Changing Mission Fields [from John A. Hatcher]
Missionaries John and Alta Hatcher have served the Lord in Brazil since 1955, planting over 70 churches that are still in existence.
May 26, 2015
Dear Brethren and Friends:
I think this is my first Mission Letter as old ninety year old. So, have a little patience, please. My ministry has changed from church planting to personal evangelism. My field is the big super markets. When Wanda or Paul go to buy things, I go to tell persons about the Gospel. There is a constant field of contacts among the employees and customers. I use a small tract called the three crosses. It is a drawing I made illustrating the message I heard when I trusted Jesus as Savior.
In places where things and food stuffs are abounding, many people are hungering for or desiring something that money cannot buy. I sow the seed. It is the seed of God’s Word. I ask Him to bless it. Sometimes I suggest to whom I am talking, “Maybe one day we will meet in Heaven, and you will say, ‘Remember the day you told me about Jesus in the Supermarket?’” Heaven will bring great joy for we will be with Jesus forever and we will see those He has saved to whom we sowed the Seed. “Lord, help us to be faithful in sowing the Seed!”
We love you in our Savior’s Name,
Alta and John A. Hatcher
This is the message of Three Crosses that I heard as a young boy that transformed my life forever. I drew this tract and use it for evangelizing the lost.
John A. and Alta Hatcher
15905 Mercott Court
Clermont FL 34714
229-529-8497
jhatcher1925[at]gmail.com
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FaithWORKS Report [November 2014]
PRAY AND PRAISE in this issue…
- ODALI AND KATHY BARROS— PRAISE GOD for the faithful children in Ubim! PRAY that God will open doors through these children so they can reach the adults. PRAISE GOD for the opportunities opening in Mutirão. PRAISE GOD for continuing to bless His work in Garca and using their son Titus there.
- MIKE AND BEVERLY CREIGLOW—PRAISE GOD for new buildings going up and new sound systems being donated and installed. PRAY for the trials and challenges they are facing in so many areas, that God would give wisdom, grace, and strength.
- JOHN AND ALTA HATCHER—PRAISE GOD for the sweetness of fellowship. PRAY for their son David as he takes care of their house and cars left in Brazil. PRAISE GOD for the opportunity to travel to the Thanksgiving Conference in Michigan!
- JOHN MARK AND JUDY HATCHER—PRAISE GOD for first-time attendees at their VBS. PRAY as they continue to reach children and parents through English Classes and youth meetings. PRAISE GOD for new friendships and reconnections and PRAY they will continue to effectively use opportunities God opens.
- JUDSON AND RAQUEL HATCHER—PRAISE GOD for a special children’s evangelistic event! PRAY for Jud as he mentors men over breakfast each week and fosters fellowship among pastors. PRAISE GOD for continued church health and growth!
- PAUL AND WANDA HATCHER—PRAISE GOD for time spent seeing family and checking on the churches in north and northeastern Brazil! PRAY for Pastor Ivanildo Ross as he encourages and helps the church plants. PRAY for the church plants as they face the challenges of incorporating.
- AJ AND BARBARA HENSLEY—PRAISE GOD for the couple who recently got married and PRAY for them as they continue to obey God! PRAISE GOD for saving 10 more young men through the prison ministry! PRAISE GOD for solid foundation of biblical truths being laid in the seminary and PRAY as they seek to expand to other cities. PRAY for their vehicles.
- NATHAN AND CARRIE RADFORD—PRAY for them as the holiday season nears and homesickness intensifies. PRAISE GOD for the group of men at the Annex Prison who are desiring to grow spiritually and are serious in their study of God’s Word. PRAY as he and Roger Tate continue to train and teach church planting leaders.
- ROGER AND JULIE TATE—PRAISE GOD for the opportunity to share Christ with the Pokot tribe! 5 hour church services, nightly worship gatherings, and several trusting Christ as their Savior during their hut-to-hut evangelism tour! PRAY for Roger as he seeks how God would have him minister to the people in Pokot.
- BOBBY AND CHARLENE WACASER—PRAY for their young missionary Alysson who is preparing to move for a two-year mission project. PRAISE GOD for using Alek Rossi to draw young people closer to Christ and PRAY for him as he will be ordained soon. PRAY for the Projeto Vida teams as they wrap up their school ministries for the year. PRAISE GOD for helping them get all their buses back in operation.
