Two Baptized and a New Bible Study in English
October 16, 2023
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We hope this finds you enjoying the Lord’s blessings. Since I last wrote to you, things have exploded in Israel and Gaza. It isn’t the first time it has happened in our lifetimes or during the last several thousand years. It is good for us to remember that God is on the throne. It is important to put our trust in Him; not in human strength or wisdom. Our present Sunday study is the Book of Isaiah. The present events underscore God’s message to Israel through Isaiah.
Yesterday, the son of the couple that hosts our Bible study in the city to L’Union was baptized. It is delightful to witness his enthusiasm for Christ. It is wonderful to see how God works through His children to bring others to himself.
If you have been praying for our newest Bible study with the couple who left the Watchtower Society, God is answering your prayers. Please continue to pray. The lady is quite interested and seems to have truly placed her faith in Jesus Christ. The husband seems to be more reticent; perhaps fearing that he will fall prey to another religious slavery machine. Upon reading this letter, would you pray for their witness to the wife’s family. They will be visiting them during the next couple of weeks and this family is also controlled by the Watchtower Society.
We have been very encouraged by the participation in our Sunday meetings. One lady who had not come for a long time is now attending. She shows an interest and the desire to continue. Another young lady (in first year of University) who trusted the Lord a few months ago through the influence of a Christian young man she was attracted to in High School attends regularly with great interest. She followed the Lord in baptism a couple of weeks ago. You may remember reading in our letter in late Spring about the many young people who came to Youth meeting through contact with Timo, who trusted the Lord and was baptized last summer. This young lady is one of these young people.
This week we will be beginning a second Bible Study in the city of Mazere. It will be in English to attract individuals who want to improve their English. Some folks that we did not previously know have committed to participate. These are contacts of the hostess who works in the Library and Museum in this City. We will be studying through the Gospel of Mark.
Thanks for participating with us in these endeavors.
Yours fellow servants in Christ,
John and Judy
Contact Info:
John & Judy Hatcher
2 T Impasse de la Picardie
31830 Plaisance du Touch
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
God is Answering Your Prayers
February 15, 2023
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We are grateful to God for your faithful support for many years. Our Father is answering your prayers. The Church meetings in Tournefeuille and Bible studies in six different locations are going quite well. We are doing studies in Isaiah, John, Hebrews, Ruth and a couple of topical studies. Some of these studies are with believers who are growing in the faith and encouraging one another. Other studies are with lost people who are interested in learning about Christ.
The newest Bible Study in the city of L’Union is, besides the hostess, a meeting with seekers. The term seekers fits them well because they do not miss and have become increasingly more open. One lady, who drives about a dozen miles to the meetings, has noticeably become more open and touched by the Gospel. In the beginning she was quite confrontational. It now is obvious that she has encased herself in an armor to protect sentimental wounds that have accumulated over her 56 years of life. She has invited us and others in the group to come to her house tomorrow. Please continue to pray for these folks. Jesus said, “Seek and you will find.”
Our youth meetings have been very exciting. As I mentioned in my last letter, our present study series is about being a witness for Christ. One way to express our faith is to communicate to others how God has worked in our lives. It may be telling how Christ brought you to Himself or how He has worked in your life since you trusted Him. The youth have been enthusiastic about sharing their testimonies and hearing the testimonies of others.
By the time you read this, Judy and I will have celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary. It has been a wonderful life serving the Lord together on three different continents. She is a terrific teammate as well as a very loving spouse who has personally helped me grow spiritually. God has blessed us with four wonderful children, two wonderful daughters-in-law and a fine son-in-law. They are all serving the Lord in many different areas. We are really blessed to have 12 lovely grandchildren. Most recently God added a fine Christian grandson-in-law!
Many of you have been a part of our lives for many years and we thank God for you.
