April 4th 2005

Dear friends,

Wanda and I and Abelardo, a Christian businessman, and his wife Aida are in the northeastern coastal area of Brazil. Our objective is to find and purchase land or buildings suitable for planting new works this year. The distance from Manaus is 1,770 miles. In Brazil, the capital city of each state is the center of political, economic, educational and business affairs. For this reason, we strategically target the center of the state activity for these new church plants. We pray that those who respond to the gospel and accept Jesus Christ as savior and Lord will become disciples in the Word, prepared for the ministry of the Word, and that the Father will empower and send these messengers in to the unreached cities and towns of their own state. The initial cost of going to the big city is a larger investment but also more cost effective in the years to come.

In each location, the Lord has provided new friends to help in this important task. We flew to Fortaleza, Ceará at the beginning of the month, were we picked up brother Abelardo´s car and drove to Natal, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, to begin the search for land or building. A pastor from Natal pointed out the areas that are most in need of Baptist churches. We concentrated our search in an area that is growing and very densely populated, finding several locations that would be suitable, but very high priced. Brother Abelardo began negotiation with the owners and placed bids. We were in Natal for a week and did not reach a suitable response. We decided to drive on to Jõao Pessoa in the state of Paraíba. After looking for almost a week, we located a large building that would be most suitable for a new church and contacted the real estate agent. Our bid was much lower than their asking price; but after several days of negotiation, we were able to close at an acceptable price. We received the keys on Saturday. The four of us had a thanksgiving service in the building on Sunday morning.

Having completed this purchase, we drove to Recife, in the state of Pernambuco, and scouted for buildings or land suitable for purchase or rental. We felt it would be best to wait, as we would possibly have to rent, considering that our reserve for purchase was depleted.

We then returned to Natal with the intention of going on back to Fortaleza the next morning. On our way into the city, we were hit by another car and the repairs took 3 days; no one was hurt. On the last day, in the area of our preference, the owners of a building originally built for a restaurant showed willingness to come down to the price we had offered. After several hours of negotiation, we arrived at a suitable value. We recognized that the Lord held us in Natal for three additional days in order to give the owners time to sell at a price acceptable to us.

Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, and João Pessoa, Paraíba, both state capitals, just two hours apart, are very beautiful, tropical, coastal cities. Natal has a population of nearly a million; João Pessoa has three quarters of a million people.

The buildings purchased will both need to be remodeled. We plan to move mission teams to these cities in early August.

We are now on our way back to Fortaleza, Ceará, to look at land and negotiate for a possible donation.

Pray for the teams that are making preparations to move cross-country to these two northeastern cities. Please pray that God will raise partners to help shoulder the spiritual and financial burden for the church plants in these cities.

Our Love,
Paul and Wanda

Paul Hatcher.