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"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
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