Hughes News #81

"Tie your shoes and pray for the Hughes"

Dear Friends, 

Greetings from Moldova!  This fall our little corner of the world has benefited from a plentiful harvest- a blessing for an agricultural society.  We hope you are well.  Thanks for taking the time to catch up on our news.

 

With coworkers on furlough for a few months and school-year ministries resumed, our weekly responsibilities have shifted a bit.  Sunday mornings we have our service in Soroca.  Viola plays the piano for the service and I speak twice.  A couple times a month she teaches Sunday school.  Sunday afternoons we travel out to a village to lead a service there.  We now have more time overall with the people, which we are trying to use to get to know them better.  I have temporarily stepped away from language study in order to give time to our house project, but Viola still has lessons twice a week.  Tuesdays we have an hour program at a children’s center.  Our coworker, Sarah, teaches the lesson, Viola preps the game time, and I lead it when I am there.  Tuesday evenings Viola and I each have two English classes that we teach.  Our midweek service is on Thursdays.  I lead our midweek service on Thursdays- a study on the prayers in the Bible and a prayer time.  Viola teaches a ladies’ Bible study that meets once a month.  As with anyone, there are lots of other little tasks and responsibilities that pop up, but that will give a glimpse into our lives.

 

As with any ministry, there have been some difficulties in the last couple of months, but I’d like to share some bright spots that have stood out to me: 

    - A man that attended services in the past started coming again after an absence of several months.  His unsaved wife has been coming with him. 

    - Viola and I have each seen some more progress in our language abilities. 

    - I recently met a brother in Christ from a city a little over an hour away.  He told us that his church has been praying many years for a Baptist church to be established in Soroca. 

    - I have been thrilled with the actions of “M,” one of the boys at the children’s center.  He has listened, answered questions, behaved, and made some mature choices.

These have each been an encouragement to us.  Will you rejoice with us?

Our house project is moving forward.  Since I last wrote, we received the architectural plans and our building permit.  We demolished the old house on the property, and a crew has started on the foundation for the new house.  Lord-willing, they will finish the foundation and slab this fall.  There is a lot more to do, but we are thrilled with the progress we have seen.  

Trench dug for the footer

 

First pour for foundation

Forms for second pour for foundation

 

In His service,

Jacob and Viola Hughes

For Prayer:

1. “V” who has come back to services and “L” his wife.

2. Paul Hitz (Viola’s dad) is recovering from a mini-stroke he suffered a week ago

3. Some visits we hope to make in the next couple of weeks

4. The crew to be able to finish the concrete work; decisions regarding the construction 

 

For Praise:

1. Little glimpses of God’s grace and His working

2. House progress: good timing and weather, reliable workers, further contacts

3. Family planning to visit in November

 

Hughes News #80

"Tie your shoes and pray for the Hughes"

Dear Friends,

 

The main event in July was Vacation Bible School.  Week #1 was held at our coworkers’ house.  We have been pleased in the past with the VBS there but this year was the best yet!  The kids listened well as we taught on the life of Joseph throughout the week.  We pray that there will be eternal fruit as a result of the kids hearing God’s Word.  We had 26 different kids show up throughout the week, 11 of which had not been to a VBS before.  Our average attendance was 18. 

VBS in Zastinca

 

After a week break, we repeated the program in Soroca at our church rental.  The Lord gave us another good week with attentive children.  There we had 22 different kids with 9 first-time visitors and averaged 17 a day.  It was especially neat to see where those kids came from: 7 either regularly or occasionally come to our services, 4 were from Sarah’s kids’ ESL classes (including a boy who memorized 44 verses during the week), 3 were from a contact in Bulboci (a village in which we minister), 2 had come to previous VBS programs, 1 was brought by a previous VBS attendee, 1 came as a result of announcement put on a FB page and 4 came from … well, we are not sure.  Those numbers may seem tedious to you, but to me they illustrate God’s working through a variety of means.  He is to be praised for the seed planted and watered in our VBS!

VBS in Soroca

 

In lieu of our regular one-hour weekly program at the children’s home, in July we expanded it to two hours and did a trimmed-down version of our VBS.  By having it spread throughout the month, we had more fluctuation in attendance, but overall it went ok.  After a lot of rambunctiousness the first three weeks, the kids listened much better the last couple weeks.  Also, our church here was able to help five kids who live at the center go to a Christian camp.  One of the teen boys made a profession of faith, and the junior campers have asked multiple times to go back to camp.  We have yet another reason to thank the Lord for His working! 

VBS Program at center

Finally, let me mention our housing.  On June 21st we purchased a lot in the village of Egoreni, just three miles from Soroca.  The lot has a good amount of land, an old house, another small building, grapes, raspberries, walnut trees and fruit trees.  While architectural plans are being drawn up, we are cleaning up the property and demolishing the old house.  We are still unsure what a realistic goal is for this fall, so we are just saying that we hope to get as much done as possible.

Our lot- about in the middle you can see the old house.

Some of the cleaning up we've been doing. Before and after shots.

In His service, 

Jacob and Viola Hughes

 

For Prayer: 

1. Plans to semi-officially organize the church

2. A time of planning with our team in mid-August 

3. Coworkers leaving for furlough later this month

 

For Praise: 

1. Five kids from the children’s center attending a Christian camp

2. Good weeks of VBS 

3. Purchase of land for housing

Hughes News #78

"Tie your shoes and pray for the Hughes"

Dear Friends, 

 

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas and that you’ve begun the New Year continuing to seek our Lord Jesus Christ!  In our last letter, we mentioned a village where we were distributing Bibles.  Since then, we have been given the opportunity to preach in that village for a group of believers.  David and I go out there on Sundays and he leads another study in the middle of the week.  Several of them have grown children who are away from the Lord.  I know they would appreciate prayers for their kids.

 

Like most of you, we had several special events around the holidays.  A few days before Christmas we had an evening service in which we sang carols and read Scripture by candlelight.  Then on New Year’s Eve, we invited the group from the village to join us for our service in Soroca.  (With a few regulars out of town, it more than helped fill some empty seats!)  There was instrumental accompaniment with the hymns, our regular service, and a meal together.  Afterward, David led some Bible-themed trivia games for all who could stay. 

On January 3-5 we held our first winter VBS.  Our hope was to reach out to some un-churched kids and funnel them into our Sunday school.  We met for two hours a day and had Christmas themed lessons, skits, games and snacks.  In addition to our coworkers’ kids, we had just one girl show up the first two days and three on the final day.  While we had hoped for more, two of the three had come in the summer and we are thankful for the additional contact with them.  We will update you again in a few weeks- may the Lord bless you!

 

In His service, 

Jacob and Viola Hughes

 

For Prayer: 

1. At center we visit: needs of single mothers, runaway girls

2. Wisdom for decisions regarding long-term housing 

3. Viola’s dad is having some health problems

 

For Praise: 

1. Preaching opportunity in Bulboci 

2. Special holiday services remembering the Messiah’s birth

3. Further contact with girls at winter VBS