August 3, 2006

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Delays… not many people seem to like them. Nevertheless, God often uses waiting for His glory. Don’t you like that good old song, “They That Wait upon the Lord”? Waiting on the Lord often means waiting on people. Do you remember King Saul’s sin triggered by his failure to wait for Samuel? God’s use of delays was clearly illustrated to me a couple of weeks ago. We were waiting in a restaurant garden for the members of a wedding party for rehearsal. Finally, one of the attendants said, “Why don’t we go wait at the Bed and Breakfast where we are staying.

I should mention the four friends of the bride and groom staying at this B & B were from Paris. It was our first meeting. One of them asked, “So, what is a pastor?” From this question I proceeded to explain that we believe that all believers are priests because we can all pray directly to God; that we believe that we are forgiven freely by faith in Christ; that salvation is a relationship with God in Christ not through a church, etc. We waited for over an hour. During this hour I was able to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to these four people. That is what being a missionary is all about and it is worth the delays!

Rosana, the Brazilian lady who studies the Bible with us in Portuguese each week seems to be very near trusting the Lord. It is a delight to see her excitement as we study the Gospel according to Luke. Last week her 12 year old son came with her and they both asked a lot of questions about the end of the world. The events in Lebanon have gotten their attention. In September we are changing the meeting time for the Portuguese Bible study to Tuesday evening so that the whole family can come. Another friend who is a literature teacher at one of our large universities is also to come. She came once before and was quite interested but could not return on Thursday mornings when we have been meeting. Pray that God would open their eyes to the truth. Pray for all of our weekly Bible studies.

Pray also for the neighborhood dinner to be held on September 8. One of our neighbors is organizing this dinner. It was through a similar event that we met the people that came to our first Bible study. We do not try to give a quick presentation of the Gospel and ask people to make a decision. Most of the people that we contact have never read the Bible or even attended any kind of church. They do not know enough about the God of the Bible to even understand the Gospel. Over half of the people in France do not believe there is any life after physical death. But, God’s Word is powerful and it is thrilling to see it used by the Spirit of God to bring people to repentance and faith.

Thanks for your faithful support and prayers. God hears your prayers and uses your giving for the advancement of His Kingdom in France. And, don’t lose hope for your area. You are salt and light where you are.

Serving our Lord with You,

John and Judy Hatcher