Block these dates and plan to attend…
2015 BFM WINTER CONFERENCE
January 18-21 | Sunday-Wednesday
PARK RIDGE BAPTIST CHURCH
Gotha FL [Orlando-area]
“SERVICE”
“With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men…” Ephesians 6.7
For more details, contact Pastor Ben Glover
BentonGlover[at]aol.com | 407.719.9861
Please be planning to give a generous Thanksgiving Offering to help us supply our missionaries’ needs. We must have a generous Thanksgiving Offering to finance the commitments and benefits we give our missionaries over the coming year.
Ask the Lord how generously He wants you to give. And, ask Him also to supply for you the offering He wants you to give.
2 Corinthians 9.8
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you;
that you, always having all sufficiency in all things,
may have an abundance for every good work.
When Paul was on his way to visit the saints at Rome, he asked them to be prepared to help him financially so he could continue taking the Gospel on his journeys beyond them.
Romans 15.24
‘Whenever I journey to Spain, I shall come to you.
For I hope to see you on my journey,
and to be helped on my way there by you,
if first I may enjoy your company for a while.”
In other words, “When I come to Rome, please help me with your offerings to continue my missionary ministry on beyond you!”
We are pleading with you on behalf of our missionaries to please help them continue their missionary ministries on through 2015 with the Thanksgiving Offerings you will give during this giving season. Will you help us help them on their way?
2015 THANKSGIVING OFFERING
Philippians 4.19
And my God shall supply all your need
according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Because, at the moment of this writing [18 November], we have already exhausted last year’s Thanksgiving Offering. What that means is, we are out of funds of any kind to carry us through December 2014 and on through 2015.
We will necessarily begin using Thanksgiving Offerings received this month – November – to finance our missionaries’ support services. Under ordinary circumstances, we would not begin using the next year’s Thanksgiving Offering until the beginning of the new year…in this case, 2015. If we have any Thanksgiving Offering funds left over at the end of the calendar year, those funds are also carried over to supply our missionaries’ needs for the coming year.
Looking at this situation just purely from a human perspective, this does not bode well for prospects of being able to fulfill the commitments and benefits we have committed to give our missionaries “as the Lord provides.”
Matthew 6.8
…for your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
So, let me appeal to you on behalf of our missionaries – with all the wisdom and passion God will grant me – to respond to their needs with as generous a Thanksgiving Offering as God will enable you to give.
2 Corinthians 9.8
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you;
that you, always having all sufficiency in all things,
may have an abundance for every good work…
Last year’s total Thanksgiving Offering was $49,058.41. It was given over six months, but I assure you, that’s OK! Your Thanksgiving Offering doesn’t have to be given during November! In fact, it will remain open for as long as you need it to be open!
THE THANKSGIVING OFFERING SUPPLIES OUR MISSIONARIES’ NEEDS THAT ARE NOT SUPPLIED FROM YOUR MONTHLY GENERAL FUND OFFERINGS.
Monthly General Fund Offerings
I know we have produced an attractive and informative brochure to explain how our Monthly General Fund Offering works. It is entitled “Caring for those who care for the world” and is available in PDF form on our website and also by requesting paper copies from the Executive Secretary. But, please allow me here to reiterate how we use your Monthly General Fund Offerings. The Essential Maintenance Transactions [EMT] that provide for their most basic living and ministry expenses are supplied from your Monthly General Fund Offerings. They include salary, housing and ministry expense allowances, hospitalization premiums, and Mission Sheets printing and distribution.
These total EMT disbursements add up to $43,300.54 every month. Only one month last year [January 2014] was the Monthly General Fund Offering sufficient to cover these disbursements. We supplied the following monthly deficits from February-March from the surplus received in January.
Extraordinary Estate Gift
Then, in April, we supplied the deficit in the Monthly General Fund from the remaining portion of the extraordinary estate gift Ernest and Helen Palmer had left BFM in 2013.
Founders Day Offerings
By that time, you were giving your Founders Day Offerings from June through September. The special contributions you made to the Founders Day Offering [in addition to your faithful regular giving to the Monthly General Fund] supplied our missionaries’ Essential Maintenance Transactions over the next four months.
