Missionary Update: The Wacasers in Brazil [July 2012]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
July 11, 2012
I enjoy life. Not every single detail of it, you understand, but life itself is good. There is a wonderful reason that this is true. My purpose in life is what makes it grand. I have the privilege to serve, fight for, honor, make famous, and love the Creator of everything, who is my God and Savior.
Some details in life are honestly a pain, some literally, others metaphorically. For example, a couple of mornings ago I woke up with a terrible headache. I didn’t like it, you know? It hurt. It didn’t want to go away. I was happy, though, that I had the ability to FEEL. I was thankful that it was only a headache and not something more serious. A few days before that I was working on the electrical installation of our new church plant and I pinched my finger in my own pliers (not on purpose, of course). It hurt. I did not immediately say, “I thank Thee Lord for that sharp reminder that I am frail and prone to errors.” No, I gasped and groaned and murmured for a few seconds. I am grateful, though, that I have the mobility and strength to be able to work with my fingers in the Lord’s service, because I know that many do not have that gift. The work on the new building is progressing very well and, in fact, we will be holding our official inaugural service on the 22nd of July. Life is great because after a year of very hard work (with some minor injuries) and much prayer and sharing God’s Word with neighbors and friends, God has tripled our attendance and those who attend are helping us to invite more friends and family to the special inaugural service.
Life is great because the absence of it is just awful. I do not fear death, neither do I seek it. I am ready for it, because the One who makes and gives it, Jesus Christ, has already done everything needed for me to obtain and keep it. Some of the details of everyday life are disheartening, like poor health, betrayal by friends, being ridiculed by unbelievers and the letdowns that come from my own errors. But, God’s word sheds light on even these shortcomings so that I might see that He uses them for my good and His ultimate glory. The knowledge of that fact makes life very good indeed. Even the bad – results in good! Who could ask for better, or more?
My hope and my efforts are not based on improving or lengthening this earthly life. What I see in this life is the opportunity to invest in the real one that awaits me. This one is a shadow of the real thing up ahead. What make this one good is that even it is lived in fellowship with my Savior and King who has promised that He’ll return to take me to LIVE with Him eternally. And He assures me that that LIFE has no undesired details, not even little ones.
The God that provides a life that grand deserves to be worshipped, honored and loved. It is my joy to use this life that He has given me to do just that. I don’t have plan B! I rejoice that God also gives me the privilege of partnering with you in making Him known and praised. That way, both you and I are blessed when I speak God’s message of love and salvation here; you are a co-laborer in that ministry. Without you, I couldn’t be here. I thank God for you.
We are training over 20 new missionary candidates at our Projeto Vida Mission School this month. There will be two weeks of intensive study and rehearsals of skits, then our four teams will head out into the interior on their buses together with these missionary candidates to work in the public squares for another three weeks. Pray with us that many lives will be reached and that God’s name will be glorified.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby, Charlene and Brennen Wacaser
Rua Manoel Valdomiro de Macedo, 2281
81170-150 Curitiba, PR Brasil
(813)436-9980
robertmw[at]brturbo.com.br
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Missionary Update: Paul & Wanda Hatcher in Brazil [July 2012]
Paul and Wanda Hatcher have been serving the Lord together in Brazil for 36 years. Paul pastors Tabernacle Baptist Church in Manaus, Brazil. Their main ministry is church planting.
July 9, 2012
Dear Friends,
We just came through a record high-water season – the highest in over a hundred years. The rainy season in the Amazon Basin begins in December and lasts until the end of June. During this season, the Amazon River and tributaries are at flood stage for three to four months. Most of the houses are built above flood stage, especially housing built on stilts in the swamp area. Many of the poor families build in these swamp areas because land is cheap, or they just “squat” on it. However, provisions were not made for such high waters as we had this year. As a result, about a hundred thousand people had to move from their houses and seek refuge in shelters or homes of relatives. One of the churches organized last November by Tabernacle Baptist Church was affected by the high waters and was totally flooded for about six weeks. Many of the members lived in lower areas where their homes were flooded for an even longer period. The church here in Manaus had a food drive and furnished food for members of that church and other families in the community whose homes were flooded. It is good to see the outpouring of love by God’s people and His church. The church there has continued to grow even through all this difficulty.
