May 27, 2003

Dear Brothers and Sisters of the Savior:

During this MS month – April 29th to May 27th, I preached 9 sermons: Five at the 24th of March Baptist Church, where I am the pastor, and two at two different homes, and two at two other Baptist Churches. At the Grande Vitoria Baptist Church, where Sergio Felizardo de Oliveira is the pastor, there were three professions of faith and at one of the homes. A young mother made a profession of faith on her 21st birthday. The other church was the Celestial Baptist Church where Gilmar Moraes da Silva is the pastor. 

I also heard ten sermons during this MS month, and Marie heard nine sermons. At the 24th of March BC, on Sunday night the 18th of May, after Pastor Ediberto preached, a young mother who has two children and expecting a third, Maria Socorro Nascimento Vieira, 29 years old, made a profession of faith. She also is not legally married. Pray for her, and for Ediberto who will serve as interim pastor at the church during our absence. 

The Lord willing, we will arrive in the USA on the 27th of June and in Lexington on the 2nd or 3rd of July. Thus, while we are in the USA on furlough, we will be happy to visit and preach at the churches that want us to come. You may contact at that time at the address and phone number above. I have not driven a car since January of 1999, so we will have to leave the driving to the Greyhound bus drivers. Marie will fill in the details of our furlough travel and plans for you. 

Harold, Asa Mark and I will leave here the very early morning of June 27th to fly to Miami. We asked Asa Mark to take two weeks off from his work to help us on the trip, due to Harold’s health problems. Harold is walking better and has preached twice standing up (em pé). He still walks slowly and still uses a crutch. Last week the doctor told him that his heart and blood pressure are ok. But the osteoporosis and rheumatism are still with him. 

Stephen plans to meet us in Tampa with a rented van, large enough for six people and a lot of baggage, etc. We plan to spend the night at his house in Ocala. Then we will leave early Saturday morning to drive to Cumberland Park near Corbin, Kentucky. There we plan to attend the Bratcher-Porter reunion for three days. All this, of course, our good Lord willing and permitting, by His Grace. There will be six of us Bratchers attending. The three of us (Harold, Marie, Asa Mark) and Stephen and his family. Harold has been asked to bring the opening sermon on Sunday night. Please pray for us in this endeavor. 

We thank the directors of BFM, and all who have had a part in our work, expenses, etc. Thank you, each one for your prayers. God bless each one of you and we are looking forward to seeing many of you during this furlough.

Yours in Christ, Harold and Marie Bratcher