Field Representative Report – August 2023

An update from Pastor David Pitman, Field Representative

2023 began with George Sledd and Sheridan Stanton presenting BFM to the Founders Conference in Florida.

In March, Darrell Messer and David Pitman were with Pastor Mark Campbell at Emmanuel Baptist, Salyersville, Kentucky.

Our team made its second visit to CBTS in March. 

In March BFM also displayed at the Addyston Baptist Church’s Men’s Retreat (Ohio) and the Spring Conference at Grace Baptist Church of Fairborn, Ohio.

Darrell Messer and Mark Pyles will lead our team’s return to G3, Atlanta in September.

David & Kym Pitman and Jonathan Turner are representing BFM in Brazil.

October 19-20, David & Kym Pitman and Dan Hillard will represent at DBTS in Detroit.

Pray for us!


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Intensive Outreach

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Bobby and Charlene Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.

March 15, 2023

Dear Friends,

In my last correspondence I shared the marvelous news with you that Yago and Manoela, our missionaries to Portugal, were privileged to lead their first convert to Christ. Since then, they have kept up weekly Bible studies with Emanuel, the new disciple. This past Saturday, Emanuel braved the cold Atlantic waters and followed the Lord in baptism. He is thrilled with his daily walk with the Lord and the study of His word. At the same time, just as the Lord warned us, persecution has already begun. Some of his friends and family are trying to mock him and belittle his faith. Yago and Manoela were careful to point out to him to expect this kind of treatment and not to lose heart. In fact, it is a sign that the Lord is truly in and with him, for that is how the world and the devil treat God’s children.

Yago and Manoela are still searching for a house closer to Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. They have begun several home Bible studies with believers scattered about in that general region. Where they live now is not conveniently located due to the cost of time and money getting to Lisbon. We are praying for them to find an adequate house or apartment within their budget where they can hold small groups and a weekend Bible club for children. Please pray with us for them to locate the right house for their work.

At our church’s new location, we have discovered some, let’s say, “interesting” challenges. We knew that the building would need some work done on a leaky roof. That was included in the contract for the property owner to fix back in December. Here we are in the middle of March and almost daily we are having to haul out buckets full of rainwater that drops right in the middle of our auditorium. The problem is being resolved, but it’s taking way longer than we anticipated and the constant rains require that we spend quite an amount of time mopping up water and moving furniture so that it won’t get wet. The good thing about this challenge is that our members are getting a good taste of investing their energy and resources into the Lord’s kingdom. We will be putting on a major Easter play production and we expect the building to be near full for two services. A leaky roof in the middle of a packed house could cause some very unpleasant scenes. So, pray that the workers can get the job done in time for the presentations and that the leaks are truly eliminated, please.

Today we went to the airport to pick up a team of 8 volunteer evangelists from Virginia. This is their 4th or 5th visit in about two years. They are some of the sweetest and humblest people we’ve met. But they are very bold in evangelism. They witness everywhere they go. In the markets, in the restaurants, in the parks and schools and the Lord has seen fit to bless with many people turning to Christ. They will be with us for 6 days of intensive outreach to over 4000 people outside of the church building. Mostly non-believers, for now, but we hope that many will be saved in these next few days of outreach.

In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser

Contact Info:
Bobby & Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1@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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BFM Outreach at CBTS National Conference

An Update from Pastor David Pitman, BFM Field Representative

We are thankful for opportunities to introduce BFM to new friends. We are available to present at conferences and at churches. In March, Jonathan Turner, Darrell Messer, and I met over 250 registrants at the first CBTS National Conference in Louisville, Ky. The conference was also live-streamed to an audience, in English and Spanish, averaging 150 viewers. Our 90 second advertisement, prepared by Philip Hatcher, was broadcast repeatedly throughout the conference and live-stream. We were delighted to meet Paul Washer who was first introduced to missions by our beloved Homer Crain, long time BFM missionary in Peru.

We were delighted to meet Paul Washer who was first introduced to missions by our beloved Homer Crain, longtime BFM missionary in Peru.
Directors Jonathan Turner and David Pitman
Director Darrell Messer
Chatting with conference attendees
BFM ad in the conference program

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BFM NATIONAL CONFERENCES OUTREACH – WILL YOU HELP US?

Over the past three years, Directors of BFM have been attending and representing BFM in other national Conferences. These Conferences are also attended by numerous pastors and members of like-minded churches that share our core values of the Doctrines of Grace, local church, and Baptist distinctives. There are many such churches and brethren whom we have met and have yet to meet.

Through these contacts, God has been pleased to open their hearts with interest and inquiries concerning the ministries of BFM missionaries. Some have begun partnering with BFM with their monthly support. We bless God and thank them for the opportunities God has opened up for our acquaintance with one another, fellowship around our common convictions, and partnerships in support giving.