Since last writing you, we had four great joys from the Lord. Our first two are the births of two wonderful grandchildren. Melissa Nicole was born November 30 to Judson and Raquel Hatcher; and Noah Christian was born June 18 to Michael and Leigh Anne Samples. It is certainly a great privilege to have our three children and families (a total of seven grandchildren) near us for the time being, as the Lord wills. Neither Wanda nor I or our own children had the privilege of being near our grandparents as we grew up. So you see, it’s a big deal for us! We are grateful to the Lord and pray for them that they will at an early age come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, trust Him in every area of their life, and love others as Christ has loved them.
The next two joys are also very dear to our hearts. Two new churches were born here in Manaus in the last six weeks. The first is Impact Baptist Church in the community of Ouro Verde. They have made a great impact in their community through their Christian love for one another. The second one is the Victory Baptist Church in the community of Cachoeirinha, also a very loving church, comprised mainly of young couples who are very excited about the Lord. Both churches are very committed to knowing God through the study of the Scriptures , to encouraging each other to trust God in the big and little things each day, and to modeling the love that Christ has shown us.
The sowing and reaping continues. Our prayer is that Christ’s will be fulfilled in us – “As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”
Thank you for your support. Pray for us always. May God bless you.
Love,
Paul and Wanda
Your missionaries to North and North East Brazil
Paul and Wanda Hatcher
Avenida J. Carlos Antony, 172
65063-150 Manaus
Amazonas, Brasil SA
hatcher[at]argo.com.br
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Missionary Update: The Wacasers [June 2012]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
June 9, 2012
Dear friends,
I have learned from my reading of the apostle Paul’s letters that we need to discern the difference between prideful boasting and glorying in the Lord. Satan and his demons would have us do much of the boasting and none of the glorying in the Lord. For fear of doing the boasting we sometimes leave off doing the glorying in the Lord and God is robbed of opportunities to be magnified. I don’t want to be guilty of either, so I will glory only in what God has done. But, He has done much. It boggles my mind to realize that during the month of May we had the privilege of sharing the gospel with over 19,000 people through our various ministries. We worked in three different states of Brazil and at the same time have made great progress on the auditorium of our new church building. We heard over 500 people profess Christ as their Savior. We give ALL the glory to God. I know that without God’s blessings and His Spirit’s working in and through us, none of this would be possible. We are thankful and we rejoice that He sees fit to provide us with these opportunities.
With opportunities and blessings like these come hardships, trials and persecution. Just this week we were attacked through the internet by a selfish and vengeful mother who is angered because her three kids have surrendered their lives to Christ and want to live for him rather than live for her. They are very respectful to her and have not abandoned her. But, her plan was for her kids to stay at home and use their income to make her life luxurious. When she saw that their surrender to Christ set them on a different course she took to the internet to attack our ministries. May God strengthen her kids in their resolve to live for Him and also to convict her of her selfishness and bring her to repentance and faith in Christ.
Charlene washing down the new windows (with a smile!)
I was able to get pictures of the windows and glass doors installed in the new church building. Check to see if they have been posted in this edition of the Mission Sheets. Also, we have nearly completed the laying of the ceramic tile floors. Ceramic in our area is less expensive than most any type of flooring, hence our use of it. It is easier to keep clean and costs less to install.
Charlene and a friend washing down the new windows!
We are very grateful to you who have been so faithful and generous in giving toward our ministries. We have been able to continue our building project without having to incur debt and we are very thankful for that. God has seen fit to provide the resources as they have been needed.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby, Charlene and Brennen Wacaser
Rua Manoel Valdomiro de Macedo, 2281
81170-150 Curitiba, PR Brasil
(813)436-9980
robertmw[at]brturbo.com.br
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Missionary Update: AJ & Barbara Hensley in Brazil [May 2012]
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.
Hello to friends and family,
Sometimes you are so busy that you look back and say “What did I do or accomplish?” This month has been one of those. I will start with the van…we had to put it in the body shop because of its roof. It started rusting and the rust became holes and the rain came into the inside. So much for the ceiling upholstery! Oh well, that is what you get when you live at the beach. So when we repaired the roof we also had to put new seals around all of the doors. Now we are just about to put it back into use but there is still some mechanical work to do. While we are without our van we are borrowing or renting others to fulfill our church transporting. Pray with us that we could receive the financing for a bus to fulfill these transportation needs.
