest. Please pray for God to use this Bible study for His Glory.
We have also gotten reconnected to a couple who were our neighbors years ago. They now live about one hour north of us. When they had dinner in our home a couple of days ago, she asked question after question about God and how to have a relationship with Him. She really seems driven to know God. When we first met them, she was an atheist.
These are only two of several incidents that we are very excited about. However, I think I had better stop for now.
Thank you for your prayer. Could you take a moment now to pray for God to speak to hearts here and give us the wisdom to pursue each opportunity that He gives us?
Your sister and brother in France,
Judy and John
Contact Info:
John & Judy Hatcher
4, rue d’Aspin
31170 Tournefeuille, France
JMHatcher@aol.com
Present USA phone 1-812-416-1033
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
Young and Old Coming to Christ
June 9, 2022
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Judy and I are thankful to be serving the Lord in teamwork with you. As reported last month my Dad John A. Hatcher went to be with the Lord exactly two weeks after his 97th birthday. Judy and I were able to be with him and care for him just a couple of months before his move to the presence of the Lord.
It was a blessing to see many of our extended family that we had not seen for years and to see the work of God in the lives of many of them. It was also a blessing to see a number of our friends including several who serve with us in association with Baptist Faith Missions.
Just after completing our trip to the US for Dad’s funeral Judy and I came down with Covid. We have begun feeling better the last couple of days but have a way to go. It was very nerve racking getting tested less than 24 hours (as required by the US rules) before our trip to care for Dad and then the funeral trip. However, the Lord, who is over all things, kept us from getting Covid when it would have kept us from helping those He wanted us to help.
This weekend, Timo, a young man who has been coming to Sunday School and church meetings since grade school is following the Lord in baptism. He has invited 14 of his friends to come. It is amazing to hear his confession of faith and see his spiritual growth.
Next month a lady who is 80 years old is getting baptized. We like to see the young and old come to Christ!
I am including the letter Judy wrote at the beginning of May that will help you see the past year from her perspective.
(Click here to read her letter.)
May God bless each of you,
John
Contact Info:
John & Judy Hatcher
4, rue d’Aspin
31170 Tournefeuille, France
JMHatcher@aol.com
Present USA phone 1-812-416-1033
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
You Never Know How God Will Use You
April 18, 2022
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Hope this finds you rejoicing in the Lord. Despite the wars, rumors of wars and the discouraging things that our present world faces, we are very encouraged in the Lord. Yesterday we had a good day with God’s people. On Saturday evening we had a great youth meeting with sixteen young people present. The study for our recent youth meetings has been the different responses to the good news of Jesus Christ recorded in the New Testament. The attention and response have been very good.
Our March newsletter mentioned an eighteen-year-old young man who requested baptism. We are thrilled about what God is doing in Timo’s life. Just after I sent that last letter, I received a call from an eighty-year-old lady who wants to follow the Lord in baptism. She is the aunt of the Douceline, the lady in the city of Mazere in whose home we have been holding Bible Studies for many years. The young and the old are still coming to Christ! And … eternal life is ageless!
You never know how God is going to use you to touch someone’s life and you never know to what that touch is going to lead. We were enthralled last week by a phone conversation with longtime friends and supporters, Tammy and Galen. They unwrapped the story of how their lives had surprisingly touched a lady across the street from them and the amazing spinoffs from that connection.
A dozen or so years ago Judy and I were praying for God to open doors for us. Looking at the local paper, Judy said, “Look, there is a new choir starting in town, maybe you should check into it.” It was a word from the Lord. I sang in that choir for several years and we are still connecting, reconnecting, and sharing the good news of Jesus with people from that choir. The daughter of a couple in the choir, now in University in Lyon, was saved after coming to Sunday School and church for several years. The parents still have not made a profession of faith, but Pascaline has been a faithful believer and member of the Tournefeuille church for several years.
It is great to be serving the Lord along with you. Please, keep praying for us and connecting where you are!