I repeat, all of these every-month basic living and ministry expenses are not provided for from the Thanksgiving Offering; they are supplied from the Monthly General Fund Offerings.
And, in the event that the Monthly General Fund Offerings don’t cover those Essential Maintenance Transactions – and we don’t have other designated funds to use – then we must reduce those standard commitments we have made to the missionaries that month by the amount of the shortage of funds. We had to enact that undesirable necessity last month – November 2014. [Please read the accompanying article: “OUR MISSIONARIES’ MONTHLY DEPOSITS REDUCED IN NOVEMBER”]
BUT – THESE DISBURSEMENTS ARE NOT SUPPLIED FROM YOUR THANKSGIVING OFFERINGS. Let’s get back to the Thanksgiving Offering now. The Thanksgiving Offering supplies all the commitments and benefits we provide to our missionaries throughout the year in addition to the Essential Maintenance Transactions we have noted above.
Those benefits include:
- furlough transportation expenses,
- children’s education allowances,
- hospitalization deductible reimbursements,
- postage to mail the Mission Sheets,
- maintaining the Missionary Furlough Home in Lexington KY,
- and all the professional services and supplies that are required to maintain all the activities that go on here in the States to keep their ministries going.
And, let me note here that in 2014, [1] we didn’t have the funds to disburse the Children’s Education Allowance benefit, and [2] we had missionaries who didn’t request reimbursement for their furlough transportation back to the States because they knew we didn’t have the funds.
AND SO – WE NEED THE THANKSGIVING OFFERING TO SUPPLY ALL THE OTHER COMMITMENTS, BENEFITS, AND SERVICES THAT ARE NOT SUPPLIED BY OUR MONTHLY GENERAL FUND OFFERINGS. I repeat, last year’s $49,058.41 did not supply all the benefits we would have given during the year if we had received a larger Thanksgiving Offering – and what we did receive is now exhausted before the end of the year.
Like Paul in 2 Corinthians 9, we are praying to God supply our needs with the means to give a generous offering – and also that He will plant and infuse the Grace into our hearts to give us the purpose, the willingness, and the joy to sow and reap bountifully [verses 6-8].
That is, after all, the way God Himself gives – and the way Christ gave Himself.
2 Corinthians 9.15
Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable Gift.
OUR MISSIONARIES’ MONTHLY DEPOSITS REDUCED IN NOVEMBER
First of all, we want to thank each and every one of you who contributes to the monthly General Fund offerings. You are the ones who supply our missionaries’ essential needs each month to the degree we can fulfill them.
If you are not contributing to the monthly General Fund offerings, please, may we encourage you for the sake of our missionaries’ essential support to begin doing so – as generously as you can?
During the month of November, it was necessary to reduce the modest amounts we have committed to our missionaries each month for their essential maintenance. The reason we had to do this is because our monthly General Fund support offerings were not sufficient to cover the full amounts of the modest disbursements we make to them each month for their salary and expense allowances. So, when the General Fund offerings are not sufficient to cover those commitments, then we must reduce the amounts of the disbursements we deposit to each of their accounts.
So, the effect was – we had to proportionately reduce the amounts we deposited in each missionary’s account for their salary and housing/ministry expense allowances. Our missionaries need and depend upon these modest commitments we make to their essential support needs each month – just like every one of us depends upon our basic essential income coming in regularly each month.
Please help us keep their monthly essential support supplied!
KROGER COMMUNITY REWARDS
All of you do not have Kroger stores in your locality – so this won’t apply to every reader. And if you do, not all of you shop at Kroger. But, if you do, you most likely have a Kroger Plus card to scan when you make your purchases to take advantage of in-store discounts and fuel discount points.
Some of you have also been participating in the Kroger reloadable gift card program. By depositing your money on the reloadable card and using the card to make your purchases, BFM received a ‘commission’ from those purchases.
Kroger has discontinued the use of the reloadable gift card. However, they have now made it easier to continue the benefit to your favorite Non-Profit Organization [BFM]. No extra steps. Simply register your Kroger Plus card online and choose BFM as your Non-Profit Organization. Then, use your Kroger Plus card as you always do and Kroger will direct the benefits to BFM.