All of these efforts have been under the leadership of our David Pitman, our Field Representative. We want to pass on to you a request from him [and us] to help us with the expenses for these and future outreach opportunities we are planning.

Dear Brethren,

I am very thankful that we were able to present BFM at the October G3 Conference to over 6,400 attendees. We are praying for abiding fruit like partnering sending churches and missionary candidates and missionary support contributions. 

There will be no G3 Conference in 2022. I propose that we return to the Founders Conference in January, 2022. What I ask is for 6 churches to give $300 each to help with the cost. I will ask Addyston to be one of those churches. 

Thank you.

David Pitman, Field Representative

Of course, these outreach efforts require expenses. BFM has purchased the opportunity to set up an exhibit table and display along with numerous other ministries in attendance at these Conferences. We have also produced handout cards and other materials to be distributed. We have funded the travel and accommodations for our Directors to attend and personally represent BFM.  

Please join us in praying for the Lord’s pleasure in these activities and in your financial sharing in the expenses to continue this valuable outreach.

Here are some sample images from the last Conference.


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Faithfulness in Available Opportunities

Bobby and Charlene Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.

In my last correspondence, I mentioned that there was a possibility that our governing authorities might extend the COVID lockdown for a longer period and that is what happened. In fact, we had to hold all the worship services during the month of March by live video rather than in person. There is an upside to this in that we are all getting more adept at using technology and social networking to further the cause of Christ. I know that I, myself, have gotten more adept at speaking to a camera with no one present, except Charlene, and I had never done that before. We have also seen a huge increase in the number of viewers of our services than what we were having in person. We improved the equipment we were using and plan to continue to minister with it even after returning to live services next week.

All of our outreach team members have been actively seeking opportunities to share the gospel in ways that differ from their usual public school presentations. The number of people that they have been able to reach was greatly reduced, but the Lord knows that and we know that what counts is faithfulness in the opportunities available. Nonetheless, they all are getting antsy to get back out on the highways and into the many towns where there are no evangelical churches. The Lord willing, the tight COVID restrictions will be lifted very soon and public presentations will be possible.

I ask that you remember us in your prayers, both for wisdom to know how to minister in these strange new times and that we’ll have increased opportunities to share the gospel in the coming weeks.

We are extremely grateful to you who have been faithful to pray for and support us in our labors.

In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser

Contact Info:
Bobby & Charlene Wacaser
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279
Sobrado 1, Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR. Brasil
Phone: 55-41-99899-2333
bobbymichael_1@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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S’more Time to Share the Gospel!

Missionaries John Mark and Judy Hatcher have been serving the Lord in Tournefeuille, France since 1999. They define their ministry as “disciple-making.”

Missionaries John Mark and Judy Hatcher have been serving the Lord in Tournefeuille, France since 1999. They define their ministry as “disciple-making.”

October 10, 2019

Dear Co-Laborers in Christ,

We hope that this letter finds you enjoying the Lord’s presence and looking on the fields that are ripe for the harvest. Along the roads in Indiana yesterday I noticed many farmers gathering the harvest. This certainly reminds us of the Lord’s admonition that fields are ready for harvest.
It is cooler in France as well as in the USA, a good time to have one of the young peoples’ favorite activities for youth night…roasting hot dogs and marshmallows for “smores”. I am including a picture Amanda sent me of this part of the youth meeting this past Saturday. The youth meetings have been an excellent means to share the gospel. The believing young people have brought dozens of friends. Some of those who have come in recent years are now off to college. Pray for God to bring spiritual thirst and salvation to those who have not yet trusted Him. Pray also for those who are believers and now in University settings that the Lord would guide them and use them as His light in their new situations.

Roasting smores at a youth meeting in France

Judy and I have been volunteering in an excellent missionary outreach to children in the Evansville Public Schools. Cheryl Simmons, a lady who was a member of Emmanuel Baptist Church when I served as pastor before going to France, is the director of this ministry. Steve, her husband, who came to the Lord during our ministry at Emmanuel moves and sets up trailers near each of the 23 elementary schools in Evansville. One day per week the third and fourth graders in each school who have their parents’ permission are released to go to these trailers to be taught Bible lessons. A number of volunteers serve as teachers and assistants in this great Bible ministry to children. Each year a number of these children trust Christ.

Thank you for your prayers and faithful support.

Your fellow servants,
John and Judy

John Mark & Judy Hatcher
JMHatcher[at]aol.com

For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280
Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online


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Winter in Brazil, but Hearts are Warmed by the Gospel

Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.

