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"Tie your shoes and pray for the Hughes" |
Dear Friends,
You may remember us mentioning
that many Moldovans celebrate Christmas on January 7. Because of that, we hold most of our
Christmas outreaches after the first of the year. On the 3rd we held a program for kids in
Bulboci. While attendance and participation
were good, it was on that day we learned of some opposition in the
village. We have used the library there
for several events, beginning last Christmas (including this year’s program and
an ongoing Kid’s Club), but the opposition has jeopardized our being able to
use it moving forward. So far the mayor hasn’t found time to meet to resolve
the situation. We would appreciate your
prayers for direction and favor in the eyes of those in authority. An event for correctional officers and their
families was next, on January 5th. While
the program went well, we were hoping for more inroads to people’s lives. On the 6th, we repeated the children’s
program at the Gross’s house. Several
kids came who had attended VBS in the summer, as well as a few new kids. The kids seemed to really enjoy David
dressing up as Joseph and telling the Christmas story from his perspective.
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| Bulboci |
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| Bulboci |
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| Penitentiary |
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| Penitentiary |
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| Gross's Home |
Around Christmas time we
finished the evangelistic Bible study with “L” and “M.” Neither has yet made a profession of faith,
but we are encouraged that both come to most services. If you would pray that the Lord would make
salvation clear to them and that they will be saved. In our last letter we mentioned “V,” a
younger man who was willing to start a Bible study. Meeting with him is different than any other
Bible study I’ve done. He has a number
of questions but is rather childlike in his understanding. I need God’s wisdom to know how to structure
the lessons to be the most benefit to him – when to continue on with the lesson
I’ve prepared, when to answer his questions and when to just spend time with
him as a friend.
Several folks from Visoca
(about 25 miles away) have been regularly attending Sunday services in
Soroca. You may remember that last year
we held a Bible study in their village during the winter months when people
have more available time. We are doing
that again this year. Teaching on
Baptist distinctives allows us to show from the Bible why we believe as we do
and to communicate to the people how we differ from other groups. Our prayer is that people will seek God’s
Word to form their beliefs and not just man’s word or church traditions.
One of the men from Visoca,
Victor, expressed his desire to be baptized.
We were hoping to have done it by now, but a couple things came up that
delayed it. Baptisms are a big deal in
Moldova. (On one hand, this is good as
it is a very special, focused service.
On the other hand, many even in Baptist churches place an overemphasis
on baptism and its significance.) We
pray the day will be a blessing to him as he takes this step as well as an
encouragement to others to follow the Lord.
We are not much farther in the
process of obtaining citizenship. It
took several months to get state background checks, and now that we finally
have them we found out that we need from the FBI instead. With needing to get those and to renew
residency permits in May, it may be summer before we are able to move forward.
Another big event coming up is
a ladies’ outreach on Saturday, March 9.
Leading up to that day, would you please pray that those invited would
come and that the Lord would use the activity to draw them to Himself? Viola will be preparing a lesson for the day,
and I’m sure she’d appreciate your prayers as well. Thanks for reading our news and for being
patient with me as it has been a few months since I have gotten out a prayer
letter.
In His service,
Jacob and Viola Hughes
For Prayer:
1. Baptism on March 3
2. Ladies’ outreach on March 9
3. Opposition in Bulboci
For Praise:
1. Christmas outreaches
2. Bible study in Visoca
3. Finishing Bible course with
“L” and “M”