We have posted all the instructions you need here. If you’re going to shop at Kroger anyway – and still get all the present benefits of using your Kroger Plus card – then we encourage you to add BFM as a beneficiary also.
(You can also download a printable Word document of the instructions with pictures here. Or a PDF here.)
BFM BROCHURES
We now have TWO very attractive and informative professionally-produced brochures. We want you to help us get these promotional messages into the hands of anyone and everyone who is interested in the mission work the Lord is accomplishing through the missionaries who are supported by your offerings through BFM.
(1) The first of these brochures is one that will introduce you to BFM and inform you about the basic principles by which BFM functions. (click here to view)
(2) The second brochure is just now ‘hot off the press.’ This one is entitled “Caring for those who care for the world,” and is designed to inform and explain just how essential the monthly General Fund is to the daily living and ministry needs of our missionaries. (click here to view)
Both of them are full-color, either 6 or 8 pages 8 ½ x 11 format, pictorial, and informative. Will you please help us distribute these brochures as widely as you can?
If you will send your name and mailing address to:
Dave Parks, 3985 Boston Road, Lexington KY 40514
email: daveparks[at]twc.com | phone: 859.223.8374 –
and tell us how many sets of these brochures you want – we will get them back to you by return shipping.
For now, you can access an electronic flip-through version of the new brochure by going to our website and clicking on the brochure cover.
Again, please serve as ambassadors for your missionaries by helping us get either single-copy sets to interested persons or bundles to distribute in our churches. The brochures will ‘speak for themselves’ – for our missionaries.
MISSIONARIES ON FURLOUGH
Please note the new address and phone numbers for John and Alta Hatcher and Paul and Wanda Hatcher. Their address is: 15905 Mercott Court, Clermont FL 34714. Their home telephone number is: 229-529-8497. John & Alta’s email address is: jhatcher[at]uol.com.br.
Paul and Wanda’s cell number is: 239-227-6551 and their email address is: rphatcher[at]gmail.com.
We encourage you to pray for them and correspond with them.
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Missionary Update: John and Alta Hatcher in Brazil [February 2014]
Missionaries John and Alta Hatcher have served the Lord in Brazil since 1955, planting over 70 churches that are still in existence.
February 7, 2014
Dear Friends and Brethren,
About two months ago our son David and his wife, Pennie, took Alta and I on a cruise of eight days on the beautiful blue waters of the Caribbean Sea. I was there during the Second World War as a seaman and it was just as beautiful as the first time I saw it.
During the cruise I had asked the Lord to open opportunities to witness of the saving Grace of Jesus Christ. One morning we were up on deck and I asked a young man what were his thoughts about Jesus the Savior.
“I am an atheist,” was his answer.
“Sir, two minutes after you die, you will not be an atheist,” was my reply. Why? Because the Bible tells of one who was an atheist or lived as one. In the sixteenth chapter of Luke, verses 16-31, we have the story of a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus. If the rich man was not an atheist, he lived like one. Lazarus died and was carried by the angels to Heaven (Abraham’s bosom). The rich man died and was buried; in hell he lifted up his eyes and saw Lazarus in Heaven. When it was not possible for Lazarus to bring a drop of water for his burning tongue, he asked him to be sent back to tell his five brothers about Jesus.
I quickly told the young man about Lazarus and the rich man. I pray for his salvation each time I remember him. If God brings him to your mind, pray for him, also.
WHAT WE LEARN FROM THIS IMPORTANT STORY
- A person must hear the Gospel of Jesus to be able to believe.
- Each person who believes that Jesus died for them will be saved.
- After Death there is no second chance to be saved.
- He who dies in Christ will have eternal Joy.
- He who dies without the Lord will have eternal suffering.
- The most important task we have as Christians is to tell people that Jesus saves.
- With Jesus in our hearts, we should have at least as much zeal to tell the lost about Jesus as the rich man had as he suffered in Hell.
Sincerely yours in Jesus’ Name,
John and Alta Hatcher
Caixa Postal 112
Urai, PR, Brazil 86280-000
jhatcher[at]uol.com.br
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Missionary Update: John Mark & Judy Hatcher in France [January 2014]
Missionaries John Mark and Judy Hatcher have been serving the Lord in Tournefeuille, France since 1999. They define their ministry as “disciple-making.”
