Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Hughes News #101

"Tie your shoes and pray for the Hughes"
 
Dear Friends,
 
You may remember us mentioning that many Moldovans celebrate Christmas on January 7.  Because of that, we hold most of our Christmas outreaches after the first of the year.  On the 3rd we held a program for kids in Bulboci.  While attendance and participation were good, it was on that day we learned of some opposition in the village.  We have used the library there for several events, beginning last Christmas (including this year’s program and an ongoing Kid’s Club), but the opposition has jeopardized our being able to use it moving forward. So far the mayor hasn’t found time to meet to resolve the situation.  We would appreciate your prayers for direction and favor in the eyes of those in authority.  An event for correctional officers and their families was next, on January 5th.  While the program went well, we were hoping for more inroads to people’s lives.  On the 6th, we repeated the children’s program at the Gross’s house.  Several kids came who had attended VBS in the summer, as well as a few new kids.  The kids seemed to really enjoy David dressing up as Joseph and telling the Christmas story from his perspective.
 
Bulboci
 
Bulboci
 
Penitentiary

Penitentiary

Gross's Home

Around Christmas time we finished the evangelistic Bible study with “L” and “M.”  Neither has yet made a profession of faith, but we are encouraged that both come to most services.  If you would pray that the Lord would make salvation clear to them and that they will be saved.  In our last letter we mentioned “V,” a younger man who was willing to start a Bible study.  Meeting with him is different than any other Bible study I’ve done.  He has a number of questions but is rather childlike in his understanding.  I need God’s wisdom to know how to structure the lessons to be the most benefit to him – when to continue on with the lesson I’ve prepared, when to answer his questions and when to just spend time with him as a friend. 
 
Several folks from Visoca (about 25 miles away) have been regularly attending Sunday services in Soroca.  You may remember that last year we held a Bible study in their village during the winter months when people have more available time.  We are doing that again this year.  Teaching on Baptist distinctives allows us to show from the Bible why we believe as we do and to communicate to the people how we differ from other groups.  Our prayer is that people will seek God’s Word to form their beliefs and not just man’s word or church traditions. 
 
One of the men from Visoca, Victor, expressed his desire to be baptized.  We were hoping to have done it by now, but a couple things came up that delayed it.  Baptisms are a big deal in Moldova.  (On one hand, this is good as it is a very special, focused service.  On the other hand, many even in Baptist churches place an overemphasis on baptism and its significance.)  We pray the day will be a blessing to him as he takes this step as well as an encouragement to others to follow the Lord. 
 
We are not much farther in the process of obtaining citizenship.  It took several months to get state background checks, and now that we finally have them we found out that we need from the FBI instead.   With needing to get those and to renew residency permits in May, it may be summer before we are able to move forward.
 
Another big event coming up is a ladies’ outreach on Saturday, March 9.  Leading up to that day, would you please pray that those invited would come and that the Lord would use the activity to draw them to Himself?  Viola will be preparing a lesson for the day, and I’m sure she’d appreciate your prayers as well.  Thanks for reading our news and for being patient with me as it has been a few months since I have gotten out a prayer letter.
 
In His service,
Jacob and Viola Hughes
 
For Prayer:
1. Baptism on March 3
2. Ladies’ outreach on March 9
3. Opposition in Bulboci
 
For Praise
1. Christmas outreaches 
2. Bible study in Visoca 
3. Finishing Bible course with “L” and “M”
 

Saturday, October 21, 2023

Hughes News #100

"Tie your shoes and pray for the Hughes"

Dear Friends, 
 
A year after we moved to Moldova, Jacob’s mom (along with a friend) came to visit.  She had mentioned several times that she’d like to come again, but we never dreamed Jacob’s dad would come.  Travelling is just not his thing – he is very content at home on his farm.  To our great surprise and delight, in the spring he asked us to look for tickets for them.  The Lord blessed us with 8 wonderful days with them in August.  We took them around to see the sights, celebrated Mom’s birthday and their anniversary, showed them our house and land, introduced them to the people in our ministries here and put them to work on our house and in our garden.  (Ok, to be honest, it was their idea – they wanted to help us while they were here.)  Their visit quickly came and went, but we had such a good time with them!
 

 
 

Our Bible study with “L” was on pause for two months as she was out of town visiting family, but she is now back and we resumed meeting with her a couple weeks ago.  Since our last prayer letter we started the same evangelistic study with two other individuals.  One is a younger man with physical and psychological problems who has gathered bits and pieces of religious teaching from a myriad of sources.  The other is a woman a few years younger than us who comes from a Muslim family but has lived in Moldova a number of years.  Because most people here are “Christian,” she wants to become one, but doesn’t really know what that means.  Would you pray for God to bring understanding to each one and to help us to know how to minister to them?  
 
