Plenty to Celebrate
December 13, 2022
Dear Brethren,
It has been a while since I have reported to you. My bad. Over the past three months it seems that I have been ill more than well. In and out of the doctors’ offices regularly. Even had some pretty serious surgery. Not an excuse. Not a complaint. Just letting you know that my motivation is pretty low right now. There is plenty to celebrate though, so here goes.
We have a young man in our church who owns an air taxi company (2 planes. His dad started the company). Ismael flies us on some of our mission trips to more remote locations. We pay just the gas. He took me and 3 of my guys to visit our missions at Santa Rosa do Purús and Jordão. These are the two most remote and isolated cities of the 22 official municipalities (counties) of the State of Acre. We have sent already sent missionaries to all of the towns that had no Baptist church.
We sent Lucas and Diana to Santa Rosa do Purús 3 years ago, during the pandemic. They have won some souls already and are meeting on a porch along one side of the house that we bought them. We have asked Lucas to start looking for property for us to put up our first building. They are also helping the small group of Kaxinauá Indian believers that we had contacted before we actually sent our missionaries there.
Ismael, his plane, my mission team plus Missionary Lucas and his daughter Ester at the airport in Santa Rosa do Purús, Acre 
Lucas, Diana and Ester (Santa Rosa)
Idevaldo and Queila have been at Jordão for 6 or 7 years now. They just finished their brand new building. All services had between 60 and 70 people. There were 4 professions of faith. On Sunday morning I baptized 7 people in the very shallow waters of the Tarauacá River.
Baptism 
Missionary Idevaldo and family (Jordão) 
New building at Jordão
Our trip covered about 1200 miles. This took just a few hours of travel time. I can reach both towns by trailering my boat then going up two different rivers. This would take a combined 68 hours just of travel time. Our work has expanded so far that the plane is a life saver.
At the same time that I was baptizing at Jordão, our home church also added 15 more members by baptism.
In mid-November I held a three day meeting for our church at Assis Brazil. It was their 60th anniversary celebration. Dad organized this church on November 15, 1962. Originally the church was located beside the lake at Humaitá do Moa. Later they moved to terra firma inland at Assis Brasil. They are in a beautiful and big new building. They have a vibrant mission work, too. Five children were saved on Sunday night. I waited until the last night of the meeting to reveal that I was the musician who played my accordion for the organization service 60 years ago. If I had told them that prior to the meeting they would have tried to convince me to play again now. Fortunately, none of us were subjected to that torture! The meeting ended well.
Thanks for all of your prayers and support. God bless you as much as He has us.
In Christ,
Mike Creiglow
In Christ,
Mike Creiglow
CONTACT INFO
Mike & Beverly Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
69980 Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre
Brasil, SA
mdcreig@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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Sarah Returns from Mission Trip + A Look at Steward Leadership
August 20, 2022
Dear friends,
Thank you for your faithful financial support & prayer. Please, pray for me as I will undergo several surgical procedures in the coming weeks. 1) The removal of the port catheter from my chest (cancer-free & no longer needed). 2) Surgery on my hands/wrists due to severe carpal tunnel (I am looking forward to the pain relief). Also, pray for 3) Laura as she continues her cochlear implant hearing therapy. 4) Our return to São Paulo at the end of this year. 5) The church ministries conference at Nova Baptist Church in Manaus, where several pastors and leaders from across the country are flying in for the occasion.
Sarah returned from her two-month mission trip in the Amazon. The Lord used her mightily, and she learned so much while there. Our four children started back to school this week. In September, Raquel will attend a foster care/orphan care conference in Georgia. She is looking forward to this special event.
I have trained leaders with the “servant leadership” framework for the longest time. Within the last year, conviction has grown in my heart for the “steward leadership” framework instead. Let me share a little about “steward leadership.” One of the most outstanding steward leaders in Scripture is Joseph. What a leader and administrator! According to author Kent Wilson (2016), “A steward is someone who manages resources belonging to another person in order to achieve the owner’s objectives.” Wilson discusses the role and responsibilities of the steward. Particularly important for the steward are work ethic, personal virtues, absence of personal vices, training and experience, loyalty to the accountability structure and relationships, wise use of resources, and practical management skills.
In his book, Rodin (2010), addresses the age-old debate “nature-versus-nurture” and posits that leaders are “freed to lead”. As his primary thesis, this freedom fosters holistic transformation and renders an obedient response from born-again believers. This obedient response establishes the person’s work effectiveness. He continues, “Our call to be stewards is based on our acceptance of each as a gracious gift and our rejection of the lure to play the owner.” We are freed from self, equipped by God according to each calling. In addition, “We were created as caretakers of creation, and in Christ, we have been restored to that high and holy calling.”