January 3, 2014
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We wish all of God’s best for the coming year and until our Lord Jesus returns to take us to be with Him. Yesterday, I spoke to my younger brother David in Manaus, Brazil to wish him a happy birthday. Next week is my birthday and I am not turning 29. Several years ago I read or heard someone say that there are only two things that are eternal in our World, God and people, and our job is to bring them together. People are the only thing that we will take with us. “And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.” (Luke 16:9) We must invest all that is temporal: money, things, and yes, even time into the eternal – therefore the two great commands are Love God and Love people.
During the past three weeks we enjoyed the visit of Judy’s only sister, Peggy. She has been a great co-worker with us during our entire adult life. She is now retired though she still works one day a week. The rest of her time is spent being a missionary where she lives. Two days a week she teaches Bible to children in 4th and 5th grade from the public schools. In this ministry, 3 trailers are moved around the county and parked outside public schools. Children in 4th and 5th grades are dismissed for a period of time once each week and go to these trailers to be taught the Bible. This is all done and supported by volunteers. While we lived in Evansville, our church staffed a similar ministry in the neighboring county. The lady who now heads up this week day Bible ministry that Peggy serves in was also a member of Emmanuel Baptist Church when we were there. Peggy is also involved in a couple of other outreach ministries on weekdays as well as working in the preschool ministry in her church. So, really, she is not retired. She is investing her earthly life into the eternal.
Judy and her sister Peggy with some of the ladies from the Mazere Bible study.
A few days before Christmas, Angela sent us an email to tell us that Joachim’s father had died during his sleep the night before. A couple of days later, as I spoke to Joachim, he ask my advice on the biblical passages that he wanted used for his father’s funeral. Eight years ago, Joachim confessed his faith in Christ and followed the Lord in baptism. This couple was brought into our sphere of life when Amanda (our daughter-in-law) met Angela at children’s play group. Joachim was the first person baptized in our assembly here and just before they moved away, their son trusted Christ and followed the Lord in Baptism. One of these days you will meet these eternal friends.
Last Sunday, the last of 2013, we focused on thanking God for the blessings of the past year and praying for what God wants us to have during the coming year and future. God is soooo good. Oh, how He loves us. There are many others out there who need to know Him. Sunday afternoon while we were taking a walk with the family, we crossed a boy who came a few times to Sunday School who was on a bike ride with his father. The father, who has never been to any of our meetings, said, “We were just talking about you. Our other son (who also came to Sunday school a few times) asked us when God was born, and we said, that is an question we will have to ask John.” Well I gave him a short answer and told him we needed to get together so that I could talk to his son about it.
So, with your assistance, we continue to invest in people in the unexpected as well as the planned encounters. We are very encouraged by the open doors God is giving us with middle school and high school students. One High School student from a broken home attends our youth meetings regularly. She was invited by a girl from our church who used to be classmate. I don’t know exactly how many piercings she has and she used to “make up” quite “Gothic” (I think I have the right term.) For the Bible discussion at our last meeting a couple of weeks ago each child read a verse concerning Christ coming into the world to save us. I had printed these on strips of paper and passed them out randomly. As I called the text, each child read and we discussed the passage. As this young lady was leaving she said, “Can I take this verse, I think is beautiful. I will have it tattooed on me (I think she was joking about this part.)” We are hoping that she will soon be joined eternally to Christ.
That is what we are doing here;
Investing in the Eternal,
John and Judy in France
John and Judy Hatcher
4, rue d’Aspin
31170 Tournefeuille, France
JMHatcher[at]aol.com
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Missionary Update: Odali & Kathy Barros in Brazil [November 2013]
Odali and Kathy Barros have served the Lord in Sao Paulo, Brazil together since 1987. They are currently in the process of transitioning to Manaus to start sharing the Gospel and planting churches in villages along the river.
Garca, October 31, 2013
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Hope and pray that all is well with each of you and your loved ones. We are all doing well. Things have been a little busy getting things together and sorting last minute things.