We weren’t exactly sure what to expect with the Romanian language and Moldovan constitution tests, but the Lord helped us to prepare beforehand and to recall when at the exam.  We are pleased to report that both of us passed both exams!   We’ve also received our official certificate attesting to that fact and have had a meeting with a company that can help us in the citizenship application process.  After we get one more document from the States, everything will be ready for them to begin.
 
Earlier this month we had three individuals who followed the Lord in believer’s baptism.  The two ladies were fruit from our coworker’s Bible studies in Bulboci.  Several people came to the first couple of lessons, but numbers dwindled until just these two remained.  The Lord really used the lessons in their hearts and they eventually professed faith in Him.  For a time we did not see another step – almost no church attendance and seemingly no interest in baptism.  However, they began coming to services regularly in February.  Then in August we got word from someone else that one of the ladies wanted to be baptized.  The next time we saw her, she expressed that desire to Viola without us broaching the topic.  When David and the two of us scheduled with her to discuss more, we found out that the other lady (her neighbor/friend) wanted to be baptized as well.  As we made plans for the baptism, the brother of another church member asked if he could join in as well.  (To relate the entire situation clearly would take a bit more explanation.  I’d be happy to go into detail if anyone is interested.)  At first it felt somewhat rushed, but after meeting with him, praying, and discussing with David, we decided to include him.  We took Soroca folks out to Bulboci for a special combined service on that day.  We rejoice that Ioana, Iulia and Volodie made this step and pray they will continue walking with the Lord. 
 


In His service,
Jacob and Viola Hughes
 
For Prayer: 
1. Evangelistic studies with “L&M,” “V” and “N” 
2. Another man “V” who has expressed interest in baptism 
3. The next steps in order to apply for Moldovan citizenship
 
For Praise: 
1. Three souls following the Lord in baptism!
2. Jacob’s parents’ visit in August
3. A few days’ restful vacation in Romania

Wednesday, August 9, 2023

Hughes News #99

"Tie your shoes and pray for the Hughes"

Dear Friends, 
 
In May and June it was time to renew our residency permits.  For us that means 1) a visit to our lawyer in the capital to prepare our application, 2) a visit to the immigration office a few weeks later to submit our approved application and get our pictures taken and 3) a visit a week or so later to pick up our permits.  Because we have to start the process a few weeks early, the date we were approved was a few weeks before our previous permits expired.  The result is that while in theory we received a one-year permit; in actuality we only gained 10.5 additional months.  We were already planning to apply for citizenship, but the increased difficulty with residency permits has made it more pressing.  The first step is to pass two tests – a Romanian language test and a Moldovan Constitution test.  The next test date is in September.  We would appreciate your prayers as we prepare for them. 
 
In July our missionary team led three weeks of VBS – one at our coworker’s home in Zastinca, another in Bulboci, and the third in Soroca.  The Lord gave us good weeks – good weather overall, attentive and cooperative kids and strength to minister.  In Zastinca we averaged 22/day, in Bulboci 28 and 10 in Soroca.  Overall we were able to minister to 94 different kids.  One blessing was the attendance of some specific kids: two of our neighbor boys, a girl from a family with whom our coworker has Bible studies and a sibling group that we’ve known for some time.  Another was several of the ladies from Bulboci ministering with us that week.  A third blessing was seeing kids memorize Scripture.  Typically we learn a verse together each day and have a list of additional verses for a competition.  Over the three weeks the kids said 530 verses!  We were thrilled with their work and pray that the Holy Spirit will use these verses along with the lessons to draw them to salvation.  A further blessing was the feedback from parents and grandparents in Bulboci.  While our goal is to please the Lord, it is encouraging to hear that those in the village viewed our program positively.  We pray that this will give us open doors to minister to more families.  Finally, there were several little moments from the kids that warmed our hearts – smiles flashed, cute things said, chocolates shared, hugs given.  Though we were trying to minister to them, the Lord blessed us through them during those weeks. 
 
In His service,
Jacob and Viola Hughes 
 
For Prayer
1. Ministry planning for the upcoming year 
2. Study with “L” and “M;” hopefully starting with “V” 
3. Romanian and Constitution tests on September 20, Lord-willing 
 
For Praise:
1. Residency permits renewed 
2. Good weeks of VBS
3. More progress on our house- both inside and outside
 
Zastinca 


 

 

Bulboci

 

 

Soroca