Many Visitors, Witnessing to Neighbors & Acquaintances

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

July 23, 2023

Dear Fellow Laborers,

It just dawned on me that I had not written to you this month. We have been busy with activities related to our move a bit over a month ago. The house in Tournefeuille was our home and center of ministry for nearly 23 years… many years of accumulation. That is the longest that we have lived in any house.

Today we had a great church meeting with several visitors. Last month I mentioned a young man, Timo, who trusted Christ and was baptized last year. Philip had been meeting with him weekly to encourage him in his walk with Christ. A picture of the youth meeting with a number of his friends was included with the letter. This young man is quiet, but friendly. Four of the visitors today were a result of his contact. Two of these were here for the third time. It is interesting how lines cross. Amanda teaches piano to the mother of two of the young men who were here this morning. One son is dating a girl who was recently saved. The boy’s mother told Amanda that the girl felt very at home in our meetings. Another visitor today is Timo’s grandmother.

We ask your prayers for our closest neighbors. God has given us a very good relationship with them. We have had them over for dinner and had the opportunity to speak about spiritual matters a number of times. They have indicated that they will visit one of our Sunday meetings.

Your prayers for our many acquaintances of many years would also be greatly appreciated. This coming Thursday we are to have dinner with a couple that we have known for many years. Their daughter trusted Christ a number of years ago, followed the Lord in baptism and was a faithful participant in our assembly. She is now at a university in the city of Lyon.

Your fellow servants,
Judy and John

Contact Info:
John & Judy Hatcher
2 T Impasse de la Picardie
31830 Plaisance du Touch
France
JMHatcher@aol.com
Present USA phone 1-812-416-1033

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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Encouraging Opportunities as Addictive Activities are on the Rise in Kenya



The Tates have served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is church planting.

February 11, 2021

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ,

I get to report some small encouragements from the last month.

First, we have had a couple of new visitors to the Chapel this past month. It has been a while since I could say that. One of the new visitors is a lady that lives in the area and was invited to come from one of my “regular” attendees (the “regular” here is in quotes because she does come regularly – misses three weeks – attends – misses three weeks – attends – misses three weeks – attends). I don’t know a lot about this new visitor, but she seemed to enjoy our worship service and I hope she continues to attend so that we can get to know her better. The other new visitor is a young man that I have known for quite some time. I didn’t expect him to visit the Chapel and, in fact, didn’t think he would come to our services. I had started to counsel him on a weekly basis because of some major issues in his life. One of the issues that has been causing him problems recently is gambling. Oh, folks, this problem is growing in Kenya and I grieve over this for Kenyans, especially younger Kenyans. With the increase of technology, specifically smart phones, comes a wave of addictive activities, especially pornography and gambling.  Everyone in Kenya has a smart phone now and with these devices always in their pockets or their hands these mentioned vices are also readily available, with little cultural safeguards against them. More and more people are into gambling, convinced they will win. And I am convinced the gambling organizations do let them win at first, knowing they will eventually get all the gambler’s money. With a few clicks on my phone screen I can load my entire paycheck onto it electronically. Then, with a few more easy clicks, I can quickly and easily load a gambling app, pick my sports team that I’m sure will win, and away we go.  And from what I’ve heard, most people win pretty big at first, convincing them that winning is easy and consistent, and also tempting them into betting bigger and more. However, the winning doesn’t last while the addiction does. Then they got you. And this is what happened to my young friend. His gambling then led to lying, stealing, and manipulating. So, we are meeting to try and help him with his unwise decisions and to deal with his heart. And when I invited him to our services at the Chapel I didn’t think he would come. But he HAS been coming, every week for the past month. I pray he continues to come, that his heart and life may be transformed, and that his heart’s desire is to glorify Jesus Christ, our Lord and King.

Second, I am encouraged that we finally have power and water restored to the Chapel. We had been without power for about three months and without water for about two. Now we have both again. I don’t know how long these blessings will last but we will be thankful for them while we have them.

Did you know that there are things I never really thought about before I left the United States? Well, obviously there are. But one of those things hit me earlier this month. Did you know there are not a lot of non-white pictures of Jesus out there? That’s right, they are hard to find. You and I both know that Jesus came from an ancient Jewish heritage making him, I’m sure, darker skinned than me. This past month I wanted to hang some prints at the Chapel with some Bible verses on them. My Kenyan printer did a really good job designing some prints with some of Jesus’ “I am” sayings with pictures in the background. Some of his designs had pictures of Jesus on them – Jesus as a shepherd with a flock of sheep, Jesus praying, etc. I don’t really have a big problem with pictures of Jesus but I noticed all the pictures on the prints had a white Jesus on them. I already have a big enough problem being a white, westerner trying to minister in an African nation. I don’t want anybody here thinking I’m pushing a white, western Jesus on them. I DO want them to know the real, Biblical Jesus – Our Savior, Redeemer, Messiah and King of Jewish descent. I had to tell my printer to redesign the prints without any pictures of Jesus. Funny the things you get to think about when you minister in a different culture.

Blessings to you all,
Roger, Julie & Chloe

CONTACT INFO

Roger & Julie Tate
P.O. Box 96
Kitale, Kenya 30200
rojuta@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.




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