We are excited with what God is doing here in the church. The new pastor and his co-worker are doing great. It is so wonderful to see things moving on. This next Sunday there will be six adults baptized. We will have a special service and baptism in the afternoon. Then in the evening we will be going to the church in Marilia where I will be preaching.
Some men from Haiti the Lord has sent the Barros’ way in Brazil!
It is normal for us to go out to do mission, but it is not normal for the mission to come to us. But that is what has happened to us. In the last few months a construction company has brought to us many men from Haiti to work here in Garca. We had talked about preaching to them. The new pastor was also very interested. There was only one small problem…they speak French and we don’t. Well, God took care of that in a very interesting way. Three weeks ago a young lady that was saved in one of our mission points many years ago had us over for supper. She wanted us to meet her husband and family. She also invited some friends over for supper too. We were having a wonderful time together and talking about all that was going in our lives and what we were doing. Then the young man that came over also mention that he had worked overseas. We asked him what language he spoke, and guess what? Yes, that right, he speaks French!!!!! Last Sunday they came to our church to meet the people from the church. They live in a city one hour away.
Odali and the translator God provided who “just happened” to speak the same language as the Haitians they were trying to minister to (French).
We immediately made plans to have a special day with the Haitians. This coming Saturday we are fixing a special supper for them. God is just fantastic! We are all so glad that God provided someone that spoke their language. Pray for them as we preach the Gospel to them.
We have pretty much everything packed and ready to go. We are just waiting for the funds to be able to send another truck. Pray for us, as we will be getting things together and in order at our new the next couple of months. We are excited about visiting the villages to make plans for the ministry. We especially want to start in those that have no Baptist church. We will start by visiting the villages where we can go by road, since we do not have a boat yet. When God provides us with a boat we will also be doing river ministry. We ask that you pray for us, that God leads each step of the way of this new ministry is our lives. It will sure be different for us. For the last 27 years, and 24/7 we have had teens in our home. This new ministry that God has touched our hearts to do will be refreshing and very rewarding. They years working with homeless and needed were a lifetime experience that God allowed us to be a part of. We thank God for those that were saved through that ministry. We are ready for the next step.
We thank all of you for your prayers and support. May God bless each of you!
Odali & Kathy Barros
odali_kathy[at]hotmail.com
Blog
Av. Victor Hugo Boaretto S/N
Garca, Sao Paulo 17.400,000
Brasil, SA
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Missionary Update: John & Alta Hatcher in Brazil [June 2013]
Missionaries John and Alta Hatcher have served the Lord in Brazil since 1955, planting over 70 churches that are still in existence.
Dear Brethren and Friends,
Praise God from Whom all blessings flow! We know you will rejoice with us–The Lord has given a break through in Assai. More than seventy persons attended the special service on Mother’s Day in the city of Assai. Praise the Lord for His blessing on the new family who is working there.
The new pastor is Daniel. His wife is Leticia and their ten year-old daughter is Milena. This family came from the Chapada Baptist Church in Manaus, where our son, David, is pastor. This family is hard-working and dedicated to do God’s will. Pray for God to bless this family and have mercy on Assai. The Chapada Church paid their moving expenses and continue monthly support. Thank the Lord, with Alta and I, for this great blessing in Assai. In this city with a population of 20,000 there is only one baptized believer in our work.
The week after Mother’s Day there were thirty children present in the Saturday Bible Hour and twenty adults and children attended the Sunday service. God has heard and is answering your prayers concerning this city. Please praise Him and thank Him for His blessings.
PERSONAL EVANGELISM–As you know, I try to walk three times each week with the purpose of physical care and to do personal evangelism. We have had two weeks of rain, almost day and night so my walking has been slowed down. Two days that I did walk the Lord gave me opportunity to witness to five persons: A young couple with two small children and three working men.
URAI CHURCH–Since we do not have a specific work to care for since giving up Assai, we are attending the services at Urai church. The mission in Sussumo, on the other side of town, is going well. Three young people of the church teach Sunday School there and they have a preaching service every Friday night. The other mission and visitation program is going well and new persons are coming to services. Please pray for us. Alta is doing fine and I have some physical needs.
