"Tie your shoes and pray for the Hughes" |
Dear Friends,
On April 4,
we got word that a faithful member of the church in Bulboci, Ilie (Elijah),
passed away. After being saved as an
adult, he had a strong desire to know God’s Word. His attentiveness to the Bible was displayed
in the many discussions in which he quoted a verse or referred to one by
chapter and verse, even when he was in his early 80’s. His family respected his wishes and allowed
David and I to lead the funeral and exclude the Orthodox traditions that are
contrary to Biblical teaching. While we
rejoice over his testimony, his death means one fewer witness in his village of
Zgurita.
Last month
we attended a retreat organized by our missions' agency for its European
missionaries. We were challenged and
uplifted by the preaching and encouraged by the other sessions. We also greatly enjoyed spending time with
the others who came to the retreat. It
was a blessing to set aside work for a few days and be ministered to.
On the last
Sunday of April we watched as Daniel and Ana Gross were baptized. They had each expressed some interest in the
past, but that was rekindled when we were planning for Victor’s baptism in
March. The timing worked out that their
grandparents were visiting and Stephanie’s dad preached one of the
messages. This special day allowed us an
opportunity to again emphasize Gospel truths to those who have not yet been
saved but regularly attend services.
We usually
celebrate the resurrection a week or two after you do in the States. This year there was a bigger difference – ours
was five weeks later, on May 5. We had
special things in each service and a meal with each group (breakfast in Soroca,
early supper in Bulboci). The following
Friday we had an Easter outreach program in Bulboci. While attendance was lower than previous
events, we were glad to have two adults join us and participate and to be given
permission to use the library. I
wouldn’t say that everything is resolved in that situation, but I am hopeful we
will be able to use that location for VBS this summer.
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| Easter Meal in Bulboci |
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| Easter outreach at the library in Bulboci |
A week ago we picked up our renewed residency
permits. Because of waiting on someone
else’s scheduling, there were a couple of weeks in which our car’s registration
was expired (we have temporary registration that is connected to our residency
permits). Yesterday I was able to finish
the registration process, so we are behind the wheel again. Each time, it is a relief to get those things
behind us. Regarding our desire to
obtain citizenship, it felt like we made one step forward … and a couple steps
back. Our US background checks are on
their way to us, and we signed a contract with an agency to walk us through the
process, but we found out there is more to do than we were originally told. We want to give time to this to get our part
done, but we don’t want to neglect other responsibilities in doing so. We’d appreciate your prayers as we prioritize
work, especially in June as we try to prepare documents for citizenship, plan
for VBS and do some construction projects on our house.
In His service,
Jacob & Viola Hughes
For Prayer:
1. Work on house / property in June
2. VBS - planning in June, 3 weeks of activities in July
3. Progress with obtaining Moldovan citizenship
For Praise:
1. Encouraging retreat with All Points Baptist Mission
2. Baptism of Daniel and Ana Gross
3. Residency permits renewed for another year
