March 29, 2004

Dear Fellow Servants,

Thanks for your prayers and support. We are praying that God will bless the Spring Conference and that all who attend will be encouraged.

In the last letter, I mentioned that we would be meeting in Amelia's home for the following Sunday service. Her unsaved (and atheist) husband did not sit in on the services, but afterwards told me that he had listened from the adjoining room. He also told me that he was very thankful for what we had done for Amelia. I told him that it was God, not us, who had done it. We then had a lengthy conversation about the existence of God. He is quite respectful and at the end told me that it had given him some food for thought.

We have had good services this month. On the first Sunday of the month, only our two families were present, so while Judy had class with our grandchildren, we had a time of prayer. The following Sunday we had a full house and had good attendance the rest of the month. The Bible studies are going well. 

Randy and Barbara Jones, their two children and son-in-law invested their time and money to visit us this month and to give a gift for the work. We appreciate folks who are interested in motivating others to get involved in what God is doing worldwide. If you are interested, you may still have time to go with them on the Mission Adventure to Kenya in June to visit and help the Andersons and Nathan. 

This month we thought it would be a good idea to explain the way God has led us to work and our desires for the future. Generally, the steps are:

Pray for God to open doors. 
Build relationships with those that we meet. 
Seek to show in action and words what God has done for us. 
Read the Bible with those who are interested, answering their questions; and teaching the Bible to children on their level. 
Continue studying the Bible with those who put their trust in the Lord. 
Meet weekly with believers and those who are interested for worship and encouragement. 
Baptize those who request baptism and have committed themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Organize baptized believers into functioning churches. 
Train leaders to continue leading these churches.

Philip and Amanda Hatcher are working with us in this process. We have Sunday meetings in our home and Bible studies at various locations during the week. At the present, we are meeting with about 20 people (besides our families) each week. These people come from four different cities. Four of these participants profess to be saved. There are a number of other individuals with whom we have regular contact but who do not yet participate in services or Bible studies. 

Last week we visited Line and Alain Lavalee, friends of ours. This Baptist couple lives about an hour and a half from our home by car. Alain told me that a Baptist missionary studied the Bible with him for 6 years before he was saved. We must be patient; 55% of people living in France do not believe that there is life after death. Yet, we believe that God has set before us an open door.

Though the people here are hopeless, we have great hope in God who will do great things as we proclaim His Word. Thank you for joining us in this monumental but worthy task.

Because Christ first loved us,

John and Judy Hatcher

John Mark with Judy's Sunday School class.