Serving our Savior together in France,
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
Fruitful Opportunities in New Friendships
January 15, 2023
Dear Fellow Disciples of Christ,
We hope your new calendar year is starting well. This is the first week of my 71st year and it doesn’t seem much different from last week. (LOL) It is good to remind myself that with the Lord “one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
We are thankful and encouraged by the blessings from our Father this past year. He has given us fruitful opportunities in new friendships. Last week Judy was out walking and saw a lady who had stopped and was swinging her leg. Judy asked her if she was OK and this lady responded that she was fine but had recently had a hip replacement. This encounter led to a long walk together. The lady began sharing details of her life. She just turned 70 on December 25 and was impressed that she was the same age as Judy and I. She was widowed a couple years ago, is quite lonely, and strongly encouraged Judy to come and visit her! They have been texting each other. God has given us a number of similar encounters this year and the process of pursuing these friendships and sharing what He has done for us continues.
Our church meeting today was wonderful. We are studying through the letter to the Hebrews. The congregation is avidly attentive. Our Bible studies during the week are also going well. During the last three days we learned that two of the participants placed their faith in Christ. One is Kerwan, a young man who is now a High School Science teacher. We have had the joy of presenting the Gospel to him since he was in Elementary School. He regularly came to Youth meetings when he was in Middle School and High School. He will be getting baptized soon. He is one of the two believers besides Judy and me in the Bible study in L’Union. The participants in this Bible study show a great interest.
The other confession of faith is by Elliot, the oldest son of the couple who host the Bible study in their home in Campagne sur Arize. He trusted Christ on Christmas Day. The Parents led him to Christ when he expressed a desire to trust Jesus.
The youth meetings are also very encouraging. Most of the teenagers who come are believers. This year we are discussing how to express your faith and share the good news.
Thank you for your prayers and support. Please continue to pray for the believers and those who are seeking as the Light of God draws them. Give thanks with us for the new believers and the growth of the disciples.
May our Father’s love be evident to you today,
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
Seekers in Bible Studies
December 16, 2022
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Judy and I are grateful for your support and the prayers. If you have prayed for the Bible study at L’Union, you will be glad to know that your prayers are being answered. We are very encouraged by the interest shown in the meetings. The hostess, Blandine and her son, Kerwan, are believers who know the Scriptures well. They are great participants helping their friends understand what we are reading. The others are not believers, have practically no knowledge of the Bible, but are clearly seeking. God has opened great doors of friendship with each of them. We started with the first few chapters of Genesis and are now slowly working our way through the Gospel of John. Please continue to pray for these studies and the seekers who are there.
The other Bible studies are also going quite well. The one at Mazere is made up of 10 individuals from very different backgrounds who all profess faith in Christ. They range in age from mid-forties to mid-seventies. We are presently studying the book of Ruth. The long-term plan is to study the Old Testament passages that tell about the women who are specifically mentioned in the genealogy of Christ in the opening verses of the Gospel of Matthew. This group is a mixture of people with an outstanding knowledge of the Bible and some who have a ways to go.
The Bible Study in Campagne-sur-Arize is four people from our church, and Laure and Henri, a couple who are believers with very little knowledge of the Scriptures. Judy teaches this couple’s children while the adults study.
We are also delighted with new contacts that God has given and we look forward to what He will do in the days ahead.
A bit of trivia to remind us that the time is short and that we “must work while it is yet day.” Judy and I met the parents of Blandine (lady who hosts the first Bible study mentioned above) when we first came to France. It dawned on me this week that she is the same age now as her parents were when we first met them. We have been here for an entire generation and there is still much to be done! So, keep praying!
Your co-laborers in Christ,
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
Fellowship with Disciples, Meals & Studies with Seekers
November 14, 2022
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
It’s Thanksgiving Season and we are very thankful to our Heavenly Father that He has given us many years of fellowship with you. Thank you for your faithful support.
Thanksgiving is not a holiday in France but we always celebrate it as close to the US National holiday as we can. This coming Saturday we will be having Thanksgiving dinner together with Philip, Amanda and their two younger daughters. Camille is in her first year at a University here and Emily is a Senior in High School. We have also invited two couples who have been friends for a long time. Neither of these are believers. The primary way we share the Good News is in encounters and meals together. One couple are parents of Pascaline who trusted the Lord and followed Him in baptism several years ago. She is now doing University studies in the city of Lyon.
