Odali Barros' Testimony - My name is Odali Barros. It will be somewhat hard to give you an idea of where I came from. No matter how hard you try, you'll never know where Grajaú really is, but I can help you out by saying that it's not the end of the world, but you can see it from there. If I called myself a jungle man I don't think it would be an exaggeration. That's because I really did live in the middle of the jungle. In fact I only saw electricity when I was 9 years old. I grew up eating fish, turtle, monkey and wild pigs. My mother died when I was only 2 years old. Her last request to my father was that at least one out of the seven children would grow up to be a Catholic priest. He tried by putting all of us in Catholic schools. I attended it for three years, and I realized then that I had more questions in my mind than answers. I went back to my home in that middle of the jungle. When I was thirteen years old I started hunting tigers and cutting rubber trees and other things to survive.

One day I went fishing, and as I was on my way home I heard a sound of a boat that I had never heard before. When I arrived home I asked my cousin who had been there. He told me that it was a man that was big, baldheaded and had red skin. Then I asked him what the man was selling. I was informed that he wasn't a salesman. I asked my cousin, "If he wasn't a salesman what was he doing here?" He said that he had talked some and then he sang a song. My cousin then proceeded to sing the part he remembered, "At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light and the burden of my sins rolled away." I never forgot that song.

Several years later after a 3-day trip by boat, we arrived with my grandmother in Cruzeiro do Sul. She had come to see a doctor. When we pulled up to dock, there stood a man that was big, baldheaded and had red skin. This man looked at me and asked me if I could watch his boat for a while. I soon learned that his name was Bobby Creiglow. The next Sunday I was invited to go to the church of the Christians. I was scared to death to go into that church, because I had been taught that that was Satan's church. I went to see what it was like and there I heard that song again that my cousin had sung a long time ago. Thank God Brother Creiglow went almost to the end of the world to take the message of salvation. About 15 days later, at the age of 16, I became a believer in Jesus Christ.

One week after I was saved I was invited to go on my first mission trip. We went to the city of Moura. They asked me to preach. I preached on the 10 lepers. I thought that the message had been so long, but to my surprise it had only lasted 3 minutes. I did not go back to my home. I stayed in Cruzeiro do Sul where I worked with missionary Mike Creiglow for 2 years. It was a time of life changing experiences. I learned many lessons that were good for a baby in Christ.

Later I moved to Manaus where I worked with Missionary Paul Hatcher. Many opportunities were given to me while there. I started by working in the printing shop, then I worked with the youth, bus ministry, deaf ministry and in planting a camp ministry. Without a doubt, the area in which I profited the most was as Paul's assistant. It was a period of much learning. Paul is a master in administration and a very dedicated man. He taught me one time that when you know God's Will, you need to do it and do it immediately no matter what others may say or think. I must say that it was a great privilege to have been taught under men with great visions.

Since Paul Hatcher didn't pay me very well, I married his sister. After being married for about 4 years, I went to the U.S. to go to college. I met most of you during this time. In 1983 I graduated from Lexington Baptist College.

Three months after graduating, I returned to Brazil. This time I didn't stay in north Brazil, I went to the southern part of the country for a simple reason - a need to preach the gospel. My father-in-law was already ministering there, and I went to help. Missionary John Hatcher mentioned that there were hundreds of towns without any Baptist church. This was a big factor in Kathy and I deciding to move to this area. We worked with Brother Hatcher for a few years. Again this was a great experience in my life. Brother John Hatcher is a man that teaches you to be 100% on fire for God, and Mrs. Hatcher is the woman described in Proverbs 31. She is a woman of great character and believes strongly that Christ should be our mirror. At this time, we work at Central Baptist Church, the mission points and the Children's Home with 85 children and are very happy.

Kathy Barros' Testimony - I consider myself a very fortunate person. I was born in a missionary family. Many servants of God have surrounded my whole life. God protected my life from the horrible things of this world. Thanks to God and to two people who surrendered their lives to serving the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank God for my Godly parents, John and Alta Hatcher. They have been with BFM for almost 50 years. I am Kathy Lorene Amazonas Hatcher Barros, the last of their five children. I was born in Manaus, Brazil. My parents taught us about Christ at a very young age. God touched my heart when I was six years old, in a Sunday morning service at Igreja Batista da Chapada. I was baptized when I was 7 years old at Igreja Batista Tabernaculo. Most of my growing years were at that church. I started teaching Sunday school when I was in my early teens. I taught until I went to college to study. I also helped my parents in the school. On the day I turned 18 my parents moved to south Brazil to start new churches. I lived there for one year.

My studies were done at Tennessee Temple University. I have a BA with a major in art and a minor in Bible. Going to college and living in dorms was a changing experience in my life. I had no idea what kind of lives that most people have in their home. Our home was strong in showing God's love and God's principles. Broken homes, drugs, alcoholism, incest, rape, were a shock to me. There I also learned to work with the deaf. Little did I know what God was doing in my life. I had heard of all these things but not in the midst of Christians. Well, God was preparing me for His future plans in my life. All my life God had given me the desire to serve Him in a special ministry. I figured that, like my mother, I would be a teacher or a missionary's wife working in the typical church work.

I met my husband in Manaus, where he worked with my brother Paul Hatcher. We wrote each other for 3-1/2 years. We prayed for God to show us His perfect will and He did. After I graduated in May of 1980 we were marreid in August. We have been married for almost 21 years. We have three biological children. Josue Odali, 19 years old, Kathy Lee, 17 years old, and Amelia Lorene, 15 years old. We have three adopted boys; Tito Filemon, 3 years old, Jonas Filipe, 2 years old, and John Gabriel, 10 months old. They are legally adopted. Our prayers are that, as our older children love the Lord, that we can teach our younger ones to love Him also. We must not lose the vision.

Well, after marrying Odali Barros, the Lord started showing me what He had prepared me for. God wanted Odali and me to care in a special way for the less fortunate. I'm glad that God has seen fit to use me in His ministry. We live here in the home along with 85 kids and those who help us. I also teach the teens Sunday School class. One of the last ministries that I have been involved in is an evangelistic team of 23 members. God has used this team to go to many schools. The team has kids from the home, volunteers at the home, and youth from the church. We are permitted to sing about God, do drama that speaks about God, and preach God's Word right out of the Bible. Isn't that great? The people are seeking for answers and God has permitted us to be used to share the truth with them. I pray that He will continue to use my life until His triumphant return.