Because Of His Great Love
                                          by Judy Hatcher

      "Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty.   Just and true are your ways, King of the Ages….. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed."  Rev 15:3-4

The acts and deeds of Our Heavenly Father are wonderful and have the purpose of bringing people from every nation to Himself.   He has chosen to empower His Children to carry out His plan.  How or why do we get such an honor?   Only because of His great love for us does He give us the privilege of carrying His Name to the world.  John and I are honored yet humbled by the fact that God has entrusted us to tell the Gospel in southern France.  Do things always go as we planned?  Of course not, but then whose plan are we supposed to be following, anyway?!?  As I sit here looking into our backyard, I want share with you some of "our plans gone wrong" and how they are really "God's marvelous deeds".  

      Plan number one: language learning.  Wow!  Has that been a trip!  John being bi-lingual with English and Portuguese and I having learned a decent amount of Portuguese, I thought that French would be a breeze, well at least as easy as falling off a log!  Falling off the log is more what I have done!  While John has progressed well with the language, It seems that learning, retaining and using any French word for me has been a major struggle.  How could God use me to talk to anyone if I can't speak?  However, through my inadequacy God has brought Yolande into our lives.  In exchange for John tutoring her son English, Yolande listens as I read the Bible in French, and then we discuss what it says.  The first day that we read in the book of Mark, she said, "Do you believe that?"  I said, "Yes, I believe that the Scriptures are God's Words and therefore true."  She replied," Well, that is fine if you want to believe that, but you know that everyone doesn't have to think that way."  Each week brings about new questions, but God, through HIS WORD is softening her heart and making her tender toward Him.  We praise Him and are praying for Yolande to understand the Love of God.

      Plan number two: Surgery!   We had certainly not planned on two cancer surgeries in one year!  How could it be?  We were where we believed God wanted us and this happens!   Through the process God has given me affirmation that this is where He wants me. He is the one who will make that a possibility, not I.  Sharing this part of our lives has allowed us to sympathize with those who hurt and opened many doors of conversations.

      Plan number three: Children's Clubs.   John and I have a great burden to share the Gospel with the many children that are in our neighborhood, but how should we start a Children's Bible Club?  "In France," one French man told us last week, "if you are religious, you are either Catholic, Protestant (meaning the reform church) or a cult."  While our neighbors are friendly, we felt that they would not trust their children to someone that may fall into the third category.  After all, people in "cults" abuse children, don't they?  We prayed earnestly about what to do to give us credibility and the opportunity to tell of Jesus.  One day our neighbor across the street came over and asked if I would be interested in teaching English at the public elementary school her son attends.  To make a long story short, I teach 75 children English for 30 minutes each week.  Whenever I am out in the community, children will speak and introduce me to their parents as the "Prof d'Anglais".   God is providing credibility!  We are eagerly awaiting the next step God will have us take.

      These are only a sampling of the way God has worked in our lives.  Many are the marvelous deeds of Our Father, so many that all the books or computers could not contain them.   Do you want to be a part of the work of The Everlasting Kingdom?  Surrender your plans to the Father and hang on for the ride of your life!

                                    Making Disciples in France
                                          by John Hatcher

      "What do you do?"  It is a good question and one that is often addressed to us by French and American people, Christians and non-believers.  In the "Technical Mission World" we are called Church Planting Missionaries.  We prefer the Lord's own terminology, "Disciple Makers or Fishers of Men".  What follows is a summary of how this is working in our lives as we serve the Lord in France.

      The first order of business was to learn the language.  It is impossible to communicate the gospel and teach disciples if there is not a language common to the hearer and speaker.  We began studying French in the US and continued after arriving in France.  Though we are now able to speak, teach, preach and converse in French, we are continuing to work with tutors toward the goal of communicating well to native French speakers.  We are thankful; nonetheless, that God uses our weakness as a tool toward fruitfulness.  Many opportunities to witness have come in the language learning process.  Judy shares just one of many in her article.

      The important decision of where to begin had to be addressed early.  "Ask and you will receive" has and continues to be a guiding invitation to us in the entire process.  Many of you have prayed with us about this and other important decisions and our Heavenly Father has answer unmistakably.  He has placed us in Tournefeuille, a city of 25,000 where there is no Baptist, Protestant or evangelical church.  There are thousands of similar cities throughout France.  

      The next obvious next question is, "Now what do we do?"  When we arrived here, we did not know of one believer or interested person in Tournefeuille.  It may seem sophomoric, but the Spirit reminds us in the book of James, "Ye have not because ye ask not." So, we asked and God answered. He brought the fish to the net (where have you read that before?).  Contrary to custom, the people in our neighborhood came to us, and God, Who goes before us, enabled us to meet our entire neighborhood the second evening we lived here.

      During this neighborhood block party, the word spread that I was a pastor and someone asked if they could study the Bible with us!  The first Bible study started, not with one, but with 5 individuals, three from our town and two from another.  In similar fashion, the Lord has enabled us to have regular Bible studies in various locations and more are on the horizon!  We pray for God to give people spiritual hunger and then we study the Bible with them so that they can know God for themselves.  When people find "the Messiah", they, like the woman of Sychar call others to "come and see".

      Besides the regular Bible studies we have had many opportunities to share the Gospel in our home and the home of others.  These usually develop in the context of a shared meal.  Only the Lord can save, but the "Word of God" is the "Sword of the Spirit".  The Good News of Jesus Christ delivered by those whose lives have been changed is God's chosen method to bring the lost to Himself.  The joy of seeing God change lives is one of the greatest blessings that we have.  

      Those whose lives have been changed, can worship God in spirit and in Truth.  Our first Sunday worship time had just five people, Judy, John, Philip, Amanda and Abigail.  God sent Philip, our son, and his family to work with us.  Called by the Lord, Philip took a job here in France in order to proclaim the Gospel.   It is a great encouragement to have fellow laborers in the service of the Lord.  At our second Sunday meeting, we had five besides our families!  It looks like we will have several others next Sunday.  

      Churches don't get planted.  Instead, the Gospel is given, the Spirit gives life to individuals, these follow the Lord in baptism and as we teach and train, God puts together a church.  God has called us to follow His plan, not to make our own.  God calls us follow Him and pray.  Things don't always go the way we may have envisioned, but God using our obedience builds His church.  

      France needs the Good News; few countries have less born again believers.  Perhaps it is the long term relationship between America and France that has caused us to overlook the spiritual need of the French people. Other than England, France is the country most often visited by Americans.  Yet, percentage wise, France has 1/20 as many believers as England.  For every Baptist church in France, there are about 360 communities that need a church.  The evidence of the spiritual needs of the French people can be seen in their high use of medications.  Because of wide spread depression, France leads the world in volume of anti-depresent usage.  

      After trusting Christ as Saviour, Amelia prayed, "Thank you Lord for taking me out of darkness and into your light."  Many other people living in France need the Light of Jesus!  Thank you for serving with us!