Steward Leadership is a worldview mindset where a called individual is a learner who leads as a proctor administrator, free of second intentions, where with high integrity and character serves another and is responsible for resources (or an organization) with full-fledged decision-making authority and is accountable for those responsibilities, the use of power and the strategies implemented (Rodin, 2010; Simmons, 2019; and Wilson, 2016).
The steward leader is a servant at heart, but not every servant is a steward leader. This leadership lifestyle involves self-denial but not lacking confidence to influence people and outcomes. A steward leader is deeply accountable, trustworthy, and empowered to mobilize and delegate to successfully lead within all levels of an organization, selflessly empowering and encouraging people within his sphere (Simmons, 2019).
If you love to read and acquire new insights. Check out these resources:
* Rodin, S. (2010). The Steward Leader. Downer’s Grove, Intervarsity Press.
* Simmons, B. (2019). LDR 9610 Unit 1 Lecture HD. Online Studies, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOv8eyIeKSg&list=PLHAVnCRu3fmg6wLpFmZFrP80dOhf04GEs&index=12
* Wilson, K. R. (2016). Steward Leadership in the Nonprofit Organization. Intervarsity Press.
Thank you for your love!
Jud Hatcher
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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Rolling Up Sleeves at Church is Providing Discipleship Opportunities
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
April 4, 2018
Dear Friends,
We just celebrated the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday with a wonderful turnout at our special services. One of the most exciting things to me was that we had so many unchurched folks in attendance. Our members did such a great job of inviting unsaved family and friends to hear the gospel message. We are now praying that the message they heard will be used of the Lord to open their hearts to surrender to Christ as their Lord and Savior.
One of our traveling teams is leaving today on a one-month trip to the extreme western region of our state where they will be helping in new church plants of three local churches. There are 12 young men and women who will be sleeping on mats and cots during this trip and sharing the gospel in public schools and squares. This is their second long-distance trip this year. The new vans that some of you helped to purchase are really being a blessing. With them, the trips are much more economically efficient and less tiring on the team members as well. We are praying that the Lord will bless all their efforts in sharing the gospel and that many people will hear and receive the message with open hearts.
We have been extremely busy working on the maintenance and repairs of our facilities. In order to save money, we have been doing most of the labor ourselves. That has made for some long tiring days, but it also goes a long way showing the community and recent church attenders that we are willing to roll up our sleeves and work alongside our people. I also tried my hand at cabinet making with old pallet wood that turned out to look and function very well and saved us a bunch of money. As I was doing the job, I really enjoyed having the opportunity of mentoring a few men who volunteered to help me. We got several weeks of daylong discipling sessions in during the course of the work projects and they seemed to have developed a greater sense of participation in church life.
I didn’t ask for permission to use his name, so I’ll just say that we are very grateful to an anonymous pastor for the generous donation of funds to purchase a much needed vacuum cleaner for our home and church. We are grateful and we trust that God will bless you for this gift. I also want to thank all of our supporters who give regularly so that we can be here to minister and plant churches for Christ’s glory.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1[at]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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Blessed by Group of Men from Durbin Memorial
The Hensleys have spent nearly 20 years serving in Brazil. They have established a church in Caraguatatuba and mission points throughout the city. They have also recently started a seminary to train pastors.
August 15, 2017
Friends and family,
I would like to write one letter without having to say that something has gone wrong with one of our vehicles but this month is not going to be that month. This time it is Barb’s car—it is the wheel bearings and it is running hot and leaking oil. The tropical climate could have something to do with the hot problem and the speed bumps are the culprit for the leak. Long story short, we will fix the cooling system, replace the wheel bearings, and repair the leak…just another month (old cars are old cars).
This month we have had a group from Durbin Memorial Baptist Church with Pastor Russell Zik. What a blessing these men were for us. The Indian ministry was greatly blessed by this group. They purchased food baskets for the reservation. This time, instead of putting the food in baskets, we just divided the food into stacks. This way thirty families could receive the same thing.
These Indians do crafts so sustain themselves, so they depend upon visitors to purchase their items. We did not disappoint them, everyone made purchases. This tribe, although they live near other people, they live very primitive. Some live in just simple bamboo huts, one room, with an open pit for cooking in the middle of the room. We were able to visit in two of these homes. Taking the food gave us entrance to the homes where we prayed with these families and personally gave them their food. This is quite an eye-opening experience. This always leaves everyone remembering just how truly blessed we are. This tribe serves many different gods—but over the past five years we have seen seven of them come to know the one and only true God as their personal Savior. AWESOME!!!! The chief is one of those who now knows Christ as his Savior.