Friday night we were surprised by the visit of Marie Theophile. She was a part of our assembly for about ten years along with her parents and siblings before going to University. She is now completing Law School in Northern France. Many young people from our congregation are now in Universities in other regions and countries. Thomas just moved to Italy this past Friday to attend Medical School. We hope and pray that each of these disciples will follow the Lord faithfully where they are.
If you have prayed for our newest Bible study in L’Union, we have encouraging news. God is definitely at work in these meetings. Attention and participation has been great. Please continue to pray for the salvation of the seekers who need Christ and are attending these Bible studies. Since the good majority are lost and have practically no familiarity with the Scriptures, we are reading and discussing the first few chapters of Genesis and then moving to the Gospel of John.
These are some of the highlights of what God is doing here. We thought you would like to know!
Serving Christ along 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
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
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
46 Years of Marriage; Visitors from L’Union
Missionaries John Mark and Judy Hatcher have been serving the Lord in Tournefeuille, France since 1999. They define their ministry as “disciple-making.”
March 11, 2019
Dear Brother and Sisters,
Last week Judy and I celebrated 46 years of marriage. As many of you would agree, the time passes quickly. Judy has certainly been a wonderful partner. We have had the opportunity to serve the Lord on three continents in very different settings. She not only is a model of encouragement, she has been a tireless worker.
Besides her continual zest in serving the Lord through in ministry beyond our family, Judy has truly been a great mother and grandmother.
This past week we also celebrated the 18th birthday of our oldest grandchild, Abigail. This summer Philip and Amanda will be taking her to Evansville, Indiana to begin her studies in Physical Therapy. We will certainly miss her in many ways. She is a good teacher, excellent musician and has touched the lives of many of her friends as a missionary. Among many other activities she is now leading a student Bible study with high school friends and acquaintances. She and another believer decided to do this and are now each leading studies on the High School grounds about the life of Christ through the Gospel according to Luke.
God has greatly used Philip, Amanda, Abigail, Nathalie, Camille and Emily in what He is doing here. We are so grateful for the partnership we have.
Yesterday, we had a great Sunday meeting with several visitors from L’Union, another city in the Toulouse metropolitan area. They are members of a family who are longtime friends of ours. Years ago, Wendy, a single missionary who works with us, and Judy taught English classes in Blandine’s home using Bible stories as the subject matter. Later, Blandine’s children were regular participants in our Youth meetings and brought their friends. This Sunday, the son, Kerwan, was here with his mother. He is now a 2nd year University student preparing to be a History teacher and shows a good interest in spiritual things. Blandine also brought a neighbor who was here for the first time. This lady expressed how much she enjoyed the Bible reading. I gave her a Bible and she was thrilled. When I suggested to Blandine that we would be glad to start a church meeting in their home, she seemed quite interested. This is something for which you can pray.
You might like to practice your French so here is part of an email I received this morning from Douceline (Blandine’s sister). She lives in Mazeres, about an hour to the south and in whose home we held Bible studies weekly for many years. She was also here yesterday.
Coucou John & Judy,
Un grand Merci pour ce repas, votre gentillesse et votre disponibilité ! Claude a été super contente ! C’était une super idée de lui donner la Bible… Merci aussi pour votre proposition concernant les études sur L’Union. Que notre Seigneur vous bénisse pour tout ce que vous faites pour vos frères et sœurs ! Que notre Seigneur œuvre dans le cœur de chacun et que ces études puissent voir le jour si c’est dans sa volonté !
We are here to let the light of Jesus shine through us so that others may know Him, trust Him and follow Him. There is no better life.
Your partners in France for Christ,
John and Judy
John Mark & Judy Hatcher
4, rue d’Aspin
31170 Tournefeuille, France
JMHatcher[at]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
