Hughes News #37

Dear Friends,

Earlier this month, missionary David Gross and I visited a city in the north to consider it for church planting. We drove to Edineti one morning, spent a day exploring the city, and came back the next day. There are some things we could have done better, but we figure the best way to learn is just to get out and do it. This summer, we are planning two future scouting trips to Soroca and Comrat.

Our trip showed me the confusion that surrounds many people here in Moldova. When we first came here, I thought that most cities and villages had just the Orthodox Church. I am learning that there are more groups than I thought. Unfortunately, these groups are bringing with them sundry false doctrines. In addition to the Orthodox Church in Edineti, there is a strong Jehovah’s Witness presence, a Salvation Army Church, and two Pentecostal churches. Some Moldovans have never heard the Gospel. Many others have heard a false Gospel. There is much work to do!

We are so thankful to be able to continue our Russian lessons this summer. We cannot say enough about how blessed we are to have Svetlana as our teacher. She is always on time (in fact, 15 minutes early), dependable, experienced, and quite patient with our frequent mistakes.

More opportunities to minister have opened up in the church we are attending. We are both enjoying singing in the choir. I have preached once and will do so again soon.

In His service,

Jacob and Viola Hughes

For Prayer:

1. Two more scouting trips planned this summer
2. Continued progress learning Russian
3. A family with which to team up

For Praise:

1. More opportunities to minister in our church
2. Consistent support and better exchange rates
3. Celebration of Viola’s ??^st birthday earlier this week

“Tie your shoes and pray for the Hughes”

The Technology Curve

How do you deal with the technology curve? 

In the last few weeks I have heard several bits and pieces of information that later I found to be somewhat linked, at least in my mind.  Here are some of the things that caused me to consider.

• Listening to a speaker from the Logos corporation (a Bible software program), Viola heard that when people 25 and older hear the word "study," the word "book" comes to mind.  When people younger than 25 hear the word "study," the word "computer" comes to mind.
• Viola also heard a statistic stating that a high percentage of the information young people gather is from the internet and not from books.
• I read a blog post that talked about the "new internet."  A few months ago, more information was accessed on the internet via smart phones than via computer-based web browsers.  With this shift, businesses will need to spend more time developing web sites and apps that are suited for smart phones and less for web browsers.
• Businesses and ministries are using social networking sites more and more to try to influence and/or serve people.
• Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Google Plus, Blogs, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube . . .

 Now, I have never been one to be on the cutting edge of technology.  I didn't have a cell phone until months after we were married.  I have probably sent fewer than 50 text messages in my life.  I still do not have a smart phone.  I have never played with an iPad.  I am a dayplanner and pen kind of guy.  That is just me.

While I'll never be the one informing my friends about the specs of the newest Mac or the release date of the next iPhone, I don't want to needlessly bury my head in the sand and be oblivious to the changes around me.  I am called to be a minister of the Gospel.  To me, that means two things: I must know God.  I must know people.  In our day, people's lives are wrapped up in technology- what am I to do?  Here are some of the specific questions I am asking myself:

1. How do I stay familiar with the latest without investing too much time into it?
2. How do I know what social media outlets to use? 
- For example, MySpace seemed to be really big when it came out.  Now, I rarely hear about it.  I don't want to invest time learning something that is just going to go out of style.
3. How can I use these outlets effectively in the ministry? 
- I don't want technology to take from sound Bible teaching/preaching and person to person ministry, but I also don't want to forsake a potential good tool that would help each of those things.

I haven't come to any tangible conclusions.  That's where you come in.  I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

Have you come to some conclusions about these technologies?  What do you do to keep up with the times, without allowing the times to envelope your entire existence?

Hughes News #36

Dear Friends,  
 

We feel a little bit like “empty-nesters” now that our nephew has returned home.  During his two month visit, he displayed diligence and purpose in the work we gave him to do.  It seems that the Lord worked in his heart and provided direction for his future.  We are very thankful John was able to come.

After preaching to the young people a couple of weeks ago, I was asked to do it again in the future. That setting will be an excellent opportunity for my first attempts at preaching in Russian.  Our teacher has offered to help me translate and prepare for this opportunity.  I would appreciate your prayers as I seek to deliver heart-stirring, grammatically correct messages.

Recently, a fellow missionary met a young man whose first language is Russian.  Since our missionary friend learned Romanian first, he has invited me to help him share the Gospel with this young man.  After our first attempt at meeting with him fell through, we are looking for another time that will work.

One of the plans for this summer is to take some scouting trips to other cities which we are considering for future ministry.  Our goal is to understand the need in these areas and to seek the Lord’s guidance.

In His service,

Jacob and Viola Hughes

For Prayer:    

1. Summer scouting trips for potential future ministry
2. Continued progress learning Russian          
3. A family with which to team up

For Praise:

1. An encouraging, profitable, fun time with our nephew
2. Upcoming preaching opportunities in the church
3. Step-by-step progress in several areas

"Tie your shoes and pray for the Hughes."

We spent one busy Saturday
helping friends collect honey.