July 4, 2018

Dear Friends,

Here in southern Brazil we’ve just entered into our winter season, but our ministries are hotter than ever! Our traveling evangelistic team returned this week from 3 weeks of outreach into the interior towns of our state. The spiritual needs of the people are so great and God used our teams in some dramatic ways.

Shortly after our gospel presentation in one public school one of our team members went to the restroom. When he went in, there were four teenagers crying because of what they had seen and heard in our presentation. One of the gospel skits that was presented characterized a family that was torn and ravaged because of drugs and alcohol addiction and these teens were living in situations very similar. In the skit, the family found Christ as the answer and solution to their struggles and these youth realized that they too needed Jesus. Our team member used this opportunity to more fully share the gospel with them and all four surrendered their lives to Christ right there in the restroom. Later that night, at an outdoor meeting, they came to the front of the crowd to make their profession of faith in the Lord public.

At another meeting, a young man was impressed with the message that God is a loving “Father,” because, in his personal life, his father was the source of his greatest suffering. Because of his father’s alcoholism, his mother had abandoned the family and his father’s anger was poured out on the young man in frequent violent rages. On one occasion, the young man’s father fractured his son’s cranium by beating on him so violently. In anger and hopelessness, the young man ran away from home and got involved in drugs himself. He got caught by the police and went to jail and felt like no one loved him. He had recently been released from jail when he passed by the park where our team was presenting the gospel. He stopped to watch and listen to our presentations and testimonies. The Lord opened his heart to accept the grace and forgiveness that Christ offers and he surrendered to Him. He came to talk to one team member personally afterward and shared how joyful he was to sense the love and forgiveness of his heavenly Father even though his earthly father showed no care for him.

I gave three of our “preacher boys” an opportunity to preach at our home church this month and all three did very well. For Ruvian, it was his first time preaching publicly and he demonstrated a good grasp of God’s word and an ability to communicate its teaching to the people. I will continue to train all three and plan to give them more opportunities in the near future.

Charlene and I are so grateful to all of you who pray for us and give generously toward our ministry. Thank you so much and may the Lord richly bless you.

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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Scoffer Surrenders to Christ Just Days Before Drowning

Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.

June 3, 2018

Dear Friends,

We were very excited to be able to minister in Porto Rico this month! Oh, but it wasn’t the one in the Caribbean Sea. Actually, it is a small town in our state located on the banks of the Paraná River. Our outreach team went to help a local missionary share the gospel in public schools and parks for a week. Every outreach experience is different, of course, but some are very remarkable, like Porto Rico was. During our gospel skit presentations, there was one man who kept loudly interrupting the speaker by making jokes and trying to ridicule our efforts to share the gospel. It was necessary to have a couple of our men escort him from the platform more than once.

Before and during our presentations we pray for the Lord to guide us and use all that is done for people to hear and accept the gospel and this man was certainly being a hindrance. On the human level, he made our team angry and frustrated, but the Lord helped one of our preachers to see that the man´s behavior was the result of a spiritual battle going on in his mind and spirit. The preacher began a personal conversation with the man and asked him about his relationship with God. The man admitted that he felt totally alone in the world and was seeking attention. The preacher shared with him that Jesus Christ loved him and gave his life so that he could be saved and have an eternal relationship with God. The man listened and then returned to watch the rest of the presentations and testimonies. At the end of the service an invitation was given for anyone who had trusted in Jesus Christ to come forward to make a public profession and the man who was earlier causing a scene, stepped forward. The local pastor took the man aside and again explained the gospel to him to be sure that he understood the message. He assured the pastor that he understood and that he was surrendering his life to Christ.

A few days later our team went to work in a neighboring town. When they got on the highway to return to our headquarters the local missionary in Porto Rico called the team to share the sad news that that man had drowned in the Paraná River just that morning! Our joy and hope is that he is now in the presence of Jesus Christ. That remarkable event helped us realize again, and even more strongly, just how vital our ministry is. The likelihood that he would decide to go to a church service on his own accord was very slim, but because we took the gospel into the public square where he and many others were, that man got to hear the truth of God´s saving grace and we believe that already he is already in the presence of the Lord.

Just as the agitator in the crowd served to remind us to look for opportunities in our aggravations, my cell phone crash opened a door for me to share Christ with the iPhone tech guys last month. When I took my phone in to be repaired I had to wait at the counter for nearly 30 minutes. There were two technicians sitting there and no other customers. I started a casual conversation with them that led them to ask me what I am doing here in Brazil. That gave me a chance to share my testimony of coming to Christ as Lord and Savior through the Scriptures and to invite them to come to our church to know more. I pray that God will help me to constantly be aware of the open doors around us, if we will just pay attention.

Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support of our ministry here Curitiba, Brazil.

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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