February 7, 2006

Greetings from Sao Paulo, Brazil!

This past month of January was extremely busy. As many of you may already know, we decided to return to Brazil permanently as Mission Support Workers through Baptist Faith Missions. We are grateful to know that the Lord's will is continually being fulfilled in our lives.

Our purpose in Brazil is to recruit, train, place, and network effective church leadership to reach Brazil, and from Brazil send missionaries to the other 8 Portuguese speaking countries. We desire to see a church-planting church in all 27 federal units (26 states and the capital) of Brazil.

I arrived in Sao Paulo (the largest city in Brazil, with 21 million people) a week ago. We are currently at Raquel's parents' home. While here in Sao Paulo, we've accomplished much research, driven/scouted around the city, and have met with several people. We've gained valuable insight for starting a church here in this great city. Just today I drove around town with a real estate agent for three hours and took several pictures of strategic locations.

This last Sunday, February 11th, I was invited to preach at the Sunday morning service at Igreja Batista de Ferreira and in the evening at Primeira Igreja Batista de Jardim Sao Marcos.

We leave for Manaus this Saturday, February 11th. Already, a couple there awaits our arrival for their wedding. I am excited. This will be the first wedding ceremony I've performed.

We shipped a 20 foot container with our belongings from Virginia Beach, Virginia, to arrive in Manaus at the beginning of March. Pray for the container to clear quickly through customs and for all our belongings to arrive safely.

Raquel's health is doing well, despite a dry cough at night. Her pregnancy is progressing successfully. Our second child is due July 22, 2006. Sarah Isabel is now ten months old and she walks and jumps around all over the place. She understands English and Portuguese extremely well and has a rapidly growing vocabulary in both languages.

If you'd like to contact us, call (757) 214-6709. Yes, this is a U.S. phone number and all calls are transferred to Brazil at no cost to you (except for your regular long distance if you don't live in the Virginia Beach, Virginia area). Call as often as you'd like. We have an unlimited international VoiceOverIP plan, so it won't cost us any more for you to call us regularly. We'd love to hear from you, too!

We love you!

Judson, Raquel and Sarah Hatcher

Raquel and Sarah Isabel.