Hughes News #70

"Tie your shoes and pray for the Hughes"

Dear Friends,

In our last prayer letter we mentioned our upcoming team retreat.  The few days away gave us an opportunity to look back on the previous year, evaluate and pray for current ministries and make plans for the upcoming months.  We felt the time was very profitable for our team.

David and Stephanie Gross with their kids, Sarah Bodaly, and the two of us

Shortly after we arrived back in Soroca, we found out that Viola and Sarah’s Romanian teacher had moved to Chisinau.  It is a praise that they already have another teacher, but we would like to mention a couple prayer requests.  First, due to the structure of the lessons so far, the ladies don’t feel that they are progressing.  Our request would be that the structure could be change to aid the ladies in their learning.  Second, their teacher “I” has been very open to discuss spiritual things.  Would you take time to pray for the ladies to have wisdom in talking with her and for our Lord to work in her heart?

Next week we plan to resume teaching English.  This year we are going to try having one class for young people and adults on Tuesdays and another for kids on Thursdays.  Also on Tuesdays, David will be hosting a Bible club for neighborhood kids.  If we receive permission, we may duplicate the kids’ club program at a local children’s home (as we understand it, it is foster care in more of a group home setting).  With each of these ministries, we desire opportunities to point people to our Savior.

So far, the water company has said there is nothing they can do about the water main on our property.  They told me they would talk to the mayor’s office again and have an answer for me in a few days.  There is still an outside chance of starting on the foundation this year, but it is looking doubtful.

In His service,

Jacob and Viola Hughes

For Prayer:

1. Viola and Sarah studying Romanian; their teacher “I”

2. English classes (Bible lesson following) and kids’ Bible club

3. Resolution of problem with the water main

For Praise:

1. A profitable team retreat

2. A new language teacher

3. Two new ladies at our services

Hughes News #69

"Tie your shoes and pray for the Hughes"

Dear Friends,

Greetings from far-off Moldova!  Recently I have been thinking of Paul’s statement in II Corinthians of God’s grace being sufficient for him.  It has reminded me that God’s grace is already available to me.  Our hope is that our Savior will give you glimpses of His grace to encourage you on your earthly way.

We were pleased with our family evening activities, even though they were different than planned.  We had good weather and were able to hold them three of the four Friday evenings in June.  Our hope was that families would participate in the activities together.  The way it worked out, very few complete families came by.  However, several kids and a few adults stopped by to play the games, do the crafts or eat the snacks.  We were able to introduce ourselves to more individuals in the city, give out some Bibles and literature about the family and learn how better to run this type of activity in the future.

Crafts at our family activity

The Lord gave us two good weeks of VBS.  The first week we met at our coworkers’ home and invited children from their neighborhood.  We averaged 16 kids a day with 25 different kids coming throughout the week.  The kids listened so well during the Bible lessons.  The second week we met at our rental location in the city.  With having fewer contacts and it being our first VBS in the city, we really didn’t know how many would show up.  That week we averaged 12 kids a day, which included 20 different children.  The second week had a different dynamic as we had kids who knew only Russian or Romanian.  It was a blessing to see a couple of kids show up that we had met during our family activity, and to see one of the kids memorize the books of the Bible.

Games at VBS in Zăstîncă

Sword drills at VBS in Soroca

Next week our team will seclude ourselves and talk over plans for the upcoming twelve months.  Would you take a moment right now to pray for the Lord’s guidance as we make plans?  We are considering starting an ongoing children’s ministry to, in part, follow up with the kids who came to VBS. On a personal note, our construction permit is in hand, and a builder is ready to start on the foundation, but we have discovered a problem.  The city water main runs directly through our property, right where the house is to be.  Would you pray for resolution to this problem so that we could at least get the foundation done this fall?

In His service,

Jacob and Viola Hughes

For Prayer:

1. Viola and Sarah studying Romanian

2. Ministry planning for upcoming months

3. Resolution of problem with the water main

For Praise:

1. Good results from our family evenings in the park

2. Two good weeks of Vacation Bible School

3. A helper for the month of July- Deanna, our coworker Sarah’s friend

A Praying Life: Chapters 31-32

(A few friends and I are reading this book together.  Each week we will read two chapters and on Friday I will post my comments from the reading.  Others may add their thoughts in the comments section.  If you are interested in reading this book as well, here is the link for the Kindle version of the book.)

Chapters 31-32
- "I'm actually managing my life through my daily prayer time."  (Pg. 256, Loc. 3258)  Often it is not his introducing an entirely new concept that stands out to me, but just a good choice of words.  I try to organize the tasks I have to do, but this was a reminder that time in prayer is the best way to manage the most important things in my life.

 

- "I'd prayed that my Father would show me what feeds a lack of faith in me."  (Pg. 258, Loc. 3281)  I noted this because I liked the idea of asking God to show me the same in my life.

 

- "As I pray, I'm dealing not with surface stuff, but with the state of my heart and of the people for whom I am praying."  (Pg. 260, Loc. 3300)  Too often so much of life is just about the surface things, but prayer allows me to dig deeper and look at the most truly meaningful aspects.

 

- "I'm not hunting for an experience with God; I'm inviting God into my life experience." (Pg. 260, Loc. 3300)  I find this important because I think a lot of people would say they are looking for an experience.  I want God in my life experience- to be part of all aspects of my life, and I see that I include Him when I pray about those areas of my life.

 

- "People are far too complicated; the world is far too evil; and my own heart is too off center to be able to love adequately without praying.  I need Jesus."  (Pg. 260, Loc. 3310)

 

- "We don't need a praying life because that is our duty.  That would wear thin quickly.  We need time to be with our Father every day because every day our hearts and the hearts of those around us are overgrown with weeds."  (Pg. 261, Loc 3319)  Just as I shower each day to get off that little bit (or a lot!) of grime from the previous day, I need that time with my Savior to clean up my heart and keep it focused on him.  May that daily attention keep the "weeds" from sending their roots deep into my heart.

 

I've had my say, what say you?

Discussion on Chapters 29-30