In Christ,
Judy and John Hatcher
Contact Info:
John & Judy Hatcher
4, rue d’Aspin
31170 Tournefeuille, France
JMHatcher@aol.com
Present USA phone 1-812-416-1033
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
Rejoicing Over a New Believer in France
March 17, 2022
Dear Co-Laborers in Christ,
We hope this finds you enjoying the presence of the Lord in your life. Judy and I just returned from Florida where we spent just over three weeks taking care of my dad while my brother Paul recovered from a hernia surgery—a hernia brought on by physically managing the care of our father. We are grateful beyond words for the care that Paul and Wanda continue to joyfully give. After forty years of service in Brazil they moved to the USA to care for Mom, Dad and Wanda’s mother. The two mothers moved in the presence of the Lord four years ago. Dad and Mom were missionaries serving with support through Baptist Faith Missions for 60 years in three different regions of Brazil. Dad is now very limited mentally and physically.
God has continued to work through His people here in France. Three weeks ago, Timo, an eighteen-year-old young man, contacted Philip indicating that he wanted to follow the Lord in baptism. He has been coming to church activities along with his family since he was in grade school. Timo has clearly expressed his faith in Christ for the last few months and grown spiritually in a very evident way. This is a great encouragement to us.
Some have asked us how far we are from the events in Ukraine. There are about two thousand miles between us and the ongoing conflict. Thank you for your concern and remember to pray for believers who are on site and people who need Christ in Ukraine and Russia.
Thank you for your faithful support in many different ways.
Your brother and sister in Christ,
John and Judy Hatcher
Contact Info:
John & Judy Hatcher
4, rue d’Aspin
31170 Tournefeuille, France
JMHatcher@aol.com
Present USA phone 1-812-416-1033
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
Continued Open Doors with Unbelievers
February 5, 2022
Dear Fellow Servants of Christ,
We thank God that you are a part of our team as we seek to communicate the Good News of Jesus Christ and make disciples here in France. Many in our assembly are touched by Covid and other medical issues but our Lord and Savior is not stymied by the apparent problems of this fallen world.
Three months ago, we mentioned in our letter to you the beginning of English conversation meetings. One of the participants, N—–, is a lady that we met in our daily trekking. Last week she was the only one able to be present as the others had conflicting obligations. It was God’s appointment for her to hear the Gospel. On the Catholic calendar it was the day celebrating the presentation of Jesus at the Temple. Judy mentioned this and it opened the door for which we had been praying.
This lady came from a typical non-religious French family in Brittany. However, they sent her to a Catholic school because of the higher quality education. The religious teaching convinced her that there is a God and she became a practicing Catholic. She is frustrated that her daughter has not had her children baptized. This opened the door to talk about our Savior and the difference between religion and faith. We showed her the Sunday School room and the invited her to participate in Bible studies.
About a month ago we received a phone call “out of the blue”. It was Mireille, who along with her husband, Jean-Luc, moved into our neighborhood when we had only been here a few years. If you have been supporting us for a long time you may remember that early on she announced that she was and always had been an atheist. We had conversations with them nearly every day. About 8 years after we met them she excitedly announced that she now believed that there is a God and that He had worked personally in her life.
Then, due to job changes, they moved to a neighboring city. Two or three years later we were invited to Jean-Luc’s retirement and they moved hundreds of miles away to work as hosts at a vineyard reception Chateau where marriages and events are held. Judy had some contact with Mireille through the internet, and then this unexpected call. They have moved to a town about 50 miles from us and are anxious to host us for a meal. It was to be last week but had to be canceled because of Covid in their family.
So, the doors continue to open and we seek to walk through them to make disciples for Christ.
Thank you for your prayers,
John and Judy
Youth Meeting in France 
Youth Meeting in France
Contact Info:
John & Judy Hatcher
4, rue d’Aspin
31170 Tournefeuille, France
JMHatcher@aol.com
Present USA phone 1-812-416-1033
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
