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| "Tie your shoes and pray for the Hughes" |
Dear
Friends,
With
many Moldovans celebrating Christmas on January 7th we had several special
events after the first of the year. The
first was a Christmas program at the local penitentiary for the officers and
their families. (You may remember that
over a year ago we helped with a special Thanksgiving program there.) Viola and the Grosses taught all the kids a
song while the adults took a Christmas quiz.
The kids sang for their parents and we had some other music
together. David spoke on how the message
of Christmas affects us still today and afterward we had a few games and
snacks. Last year David and I were
unsuccessful in our attempt to obtain permission to visit the inmates with a
man from another city who ministers there regularly. Our hope is that through ministry to the
officers we may one day be granted access to see the inmates.
The
following Sunday we had a Christmas themed service in the village church
followed by a meal together. On Monday
the 6th we held a Christmas program for kids.
We held one first at the Grosses house (we typically have a VBS there
each summer) and then repeated the program in Soroca that afternoon. The thing I was most pleased with was the
handful of kids that came from unbelieving families, most of whom had attended
our VBS last summer. Since the schedule
and program went well, we are considering future 1-day programs at other times
of the year (Easter, specifically). The
final Christmas event was caroling out in the village. A couple of the ladies who live there were
planning to go so David and his daughter Abby, Viola and I joined them. We enjoyed sharing with others songs about
Jesus’ birth. (We even caroled
to the mayor of the village and his wife. I was glad I didn’t know who he was
until after we had sung or I would have been nervous!)
The
ladies have a meeting the first Saturday of each month. It is structured for believers and rarely do
unbelievers come. With the normally
scheduled meeting falling one day before International Women’s Day (March 8th -
a fairly big event here), the ladies decided to make it an evangelistic
outreach. A lady from the village church
helped with food. Special decorations, a
craft, a game and prizes were all prepared.
Viola taught a lesson on Eve and our need for and God’s provision of a
Savior. As with many things, not as many
came as were invited, but 7 unsaved ladies came from the community. We pray the Lord will use that event in His
drawing of these ladies to Himself.
Yes,
we too have the Corona virus in Moldova.
The last I heard we have 60+ confirmed cases in the country. (*Update: As of March 29, there are now 263 cases with 2 deaths.) Nearly everything is shut down and we are
learning to navigate this unusual time.
With the cancellations and good weather, we have been able to work on
our property. Since construction stores
are closed, more of our work has been outside.
It has been work that needed to be done, but that would have been put
off had we been able to get materials and work more on the house. Some things in Moldova were suspended until
April 1st, but only time will tell if the restrictions will last longer than
that. Grocery stores still have plenty
of supplies, so we are still able to get all that we need. We are doing our best to make use of the time
for things that we’ve gotten behind on (like prayer letters) and for others
that we don’t always have the time for that we’d like (like work on our
house). May we each see the lessons our
Lord has for us during this time!
In His
service,
Jacob
and Viola Hughes
For
Prayer:
1.
Navigating this unique time in ministry
2.
Wisdom in planning late spring and summer ministries
3.
Strength to work on our house while the time is available
For
Praise:
1. A
number of encouraging Christmas ministries
2.
Turnout for the special Ladies’ Meeting
3.
Health and progress on our house