In His Wonderful Name,
John A. and Alta Hatcher
Caixa Postal 112
Urai, PR, Brazil 86280-000
jhatcher[at]uol.com.br
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2013 BFM Spring Conference Theme & Featured Offering
CONFERENCE THEME:
“O LORD, REVIVE YOUR WORK!”
Habakkuk 3:2: “O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years…!”
WE NEED REVIVAL…NOW!
Habakkuk prayed this desperate prayer to God in very troubled times. Bad times from all fronts were upon them and worse times were coming. Disasters and calamities of all sorts were impending and threatening. The spirituality and fervor of the kingdom of God was at low ebb. What they needed above all else was a movement of the Spirit and power of God!
We are facing similar times in our own day – and we, too, need a serious, massive infusion and revival of the power of God in our personal lives, in the ministries of our churches, and in the ministries of our missionaries who are so faithfully serving Jesus Christ in the nations of the world.
Our commission and mandate from Jesus Christ is still urgent and pressing upon us. The challenges and prospects of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are still operative. But, we must experience a true Heaven-sent revival of commitment and passion if we are to respond to the needs of our world in an effective way.
God’s Hand is not weakened that He cannot save. The Gospel message is still the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. Jesus Christ still commands us to follow Him to the ends of the earth with His Good News. The “Hand of the Lord” [Acts 11.21] is still working with us – if we will give ourselves to Him.
WE MUST RECEIVE FROM GOD A REVIVAL OF ALL THE SAME GRACES FOR WHICH HABAKKUK PRAYED…such as:
- A revival of crying out to God for His intervention and work – chapter 1.1-5
- A revival of confidence in the Word of God to speak to us and through us – chapter 2.1-3
- A revival of living by faith and abject dependence upon God – chapter 2.4 [And, of course, this ‘faith’ is FAITH IN CHRIST AND HIS GOSPEL]
- A revival of seeking God’s Glory in our service and among the nations of the world – chapter 2.14
- A revival of humble worship before the Presence of God – chapter 2.20
- A revival of desperate praying to God – chapter 3.1-16
- A revival of rejoicing in God and before God regardless of the circumstances in which we serve or the inconveniences we are given to suffer – chapter 3.17-19
And – the need and call to God for these and all other graces we must receive from Him goes on and on – not only in this message for Habakkuk’s time, but all throughout the annals of Scripture and the generations of history…right up to this present moment and day. “O LORD, REVIVE YOUR WORK IN THE MIDST OF THESE YEARS!”
We want and need – and pray to God for – REVIVAL in our mutual missionary endeavors. We have deep needs, but God promises us that ‘the gates of hell shall not prevail against’ His churches and the mission He has committed to us to fulfill.
WE ARE INVITING YOU TO COME AND JOIN US FOR THIS TIME OF SEEKING THE FACE OF GOD AND THE POWER AND GLORY OF HIS GRACE UPON US.
WE ENCOURAGE CHURCHES TO PAY YOUR PASTOR’S [AND HIS WIFE] TRAVEL EXPENSES TO ATTEND THIS CONFERENCE. It will give them the opportunity to enjoy what is always a much-needed physical and spiritual re-charging for your church’s ministry. They will come back to you with a greater burden, zeal, and enthusiasm for missions.
We use these Conference occasions to highlight what God is doing around the world through our missionaries…and update our missions partners concerning their ministries…and also stir up all of us to greater interest, investment, and involvement in our mutual missions endeavors.
Will you take the lead to ask your church to do this for your pastor, our missionaries, and your church?
Thank you for your friendship and especially for your fellowship in missions. We hope to have the opportunity to fellowship, pray, worship, and seek God together with you during this Missions Conference. Please make every effort you can to come and share this occasion with us.
———————————-
CONFERENCE OFFERING:
DESIGNATED FOR OUR ‘GENERAL FUND’
Our greatest need continues to be increased supplies for our GENERAL FUND. Our GENERAL FUND offerings provide for all the commitments we have made to our missionaries. For example, every month, we disburse AT LEAST $46,034.54 from the GENERAL FUND just for the Essential Maintenance Transactions [EMT] which supply the essential and basic ‘living expenses’ commitments we have made to our missionaries. These include their salaries, standard ministry expense allowances, hospitalization premiums, and the publication of their newsletters we print and send to you each month to report on their ministry activities.
