About Tammy
I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior at the age of 16. At a young age, I was a soft spoken, reserved individual who was considered by most of the kids I went to school with as a “goodie two shoes” person.
Harold and I worked at the same Wal-Mart store in Harrisonville Mo., and I knew that there was something special about him, prior to him ever noticing me. It wasn't until a few years later that a mutual friend of ours set us up on a date, that I truly realized that he was the man of my dreams.
Harold was a soft spoken, caring person with strong beliefs in God. After dating for six months, Harold asked me to marry him and I immediately said yes. Six months later, on March 20, 1981, we became husband and wife. I couldn't have been happier. I knew at the time we got married that Harold felt that God had called him to be a missionary someday, but it wasn't something that I gave much thought to. Even though we were both saved, we were not active in church and the thought of being a missionary's wife, didn't really seem like a big factor.
We had our first child, Ashley Nichole Hatman on October 25, 1982. Harold had just turned 21 and about that same time, he started a new position at Hallmark Cards, Inc, which turned out to be the start of a great career for him. To most, it probably seemed like the perfect life….a beautiful baby girl and we were making good money. However, we turned our backs on God and he allowed a great period of tribulation to come into our lives, which almost destroyed our marriage.
Harold immersed himself in his new career and spent more time with his work friends then he did with his family. In addition, he was working on his college degree, which took him away from us even more. As time went on, we grew further and further apart.
When Harold had free time, he wanted us to go out with his friends and all I wanted to do was stay home and be a family. Needless to say, we became two very different people, living two very different lives under the same roof. Our interests were completely different and our marriage was heading for disaster.
About this time, we were blessed with our son Chase Andrew Hatman. I thought that maybe another child would help Harold to settle down and become the father that I wanted him to be. However, things continued to get worse in our marriage. The distance between us grew even larger and transformed me from being a soft spoken dependent person, into an outspoken independent person and leader of our home. I basically did what I thought had to be done to take care of my family.
I knew that Harold was hurting emotionally, but I reached a point that I couldn't care about it anymore. Sometimes he would get emotional and tell me that he knew his life wasn't right and that God had called him to be a missionary; but I thought the chances of us being together in church again was too far of a leap from where we were, let alone becoming missionaries.
By mid-year 1994, I reached a point that I thought I couldn't take it anymore. I called my dad and told him I was considering leaving Harold. I thank God that my dad said some things that made me reconsider and give it more time. Then in November 1994, Harold laid down his party lifestyle that he lived for most of our marriage and started back to church. At first, I thought it was just a phase he was going through; but as time went on, I realized he was different.
It wasn't long, before Harold's new life put me in a place where I was convicted about my own life. He was actually becoming a man of God and was becoming the spiritual leader of our home; however, I found myself fighting him every step of the way. I started going to church with him, but I kept my distance because Harold was the one with all the problems all those years, not me….or at least that is what I wanted to believe.
I knew deep down inside that the Holy Spirit was convicting me about where I was spiritually, but my pride fought it and Harold every step of the way. I really can't say why, other than I didn't want to believe after all the years of pain I experienced trying to hold my family together, that now it was me that had the problem.
I thank God with all that I have that by His grace that He put our home and our marriage back together. He spared my family from ending up torn apart in divorce like so many other families in the world today.
Once our feet were firmly planted in God's word, He started preparing us for the road of ministry. Even at this time, the thought of going to the mission field, didn't seem like something that would ever happen, but I knew it was still something that God laid on Harold's heart.
In October 1997, Harold left his career with Hallmark Cards, Inc., to become self employed. Everyone told me that we were crazy for Harold leaving his good career. I would tell them that he is doing to so attend pastoral school and to start a local Bible study, in the hopes of planting a church in our community, but deep down inside, I thought we were crazy too. I would soon learn that it was during this trial and others, that God stretched my faith and made me realize that He will always provide for our needs.
We started a home Bible study in May of 2000. In July 2000, our daughter had a severe car accident that left her with a major head trauma and three fractured vertebras. This was the hardest thing I ever had to endure. Our daughter spent five days in ICU, with her legs and arms restrained. Her head injury affected the portion of the brain that processes information, leaving her in a confused combative state. The doctors couldn't say if her mental condition would ever improve as a result of her injuries. Finally, after five days in ICU, God restored our daughter's mental capacity.
It was during this time, that God taught me a great deal about the power of prayer. It was almost overwhelming at times, the number of people who heard about Ashley's situation and stopped by to pray with us. Many were family and friends. We also had incredible support from our church family, but what was so amazing, were the total strangers who heard of our situation and stopped by to pray with us and to let us know that they were praying. At Ashley's six month follow up visit, her Trauma Surgeon stated that he couldn't believe how quickly Ashley healed from her head injuries.
In January 2002, the Bible study that started in our home became a church plant in Harrisonville, Mo. In June 2003, Harold met a missionary from Brazil, named Jeff Barker. Harold took his first trip to Brazil in November of that year. Seeing how this trip impacted Harold, I knew deep down in my heart that God was leading us to Brazil, but I still wasn't ready to let go of my house and my life the way I wanted it. All I ever wanted was my home and my family and now they thought of giving up everything I own and move to a foreign land was starting to become a reality in my life.
In April 2004, Harold took all of us to Brazil to expose us to this mission field. When I first arrived, I still thought I couldn't do this, but God opened my heart to these people and I fell in love with them. Shortly after our return, we made the decision as a family to move to the mission field.
Of course, this decision brought a whole new group of people who thought we were crazy. They would say, “Why would anyone want to leave the United States?” “Why would you leave your family?” “Why would you leave everything that you've worked so hard to get?” All I can say is that I know it is something that we have to do. If we didn't go to Brazil, I am sure that we would be going against what God has for our lives. Sure it is hard….in fact it is one of the hardest things I've had to do in my life. I'm leaving behind a daughter who is newly married. But a passage of scripture that brings me peace about leaving my daughter can be found in Proverbs 31:
Proverbs 31:16-21 - She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms. She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night. She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. 21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.
Looking back over the years, I can so clearly see God's mighty hand on our life. During the times that we turned our backs on His goodness, He was patient and longsuffering toward us. During times of need, He was compassionate and showed us unending mercy and grace. God has seen us through so much in our life and has never left us nor forsaken us. It is because of this that I know He will be with us in Brazil…He is my source of comfort and strength.