May 2, 2005

Dear Friends,

Greetings in the Name of Jesus.  On April 30, God gave me the completion of 80 years of life, and for this I want to praise Him and want you to praise Him with me.

FEW AND EVIL.  When Jacob was presented to Pharaoh, the king asked:  "How old are you?"  Jacob replied:  "My days are 130 years, few and evil."  Jacob is named in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews as one of the heroes of faith, who along with the others mentioned, died without having received the promise; God provided something better for us - the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, the perfect pardon for sin, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the complete Word of God.

MANY AND MARVELOUS.  I can declare of my eightieth-birthday that my days have been many and marvelous.  The marvels began with God giving me godly parents who loved their children and taught us the importance of serving the Lord, the value of the Bible, and the importance of serving the Lord in His church.  When I told my mother that I wanted to be baptized, she took time at that moment to sit down with me and explain the difference between baptism and salvation.  When she was sure that I had believed, she gave her consent to be baptized.  I was nine years old and I still remember the experience of God convicting my heart of sin and His love for me as Brother Arley Jones described Jesus' death.  The remembrance of my baptism is also vivid:  the baptistery was under the floor of the pulpit at the First Baptist Church in Alexandria, Kentucky (population 350 at that time).  The ground was covered with snow and the baptistery was filled with water from melted snow (wouldn't that freeze you?).  I can still remember my mother rubbing my arms and legs with a towel to thaw me out.

I do not remember when I first attended church services.  My brother and sisters and I were taken for the first time when we were about three or four weeks old.  To write all the marvels of my young days would fill a book, but I will mention one or two.  Lillian Vater was my Sunday School teacher when I was three and four.  One day she was trying to impress on our young minds the need of being thankful to God for our food.  She asked how many of us ever saw pigs give thanks for their food before eating.  I lifted my hand proudly and said, "I have."  Lillian replied, "John, are you sure?"  To this I answered, "All the little pigs get down on their knees before eating."

Then there was the day Brother Jones was preaching pretty loud and his son, Junior, and I were sitting on the last pew on the right side and conversing.

Due to the loud preaching we had to talk loud to hear each other.  All of a sudden, the preacher made a pause we were not expecting.  Everyone hard our voices and looked our way.  Brother Jones made a personal invitation in the middle of the sermon:  "Junior, you and John come to the front and sit on this first pew."  It was a long walk.  I think I can still feel the sting of Mom and Dad's stare.

MARVELOUS PROTECTION.  During World War II, I served in the Merchant Marines for almost three years.  Our convoy was the first Merchant shipes to arrive at the beachheads on D-Day plus.  In a letter, Sister Edna Jones had written me and reminded me of God's promise in Psalm 91:7.  Thousands did die on the right hand and on the left; but through it all God kept me safe.

MARVELOUS FAMILY - PARENTS, BROTHER AND SISTERS.  My education at home, around the table at meal times, how to respect one for another, the joy of parents playing games with us - baseball and croquet in summer, table games and hot chocolate in the winter, teaching us to work in our 4-H projects, participation in school activities and fellowship with wonderful Christians and the many church activities at First Baptist are joys that Jacob did not have.  The education received in our home meant more to me than all the years of college and post-graduate education.

MARVELOUS MARRIAGE - Proverbs 31.10.  "Who can find a virtuous woman?  For her price is far above rubies.  The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.  She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life."  What would life have been without the loving wife that God gave me?  Only He knows the joys we have shared together in our love one for another as we have served Him.

MARVELOUS CHILDREN - "Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.  As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth.  Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate."  (Psalm 127).  In comparison to our children, gold and silver, diamonds and riches have no glitter; no attraction.  Five on earth serving the Lord, one in Heaven adoring Him.  Three sons with their godly spouses serving God in the ministry as missionaries:  Paul and David in Manaus, Brazil; John Mark in France.  Two beautiful and gracious daughters, also serving God with their husbands:  Lynn in the States, missionary to the mental and physical who need to hear of and know God's grace; Kathy, in Brazil, mother to 130 needy orphans and street children whose lives have been marred by drugs, incest, prostitution and abandonment.  Jacob never had the treasures God has given to Alta and me.

MY YEARS HAVE BEEN MANY AND GREATLY BLESSED OF GOD.  "Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways.  For thou shall eat of the labour of thine hands:  happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.  Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house:  thy children like olive plants round about thy table.  Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD" (Psalm 128).  Dear Friends, you who have shared in prayers and supported our ministry in Brazil for fifty years share the reward for all that God has done.  Your love and faithful partnership have been a vital part of my eighty years of happiness in Christ.

Love,

John and Alta Hatcher

Pastor Wanderley e sua esposa, Ivete, standing between Alta and John Hatcher.  Photo taken inside the new building of Chapada Baptist Church where Brother Wanderley is pastor.