Lots of physical work is going on around the Church building. We have been painting, doing masonry work and various repairs. But the biggest of the projects is the pouring the sidewalk in front of the Church. We could have put off some of these projects but we are going to organize our Church and we would love for it to look good. The organization will be the 13th of May at 7:00 in the evening service. Pray that all goes as planned and that the Church continues to grow spiritually. We will have 81 members at this organization. Praise be to God for the growth in these 2 years.
We are having to do some construction around our home. Several years ago, we finished the area around the house but this year the city put in trunk lines for the sewer system. When we connected to these lines, we found out that all our lines had been put in wrong. So this week we are tearing up all the tile (because we bought the close out line to save money and there is none of that tile left at the construction stores) and the plumbing to redo everything.
We are starting to start work at the vocational school next week. The next step that has to be done is the electrical work. We have the conduit in the walls and next week we start installing the wire and the electrical panel. The next step is to tile the floors. There is a lot of paperwork to be done so we are starting to plot the buildings and the lots. For this we need an engineer. So today we began the measurements. The completed paperwork could take months to process. So pray with us about this also.
We have gotten back into our family discipleship and it is going very well. We are working with one family with 2 girls. They are 5 and 8 years old. These 2 young girls are memorizing verses and learning how to be children that God will be proud of. The government here does not cooperate with raising Godly children. As a matter of fact they promote anti-biblical things in the raising of children. So we are trying to help these parents to use the Bible in the raising of their children. In this process the parents are also growing spiritually. So our days and some nights are being dedicated to the helping of parents and children.
We had another baptism this month. There were 5 baptized and we (like good Baptists) had a cookout afterwards. We also have 4 more awaiting baptism so they will be our first candidates for baptism into our newly organized Church. God is AWESOME!!!!!!
I have given you an idea of what we will be doing for the next 2 or 3 months so read it over and decide which you would love to participate in and then go and buy your ticket and COME ON DOWN. We will treat you so many different ways that you will have to like one of them. Come see what God is doing with your mission dollars!!!!!
In His service,
Aj and Barbara
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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Missionary Update: Paul & Wanda Hatcher in Brazil [March 2012]
Paul and Wanda Hatcher have been serving the Lord together in Brazil for 36 years. Paul pastors Tabernacle Baptist Church in Manaus, Brazil. Their main ministry is church planting.
Dear friends,
Another year is ended. This one went by so rapidly. We are grateful to God and rejoice in his blessings and mercies.
The Lord blessed; the missions (church starts) had a great year. In October, six of the missions were ready to organize and incorporate as Baptist churches. At the same time six new Baptist ministers were ordained to the gospel ministry. The legal paperwork was a little complicated, however, all was completed. The following month of November, an additional eight churches were organized and properly registered with the government. Six additional pastors were ordained to the Gospel Ministry. Certainly this is reason for us all to rejoice in the Lord. You share in these blessings through your prayers and contributions to missions here in Brazil. Together, we are making friends for eternity. It is certainly a priceless hope to have eternal life. Imagine the joy of being received by friends in eternity – Brazilian friends you never knew in this life time – friends you made by sending the Gospel of Jesus Christ; they believed and now are children of God even as you and me.
Wanda and I thank you, too. Thanks for being prayer partners and giving friends. Jesus Christ has promised “Great is your reward in heaven.”
Now, a news update regarding our family. Wanda and I are doing well. We have great joy seeing our children walking with God and serving our Lord. We are enjoying our wonderful grandchildren – two boys and four girls. All the children, spouses and grandchildren are doing well.
We ask that you remember us in prayer, here are some special requests for the year: that the gospel will continue to grow and those who believe will grow in the Lord. Pray that the door of opportunity for the gospel will stay open. Pray that we will be wise stewards of our time and resources to achieve maximum amount sowing and reaping of the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ. Pray that God will strengthen us in faith, love and persistence.
We love you in Christ Jesus. May God richly bless you with peace and grace in Jesus Christ.
Paul and Wanda Hatcher
Avenida J. Carlos Antony, 172
65063-150 Manaus
Amazonas, Brasil SA
hatcher[at]argo.com.br
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Missionary Update: AJ & Barbara Hensley in Brazil [February 2012]
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.
