Much to Be Thankful For
November 17, 2025
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Thanksgiving is just around the corner and we have so much for which to be thankful. You are on our thanksgiving list and I would like to share with you other things for which we are thankful as we review the past year.
Judy had cataract surgery on both eyes in March and there have been no complications. She is delighted with the improvement in her eyesight.
God has brought a number of new people into our congregation and meetings in various locations. Several have trusted Christ and are growing in the Lord and spreading the good news to those around them. About three weeks ago Léonie, who trusted Christ recently and is the only believer in her family, followed the Lord in baptism. She gave her testimony telling how Roxane was used by God to lead her to Christ. Roxane has been a believer for about three years and is actively having Bible studies and sharing the Good News of Jesus with her acquaintances. We met a number of Léonie’s friends who came to witness her baptism and several of these are seeking spiritual answers.
Yesterday I received a text message from Patricia, the mother of Maxime telling about his enjoyment of the youth Bible study. He is the young man I mentioned in the newsletter last month who was taught by Judy in children’s classes in Mazère nearly twenty years ago. It is exciting to see God at work in the lives these young adults who are in University studies or beginning their careers.
A new couple participating in Campagne-sur-Arize are in their thirties and seem to enjoy the Bible study.
Paul, my brother, supported by many of you for over 40 years as a missionary in Brazil, has responded wonderfully to the bone marrow transplant he received a few months ago. He has been declared free of leukemia. God brought him through this difficult and painful procedure. We are very grateful along with his family for what God has done for him.
Judy and I are enjoying good health and are able to continue reaching out to those who need Christ. In the past few months God has enabled us to become acquainted with a number of people in our neighborhood. We enjoy the fellowship of those who serve along with us in the kingdom of our Lord and Savior.
Have a great Thanksgiving celebration!
John and Judy
Contact Info:
John Mark & Judy Hatcher
2 T Impasse de la Picardie
31830 Plaisance du Touch
France
jmhatcher@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.
Read more
Let Your Light Shine: Stories of Salvation and Discipleship in Mazère
July 22, 2025
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We hope you are enjoying your life in Christ and seeing Him at work around you. As I was finishing an online live Bible study a few minutes ago, it dawned on me that I had not yet communicated with you about God’s work here during the past month.
A couple of weeks ago, a young man who participates in the Bible study at Mazère followed the Lord in baptism. He was touched by friends and enthusiastically expresses his faith in Christ. This is the way it works: Friends, family and fellow workers touching the lives of others with whom they have contact and relationships; bringing to Christ those who are searching.
A couple of months ago, as Judy and I were getting on the plane to be in the USA for a month, I received a wonderful surprise. Christopher, a paratrooper in the same company as the young man whose baptism I just mentioned, sent me a text asking me about the possibility of getting baptized. He just recently started coming to the Mazère Bible study. He has expressed his faith in Christ clearly during the Bible studies. He will not be baptized immediately because he is with his troop on a training mission in New Caledonia for four months.
It is wonderful to witness God at work in the lives of those who have trusted Him. Roxanne, one of the very active believers in our college-age group was saved and baptized two years ago. She is in the pictures included with last month’s newsletter (also shown below). She is an active reader and student of the Bible. She has been having Bible studies with a couple of friends who were seeking God. In a Bible study last week with our granddaughters, Camille and Emily, along with Roxane, Léonie expressed faith in Christ and a desire to follow Christ in baptism. She is one of the friends with whom Roxane has been having investigative Bible studies for the past few months.
These believers did not come to Christ through our witness alone. Most people trust Jesus as Savior through the witness of a number of His disciples. We don’t have to do it all. You don’t have to do it all. We do need to ask our Father to enable us to live out our calling, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16 – Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount)
May God bless you and use His light through you. Thank you for serving with us.
John and Judy Hatcher
Contact Info:
John Mark & Judy Hatcher
2 T Impasse de la Picardie
31830 Plaisance du Touch
France
jmhatcher@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.
Read more