Talking about the Chief, he had requested that we bring him a guitar and he specified the colors to be BLUE and YELLOW. With the help from the group from Central Baptist Church in Paris, they were able to get the guitar to this group and we took it to him. He was totally surprised when we presented this guitar to him. Now here is an amazing fact about this Chief: he is 116 years old. He is now moving around slowly and this time he had to sit in a chair while we were presenting the guitar to him, but he is still active in the tribe. He and the others around him loved the guitar. They were excited to receive the guitar as the one they had had only few strings and it could not be tuned for them to make presentations in the city.
This group was an all men group. I especially had a great time as three of this group were firemen and we had worked together for the Lexington Fire Department. We spent many late nights talking about old times.
On Sunday, these men taught all the Sunday school classes except the small children. Then on Sunday night Pastor Zik brought the message. What a blessing!
These men came to work and work they did. They finished laying the floor tiles in the upstairs and it is beautiful. They were able to do some painting also to finish some projects that we had not been able to get to. The church building is really coming alive. How AWESOME is the God we serve!
Thanks Durbin Memorial Baptist Church and especially Pastor Zik, his father Bob Zik, Ron Logan, Charlie Davis and Bob Hendriks.
As always if you are thinking about a mission trip give us a call and come on down.
You will never know just how much Barbara and I appreciate your prayers and financial support. Without you and BFM, we could not do the things that we do here in Caraguatatuba, Brazil.
In His service,
Aj and Barb
Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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God is at Work—Even when the Devil Sticks His Nose in Our Plans
The Hensleys have spent nearly 20 years serving in Brazil. They have established a church in Caraguatatuba and mission points throughout the city. They have also recently started a seminary to train pastors.
July 17, 2017
Dear friends and family,
Most of the time all I have to say is how AWESOME is the God we serve—the same still applies for this month. However, it has been a month in which the devil stuck his nose into our plans. So, where do I start?
1st—BUS: We have a great bus and it is an awesome tool for our church to “reach-out” to our members and the community. You name it and we have had a problem with it. The problem with the brakes is solved. Then there was the problem with the suspension, springs and bushings (riding like a wagon). While fixing the springs, etc., we discovered that we need shocks. We are managing to pay this on our credit card. During all this we missed having the bus for another week but the Lord provides with our two cars and several trips to pick up the people. If anyone would like to contribute to the Bus Ministry, start with prayers and then let the Lord lead you in what He wants you to do.
2nd—School Project: Our plans were to go to a public school and do some painting and do a Bible School with our visitors from Central Baptist Church in Paris, Kentucky, and Pastor Steven heading the group. When we got there, there was a contractor that the city had hired to do some much-needed work. So, we pitched in and started to pressure wash the walls that we had planned to paint. But the contractor came and informed us that the cleaning and painting was in his contract so we put up the pressure washer. The principal of the school came to us and told us that the caretaker’s house in the back of the school property needed painting and asked if we would consider painting it. The devil tried to take away our pleasure in helping and God gave us another avenue to help. During this time, the others were having Bible School with the students. It was a great success and the children were able to hear God’s Word from someone other than us. The ways of God are AWESOME and we just have to be still and listen.
3rd—Member’s House: Central Baptist came prepared to put a roof on Martha’s front porch and there we encountered some minor problems with family trying to delay the project (her husband). We eventually overcame the problems and got the roof completed and in the end, we were able to get her husband to attend church. Pray for Jose as he needs salvation.
Our visit to the Indian tribe was our best ever. Another Bible School success!! While there I was summoned to the house of the Chief, and I did not know what to expect. It turned out that the Chief wanted to give me his testimony regarding his salvation. Absolutely wonderful, AWESOME, hearing a 116 year-old Indian Chief talking about his faith. This tribe believes in many gods but this Chief believes in the REAL GOD. Sometimes words are not enough to express or tell about how Lord and Savior is working in Brasil. Before we left, some of the tribe’s younger adults sang several songs for us. The Chief asked or told me that he needed a new guitar for the group. The guitar that they were using was held together with wire and string. He asked specifically for a guitar and the colors needed to be blue and yellow. How many guitars have you seen that are blue and yellow? Central Baptist Church has solved the problem when they returned to the States, one of the members bought a guitar and took it to a body shop and had it painted! You guessed it—Blue and Yellow. How AWESOME is the God we serve. This week we will receive another group from Durbin Baptist Church and they will bring the guitar. We will be able to present the guitar to the tribe and the Chief. We will send pictures.
We were also able to work at the Church building one day with some needed carpentry work. Sometimes I stand amazed at how things get done, people get used, and the Lord gets glorified. AMEN!!!
