From Graduation to Greater Vision: God’s Work in Paraná and Beyond
August 7, 2025
Dear friends and family,
This has been another busy month planning for the graduation and the Pastors’ Conference we are going to be doing in Paraná, Brazil. The graduation has grown from nine to fifteen. How AWESOME is the God we serve!!!! And another blessing is there are 40 pastors already signed up to participate in the conference.
With this class that is graduating in September, there are nine Pastors receiving their Masters of Arts Degree in Pastoral Ministries and the other six will be receiving their Masters of Arts Degree in Biblical Studies.
The new program we are starting to use (experiment with) is proving to be a great addition for the Seminary. Changing times, changing methods—but the message remains the same! Our translators are, however, being used even more now as their duties are also occasionally to monitor the classes. Sometimes the Biblical terminology is difficult to translate, and since they are all live, we do not have time to lose in searching for an easier translation; there needs to be a more ready translation for them. So, this new program is that ready translation.
Speaking of speed, I think about the end times, how everything is faster (communication, travel, etc.), and that helps me to be more focused on the Seminary giving pastors more tools to help them reach the people effectively, which is needed as never before.
As we are talking about reaching more—out of the September class, we have four of the pastors who have signed up for our Doctoral program. Again, AWESOME!!!!!!! That brings it to 10 Pastors in the Doctoral program!!! That has almost doubled!!!
Now I could use a lot of prayers because I will be giving the challenge to the September graduating class. That seems like an honor, but I am a little bit ANXIOUS. So take me to the Lord in your prayers at this time please.
While on the topic of prayer, our family in Brazil needs lots of prayer. Our daughter Mary is having lots of problems with the pressure in her eyes. Our younger granddaughter Ashley—the problems she had a couple of years with intolerance of MANY foods has returned in a different twist. Our oldest granddaughter Chelsea is on heart meds and is now having eye problems like her mother. So, when it is family, it makes praying even more important. So, thanks to all for your prayer support. Keep praying for BFM, the contributors, our professor Dr. Edge in Texas as he just lost his wife to cancer, Bluegrass Baptist Seminary, our health, and our upcoming travels.
In His service,
AJ and Barbara
Contact Info:
AJ & Barbara Hensley
30524 Mimi St
Sebring, FL 33870-0530
AJ: 859-539-2302 | Barbara: 859-539-1424
ajcaragua@gmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
Read more
Preparing for Seminary Graduation
June 3, 2024
Dear friends and family,
Many Brazilian pastors and church leaders have limited theological instruction. Pastoral education has been identified as one of the most critical needs in spreading the gospel in Brazil. Bluegrass Baptist Seminary is diligently working to ensure an efficient, effective and economical resource in support of evangelical training for the evangelical churches of Brazil. Here is the testimony of one of our Brazilian students’ best friends: “These courses will provide me with knowledge of incomparable quality that l would never have access to under normal conditions.” What an opportunity! Praise God!!!
With that being said, these pastors encourage me to keep on keeping on! It is just amazing how our Lord and Savior can help equip His saints! That I can be a small part of this training—AWESOME!!!!
Our spring semester has just concluded, and I am already thinking about the next semester, classes, schedules, professors, translators and so forth. Then there is the upcoming graduation!
Our second graduation will be on July the 20th and there are nine pastors in this group. They chose to delay the graduation so some pastors could complete some courses that they had missed in the year. The degree to be completed is a Master of Arts in Pastoral Ministries, which is a degree for Pastors “Only”. The previous graduation was for a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies. Eleven received this degree which included church workers and pastors. Below is a picture of one of our classes before Covid 19. We had great success until we could not join together, but God provided a path for us to continue teaching via Zoom and we are gradually getting back to the numbers. When the devil closes the door God opens a window. What an AWESOME God we serve!!!!
One of the Pastors in this group, a lawyer, was in the make-up class and someone asked him why he was making up this class. His response was “I don’t only want a degree, but I also want all the information they are offering so I can use it for my betterment”.
Just before this graduation in São Paulo, we will be traveling to Manaus to attend a Pastors Conference. There we will encounter many new Pastors and tell them about Bluegrass Baptist Seminary. We will be there for five days getting to know many pastors and church workers. It is our prayer that God will present the opportunities for Bluegrass Baptist Seminary to be included into those seeking more knowledge of the Word and the way to make it clearer to their people. We will be available to those who want to talk to us about Bluegrass Baptist Seminary and we will have a table full of information for them to take home and also read about us. We are invited to speak in the conference also. So, there will be many opportunities to spread the word about the opportunity to study more about God. Pray that we can be a blessing to the pastors in that area as this will be the first time for us to reach that area, and pray that we can be a blessing for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in our conduct and our presentation.
We need your prayers as this trip will be a very tight travel agenda dealing with plane connections as we travel to Manaus then to São Paulo. Each location has its own agenda and each is important to various people.
Barbara will not go to Manaus because of finances but she will spend some time with Mary, Walmir, and the family. It is so necessary to stay connected with the girls as you just turn around and they are grown. The oldest will be 16 in October and the youngest turned 13 in March.
All this is made possible by your generosity and your prayers, and also by the support of all the people who donate to Baptist Faith Missions. We are we mindful of those who love God and want more people to know Him also. We are a part of those who take Him and His word to the foreign fields and you are a part of that by your prayers and generosity.
In His service,
AJ and Barbara
CONTACT INFO
AJ & Barbara Hensley
30524 Mimi St
Sebring, FL 33870-0530
AJ: 859-539-2302 | Barbara: 859-539-1424
ajcaragua@gmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
Read more
