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"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