Come see what God is doing with your missionary dollars.
In His service,
Aj and Barbara
Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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Children’s Ministry Growing; Running Out of Space
The Hensleys have spent nearly 20 years serving in Brazil. They have established a church in Caraguatatuba and mission points throughout the city. They have also recently started a seminary to train pastors.
February 4, 2017
Friends and family,
Well January has been a very active month. We have been trying to complete needed construction for Sunday School space upstairs. We had a group from Mt. Eden Baptist Church that came to celebrate the New Year with us. While with us, they helped us with this construction. They helped with painting, electric problems, doors, fans, closets, shelving, and they provided the financing for these projects. Also this church, under the leadership of my longtime friend Pastor Foy, helped the missionary to the Indians in Rio de Janeiro with their home.
We continually live and worship around and in construction projects. The upside of dust, walking around materials and lots of cleaning in the kitchen when we feed the children on Sunday mornings is that we are a growing Church and our members are very understanding. HOW AWESOME is the Lord we serve!!!!
Speaking of children, what a blessing. Pastor Walmir has been talking with a couple in our area who also work with children about bringing those children to worship with us. They were very happy to find a Church that would welcome them as they had been rejected by various other Churches as they had been told that to many children would disrupt their services. These children, about 20 to 25, live around our neighborhood so we were a great match. With this joining of work, our Sunday school grew about 30%.
Pray that the Lord would supply more space for their growing children’s ministry.
Well, while this mission group was here we had planned to have a Vacation Bible School. So we planned to have the children to come in the afternoon and stay through the church service on Wednesday night. We visited the neighborhood nearby and was expecting around 40-60 kids. But oh me of little faith. As the Bible School was beginning, I was taking care of a transportation problem, so when I finally got upstairs, WHAT A SURPRISE. We did not have enough chairs, much less enough space nor enough teachers nor materials. While we were expecting 40-60 children, imagine my surprise when I saw that there were 108 children packed in our upstairs.
Well we began to divide and conquer—we put some downstairs and left some upstairs, ran out and bought more hot dogs and drinks, and an AWESOME time was had by all. GOD is so AWESOME!!
Now Sunday school is more challenged and with one class offsite already, we are out of space again even before the building is finished. These are good problems to have, don’t you think? Just so you know, we have a lot behind our building that would solve these problems (hint, hint, hint). Pray with us for the Lord to supply.
I will be in the States for the next shot (which I thought was to be the last) in February, but I had to come home sooner as I was having some severe pain, not necessarily related to my cancer problem. Because of this pain I had to have lots of tests. Though they did not find the cause of the pain they have been able to tell me that they see no cancer in these tests. God is so good!!!
Plan a mission trip, see the work, have fellowship, make friends that could change your life and get out of your comfort zone as Barb always says. Come on down to Caraguatuba. The light is on and we will turn your bed down. Come see what your mission dollars are doing.
In His service,
Aj and Barb
Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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Missionary Update: AJ & Barbara Hensley [August 2015]
The Hensleys have spent nearly 15 years serving in Brazil. They run a vocational school and orphanage in Caraguatatuba and have also established a church and mission points throughout the city.
August 10, 2015
Dear Friends and Family,
The month of July has been one full of many things. This month we have had two groups: one from Georgia and one from South Carolina. With them we did Bible schools at the Church and with the Indian children.
While at the Indian village, we were able to deliver food boxes to each family. With one group we were asked by one of the children to pray with him as he felt that he was demon-possessed. So we all gathered ‘round and each one of us prayed for him. When we went back at the end of the month we talked with him again and he said that he was better.
Barbara also had the opportunity to witness to the wife of the Chief. This was the lady who was never receptive to our being there, let alone hearing the Gospel. She did not make a decision for the Lord but at least the seed was planted or watered.
We have been telling you in past letters about how much our Church is growing. Well, we have been looking for a way to accommodate this growth. We had made all the arrangements to cover the driveway beside our building so we could use it for Sunday School classes. The very day that we were getting ready to start the construction, the owner of the building appeared. He informed us that he did not want this construction done on his property. I asked him if he would like to sell his property and he said that he would not. He was with a friend and this friend owned the land behind so I asked if he would like to sell his land, but he did not. What I was not aware of was the owner of the building next door was close by and when these two men left, he approached me and said, “My building is for sale.” And through the AWESOME grace of God, we are now the owner of a new church building!
God has provided a new building for the church in Caraguatatuba with lots of work to be done.