Dear friends,
Aj and I have been in the States for a while and have traveled to various Churches. We will be here through March so if we have not seen you yet, maybe we will see you in the next month.
During our travels we realized that many people have never heard my testimony. So we thought that this would be a good time to let you hear about Barbara Alaine Hensley. I was born in Owsley County, Kentucky to Hubert and Reba Baker. I grew up in a Christian home. Before we had a car we would pay a taxi to take us to Church, but because we could only afford a taxi once, we would walk back home. That walk was about seven miles. At this time I was small, so my dad would carry me on his shoulders and my mom would lead my sister Ada Marie. It was after this period of my life that my dad was called to be a Pastor. We lived in the Appalachia where almost all of the homes had no indoor pluming and their potties were on the outside. We were no different from those homes. As we grew my dad opened many mission points and we, as a family, helped him in those works. Our week was very busy as we were were in Church 4 times on Sunday and every night of the week except for Monday night. In these times most of the people did not have transportation. We would pick them up and take them to the services. We were blessed with an old panel truck and dad had made benches in the back. That way we could take lots of people.This truck was always full to the brim. Our home was always open to visitors and sister and I were always giving our bed to visitors. Mom could whip up a meal in a little time and she could take the little that we had to make it stretch to fit the numbers.
When I was 9 years dad accepted a Church in Owensboro. It was there that I accepted Christ as my savior.We only stayed there for two years and then moved back to Booneville,Ky. Back in Booneville we continued the work that we had been doing before. I remember on Sundays we did not even have time for lunch as we did a relay getting to each of the mission points. We would have Sunday School at Elk Lick Baptist Church then dad would take mom me and my sister to the first mission where we would have Sunday School and dad would go preach at the other mission then he would come preach at the mission point where we had just done Sunday School and then we would go back to the main Church for night services.
I met Aj when I was in my junior year of high school. We dated for 2 years and married in 1966. It was not til 1996 that Aj surrendered to be a missionary and Baptist Faith Missions sent us to Brazil. Many people ask me when I received my call to become a missionary and I tell them that it was when I was born. Because you see God knew my life and knew each step that I would take and He knew that he had prepared Alex Hensley to be my husband and He knew that Aj would become a missionary. He prepared me from birth with each and every thing that I was doing with my parents because He knew that I would go through all these same things in Brazil.
At one of the Churches that we were visiting these past weeks I had a pastor ask me to forgive him and I said that I would but would he please tell me why. He said that when Aj came before BFM to be sent out he had told someone that we would not last on the field. The reason he gave for his opinion was that I would not make it on the mission field. He did not know of the rigorous training that I had went through to get me where God wanted me to be.
The one thing that I know is that God equips those that He calls. And here we are 16 years later and still going strong in Brazil. To God be the glory.
We would love to have you come down and see what God is doing there in Caraguatatuba, Brazil. Our home is open to visitors and the light is on and the mint is on the pillow. So come on down.
In His service,
Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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Missionary Update: Odali & Kathy Barros in Brazil [February 2012]
Odali and Kathy Barros have served the Lord in Sao Paulo, Brazil for many years. In addition to leading their newest church, they also run "Alpha Omega Family Development," which provides a home and stability for needy people, many of whom are recovering drug addicts, etc.
Time does not stop or wait, it keeps on moving, we must not loss time in sharing God’s love to those around us. The real purpose of why God put us on earth!! The final goal is eternity. Unfortunately most of the time we spend planning our earthly gains and forget the best investment of all times. SOULS! I pray each one of us will remember that the coming of our Savior is closer each day. That we will use each opportunity we have to tell someone about Jesus. We need to live a life that others may see Jesus in us.
Last Sunday we had a wonderful Sunday school. But, there was a specific thing that happened that touched my heart. One of the ladies who live with us, who has used drugs most of her life, asked me to go get a friend to come to church. I went with her to get her friend. The location is the worst place for drugs in this town. As I drove up the streets was full of people just standing around, drugged, drunk or both. People just standing around, with know meaning to life. The ladies husband at first hesitated in letting her go, but the friend finally convened him to let her come. When we got to church the bus route that Odali drives arrived. All of a sudden the lady I brought was hugging a little girl. It was the ladies daughter that she had not seen for 4 months. Because of the kind of life she was living the courts gave the children to her sister that does not let her see them. What a place to meet, at God’s house. This is only one story, but like this one there are many others. Pray for these children and these families that we can above all things place in their hearts that God loves them and that He died on the cross for our sins. That is worth living for!!!! God’s plan for us is simple. Let us not complicate it.
