Saturday, July 23, 2022

Hughes News #95

"Tie your shoes and pray for the Hughes"
 
Dear Friends,   
 
Greetings from Moldova on a beautifully warm and breezy summer day!  Thank you for taking the time to read our latest news and for praying with us for the requests we mention.  We pray that your summer is going well and that you are encouraged in your walk with Him.  
 
Our donating bags of food staples and basic toiletries to Ukrainians has paused for now.  Shortly after our last prayer letter we distributed more bags and explained to the social worker how we would like to give our donations in the future.  We wanted to continue to give bags to newly arrived refugees through her office, but to set up something different that would allow us more interaction with those who have been in our city for awhile.  We purchased more supplies but then problems arose.  The social worker promised to give us a list of Ukrainians staying in Soroca, but she never did.  Then she stopped replying to calls and messages.  Eventually, we were able to donate the food already purchased to a hotel restaurant that was preparing meals for those staying at a campground.  Due to other summer activities, we have not looked for other avenues to aid those displaced by the war.  We are hoping that doors will open up in the next few weeks.  We have been able to stay in touch with one Ukrainian family that we met through giving as they are staying in a home in our village.  We are supposed to go visit them again soon.  Would you pray that the Lord would show us how we can best minister to them?  
 
The last week of June we held a VBS at the children’s home in Cosauti where we minister weekly.  Since we are teaching through a curriculum that points kids to the theme of redemption in the Bible, we continued with that curriculum for the week.   We were pleased to have 20+ kids each day and even more pleased that a number of kids memorized the daily verse.  Through the summer (including the VBS week) we are awarding kids points for attendance, verse memory and behavior.  Later, they will be able to spend those points on prizes in our store.   
 


A couple of weeks ago we heard the heartbreaking news of a wife who, returning from working abroad, told her husband she didn’t want anything more to do with him.  He has been caring for their four children (ages 5-11) these past 3+ years while she has been working.  Please pray for our brother “K” as he deals with this awful situation.  Would you also pray for God’s chastening on “C” his wife that she would repent and turn back to God and to her family?  If you’d pray for us, we need God’s wisdom to see how to care for this family.  
 
Last week we held a VBS in Bulboci, the village where we have Sunday afternoon services.  There were several blessings from the week.  First, four ladies that attend Sunday services came to help out.  They lightened our load and I think they enjoyed serving the kids too.  Second, attendance exceeded my expectations.  We had at least 20 kids each of the five days.  Third, a majority of these unchurched kids said their memory verse when they came the next day.  Fourth, the weather was very pleasant and the kids were mostly cooperative. Fifth, we have since heard very positive reports from adults in the village.  We ourselves enjoyed the week and are eager to see how God may expand this in the future.  
 




The war in Ukraine continues to indirectly affect those to whom we minister.  We already mentioned the Ukrainian family in our village that cannot yet go home.  The brother of a man who comes to services in Soroca lives in a region where the Russians already occupy.  The sister of a friend of Viola’s has had her three shoe stores destroyed by rockets.  Another friend’s father and brother-in-law live in a city a distance from the combat but that was hit by rockets last week.  After claiming they were after the Donbas and Luhansk regions, Russia has now openly named two other regions that are objectives, plus a number of other unnamed territories.  While the US has supported Ukraine with sophisticated weapons, Russia is now using Ukraine’s possession of those weapons as justification for fighting further.  They are claiming it is a threat to their country as long as Ukraine has these weapons.  As Moldova is seeking to join NATO and unite with Europe, the breakaway region of Transnistria openly stated this week that it wants a free union with Russia.  While we are still many miles from the combat and rocket attacks, it seems the possibility of the conflict more directly touching Moldova is growing.  To be clear, we don’t discern any imminent danger, but tension is slowly growing as opposed to diminishing in Moldova.  
 
In His service, 
Jacob and Viola Hughes  
 
For Prayer: 
1. Ukraine – the fighting to cease, people to come to the Lord 
2. “K” and his kids, his wife “C” 
3. The Lord’s direction as we minister to several individuals 
 
For Praise: 
1. An intern helping us the past few weeks 
2. Good weeks of VBS in Cosauti and Bulboci 
3. Good reports about our VBS in Bulboci 
 
 

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