And, that is not including also the expenses paid for from the GENERAL FUND which finance the other commitments and benefits they receive each month or periodically through the year as they are due.
WE DO NOT ASK THEM TO ‘RAISE’ THESE SUPPORT FUNDS FOR THEMSELVES. But, if monthly GENERAL FUND offerings are not sufficient to cover those disbursements, then we have no choice but to NOT GIVE THEM those same monthly commitments proportionate to the current deficits in GENERAL FUND monthly offerings. That is why we are always emphasizing THE GENERAL FUND offerings.
And, as most of you know, beginning in January 2013, we gave our missionaries a much-needed and long-overdue 5% increase of their monthly salaries. We are now one quarter into the year, and our monthly GENERAL FUND supplies are running very close. We have always made our commitments to our missionaries BY FAITH and ‘AS THE LORD SUPPLIES.’
So, we are asking you to give as generously as you can to our Conference Offerings which we will use to replenish their GENERAL FUND supplies for their essential living and ministry expenses.
If you cannot attend the Conference, but still want to give a gift, send it to our Treasurer:
Pastor George Sledd
P.O. Box 471280
Lake Monroe FL 32747-1280
Or, you can contribute online either by check/debit or by credit card securely on the Donate/Support page of our website. Enter your designation for SPRING CONFERENCE OFFERING in the Memo field.
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SPECIAL NOTE: We are blessed to have in attendance for this Conference both of our longest-serving and most-veteran missionaries: John and Alta Hatcher and Harold Bratcher. They will both be preaching during this Conference and we want to give them special recognition during the Tuesday evening service and express our profound respect and appreciation to them for their faithful and fruitful service to Jesus Christ in fellowship with Baptist Faith Missions. We encourage you to join us for that service!———————————-
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Thanksgiving Conference Recap [Tuesday Evening]
Our 58th Annual Thanksgiving Conference continued Tuesday evening at New Hope Baptist Church in Dearborn Heights, Michigan.
Bro. Randy Jones, President of BFM spoke during the first evening session. He had a video presentation that covered BFM’s purpose statement and current directions, noting that “The Mission Sheet” today is mainly our website. He discussed the current state of what is being accomplished administratively through BFM and our goals for the future.
Overview of Accomplishments Year-to-Date:
-Highlight Founders Day Offering
-4% of offerings go to administration; 96% goes to missionaries
-New Brochure
-New Facebook Page
-Mission Sheets in PDF Format
-YouTube Channel
-Email Newsletter
-Giving has increased 3% over the past year. The goal is 25% over 3 years.
Goals:
-Increase giving 25% over 3 years
-Add a missionary each year for 3 years
-Increase salaries by 5% this year
-Change the retirement plan
-Visit missionaries on a 3-year cycle
-Eliminate car fund
-Establish a repository for BFM Documents
-Try to visit all supporting churches every 3 years
-Encourage churches to visit the mission field
Bro. Sheridan Stanton, missionary to Peru, sang “Let the Lower Lights Be Burning,” which can be viewed below.
He then delivered the final message of the evening, giving an overview of his experience in church planting.
Bro. Stanton was sent out under the authority of Jordan Missionary Baptist Church and received support from churches and BFM.
Lima–the capital of Peru– was designed for 3 million people and has a population of 12 million people. The Stantons started three churches in Lima. They have been in Huanuco, Peru for 15 years planting New Testament Baptist Churches that are Gospel-motivated and doctrinally sound.
The Stantons have found that it takes approximately 5-7 years to establish a church. They should be doctrinally sound and able to take care of their pastor and building…then they move on. The newest work should be established in two years.
The Stantons also run a Baptist Institute with about 120 pastors. They prepare and print material for Sunday School and training and love to host mission teams.
You do what you do because you believe what you believe.
Over 160 churches in Peru started with the determination of Bro. Richard Hallum with one church plant.
Mission work is for all of us. Start social networking. Learn. Share.
Pastor Darrell Messer presented Pastor Terry Adkins with a plaque of appreciation on behalf of the BFM Board of Directors, as seen below.
You can find all the Thanksgiving Conference Recaps by clicking here.
You can give to our Thanksgiving Offering by clicking here and typing “Thanksgiving Offering” in the Memo field.
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