We have had lots of rain here in Brasil. Thankfully where we live is so high up that we do not run the danger of flooding. But in other places they have not been so fortunate. Many places have had some serious damage.
God has given us the opportunity to preach to 5 states with out going out of our house! Maybe you’re asking how could that be possible? Down the road from our house a construction company is building over 700 houses. The company needed a place to sleep their construction workers and came to talk to us. We let them use one of the halls where we used to have the school. They pay for the utilities they use. They are from at least 5 different states.
Most of them are from state in northeast Brasil. A mission field right in our yard! At the end of each day they play soccer with the guys that lives here at Alpha and Omega. We have made it a project to gain these men by our testimony. They have been here for 2 weeks. We have had the privileged of several of them come to church. Pray for them as they hear the gospel that they may understand and receive Him as Savior. Can you imagine these men getting saved and then going back to their families?! We praise God for this opportunity!
Kathy with her brother, missionary Paul Hatcher, and her son Gabriel.
I took our 3 boys to camp last week. What a time of refreshing. It is fun to watch them grow and enjoy camp in a different way. They made many new friends from other churches. They just had lots of fun and fellowship with other Christian teenagers. I also had a great time with my brother Paul and his wife Wanda and my parents. It is not often that we get together.
Odali & Kathy Barros
Caixa Postal 182
17400-000 Garca, SP
Brasil, S.A.
odali_kathy[at]hotmail.com
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Missionary Update: AJ & Barbara Hensley in Brazil [January 2012]
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.
Friends,
Well, we had an awesome Christmas here in the States. We spent it with Barb’s mom and our son Bryan and his famil, and our Brasilian daughter and her family. We were anticipating a white Christmas but we got fall-like weather. Oh well, things and times are changing.
We traveled some in December visiting two churches in Virginia Beach. We stayed with dear friends Lonnie and Barbara there in Virginia Beach. We also got to spend some time with Jerry Flug, one of the first youth pastors that visited us in Brasil. He has been a big help for us printing our prayer cards and banners for us to use at some of the conferences we will be attending while here in the States.
We also spent time with Pastor Thomas and the folks at Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church where Barb’s mother is a member. There I had the privilege of preaching the morning and evening services on the first day of the year.
While here, Barbara and I have been getting some exams done. They have found a cyst in my kidney. Pray for me as the Doctors work to decide what action to take in treating my problem.
In our absence the Church is going and growing. As we were leaving Brasil, there was plans for another baptism. And we are praying about starting another mission work on the other side of the city. One of the couples who regularly attend our services has offered us access to a hotel that they own as the building for us to begin the meetings. Pray for this project that God would supply the person to preach there and the persons that need to hear the gospel.
It has been an AWESOME year in ministry in Brasil for us. Lots of construction on the Church and plans being made for the up-coming year. The vocational school has progressed very well and we are hoping this year we will complete the dorm house.
As we have told you in other letters the most pressing need for us there in Brasil is transportation. As we were leaving, we had to put the van back in the garage for more repairs. This time it was the power steering and it took over 3 plus weeks and $1,800 reais to get it back. The Church in western Kentucky had just sent us an offering and it covered the cost. Isn’t God great? He knows your needs and He provides. While we are here in the States, our pick-up is being worked on. Hopefully a lot of maintenance will be done—wheel bearings, minor body repair, oil change, filters, tire alignment and balancing and some suspension repair. This sounds like a lot but with the age of the truck and the mileage, that is not really much work. I told you all this just for you to see that we really do need help with transportation here in our work.
As we enter this New Year we are totally thankful for everyone that has been involved in our mission work both financially and prayerfully. We ask that you continue praying for us in the coming year.
I hope that you are planning to come down to see what your mission dollars are doing in Caraguatatuba, Brasil.
In His service,
Aj and Barbara Hensley
Caixa Postal 1511
11672-300 Caraguatatuba, Sao Paulo, Brasil
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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