We have used the visitors to tear down walls, beat up concrete, smash down windows, and all the other demo jobs that you can imagine. We are looking forward to having church in our new building shortly. We may have to move in on concrete floors, unpainted walls, and many other things in the process of being finished, but God is so good – no, He is AWESOME! When you see where He is working, go join Him – you will be amazed at what He will do through you.
In the midst of all this, Barbara has had to go to the States. Her mother, Reba Baker, fell and broke her hip. She is now in a nursing home doing physical therapy and Barb will stay with her through September. Pray that all goes well with the therapy and Mrs. Reba can get back home to her house.
If you have not been to see what God can do with your mission dollars, well come on down. We will treat you so many different ways you will have to like at least one of them. Come see what God is doing in Caragua.
In His Service,
AJ & Barb Hensley
Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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Missionary Update: The Tates in Kenya [February 2015]
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is indigenous church planting.
February 5, 2015
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Wow! What an exciting month we’ve had here in Kenya. It’s been exciting because it has revolved around the visit of Pastor Darrell Messer and his dear wife Shirley. Just in case you didn’t know, Pastor Messer is one of the directors of BFM, but he also just happens to be my own pastor from my own church back in Bellbrook, Ohio. When my family moved to Ohio and started attending Emmanuel Baptist Church in Bellbrook back in 1980, Pastor Messer was already the pastor there; he and Shirley have been there ever since then. So needless to say, these people are very dear to my heart. They have been trying to get here to Kenya for a few years, but their plans up to now have always been thwarted. But, they arrived here in Kenya two weeks ago, and now as I write this report we are on the eve of them returning to Nairobi to catch a flight to France where they will visit BFM missionary John Hatcher.
We’ve packed a lot into the past two weeks. After a couple of days in Nairobi allowing them to catch up from jet-lag and allowing us to worship on Sunday in English, we headed home to Kitale. Their first morning in Kitale gave them a rude welcome to missionary life in Kenya as I looked at the water tank and, behold, NO WATER! While Pastor and I scrambled around town trying to jimmy up some way of getting water, I had visions of severe water rationing and what it might look like to our guests if we couldn’t take showers or flush the toilet for two weeks. Welcome to Kenya, Pastor and Shirley! Fortunately by early in the afternoon the water supply was flowing again and I could put that worry behind us for a while. Although the morning plans got trashed because of the lack of water, we were able to tour Kitale in the afternoon – walking through the market with its mounds of second hand clothes, piles of stinking fish, blaring music and stares from the Kenyan people who were not used to seeing that many Americans in one place. In the days to come we visited some of our Kenyan friends in their homes, and spent a day at In-Step Children’s Home as well as getting to see the ministries we are involved in. Here are some of our activities for the week: On Thursday, Pastor and I did some evangelism in town and started up a new Basic Christianity class for which we did get one student to attend. On Friday we attended one of our classes which one of our students taught. We have been trying to teach him how to effectively teach the Word of God. On Saturday we went to a new group that Nathan and I started which meets in the home of Kefa and Matilda. We had 27 people attend the group that morning where we sang, worshipped God and studied God’s Word together. Saturday afternoon we went to the prison where Nathan ministers. We were able to meet his men and hear them sing to us, and then we watched as Nathan taught them from the Word of God. Sunday found us worshipping with Pastor Kirui at Bethel Baptist Church and then fellowshipping together with the other Kitale missionaries later in the afternoon. Throughout the week Pastor and I ate lunch at my favorite dive of a restaurant in town, Mama Chiku’s. I think Pastor has found a new favorite place to eat. I had a hard time convincing anyone else to join us there though.
Pastor Darrell Messer preaching out in the bush to the Pokot people to the “church under the tree”.
The highlight of the trip for me though, was when Pastor, Josiah and I were able to head up into the Kenyan bush and visit the Pokot people. The temperatures were oppressive, we slept in tents, ate rice and goat every day, and got filthy from the dust. But we preached a few times from the Word of God, encouraged the local ministers, met some new people, and showed the Jesus Film a couple of times – the result of which was that a number of people professed faith in Christ. Pastor was even asked to help a local pastor with some baptisms. We went to the river, dug out a shallow spot in which the baptisms could take place, and did the baptisms. Thirty feet away were two dead crocodiles floating in the water. They had been killed by the locals some time earlier. It made me keep looking around to see if there were any other critters swimming around that we needed to be aware of.
We love Pastor and Shirley and have thoroughly enjoyed their visit. We will be sorry to see them go. Blessings to you both, Pastor and Shirley!
Until next month, beloved.
May God’s peace and joy be with you.
For the glory of God in East Africa,
Roger & Julie Tate (and Emily, Amy, Josiah & Chloe)
rojuta[at]gmail.com
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