Category Archives: Answered prayer

September 2021 Prayer Letter

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Ana with Lidia

As Daniel and I sat on the couch in Lidia’s house after a meal of homemade mac ‘n cheese, she told me that she has a gift for Jesus that she is working on. “It’s a song that I plan to sing for Him when I see Him,” the eighty-six year old believer said with a big smile. She then began to sing through her gift for Jesus. A host of emotions and thoughts flooded my heart and mind. I have never heard of someone working on a gift like that. What should I prepare? Am I anticipating seeing my Savior as much as Lidia is? Though we are here to minister to and teach Moldovans, we still have much to glean and learn from them. Here are some other things that the Lord is teaching us.

WORDS MATTER
Thank you for praying for clear leading on Vacation Bible School. While the answer became clear, it was not what we were hoping for. One of the problems was my use of the word “tabără,” which means “camp.” We have always used the term “day camp” for our summer VBS program, since it is the closest parallel that people here would understand. The problem was that in using that word, the health department gave us the host of requirements for day camps here. Even after I went in and met with the director of the public health department to explain it would not be a day camp, he gave us an unrealistic list of requirements. All workers and kids would need to get a health exam, show proof of up-to-date vaccinations, have space of 43 square feet per child, and more. If any child did not come back the following day, we would be required to call and find out why. If they had any symptoms that could be COVID-19, then all workers and children would go into a 2 week quarantine. We ended up canceling VBS.

THANK GOD FOR THE FREEDOMS TODAY
Though the COVID-19 cases had a drastic drop this summer, we have since seen an increase. With this “third wave,” Moldova has been put under a State of Emergency once again and most regions under “code red.” Currently, we are still allowed to do all ministries as we have over the past several months, for which we are thankful. There have been talks and threats by leading health officials of a country-wide lockdown if the numbers keep climbing. Please pray for wisdom for the leadership here and patience on our part.

POLITICAL CHANGES ARE POSSIBLE
Thank you for praying for the parliamentary elections here in Moldova. Despite the coalition between the Socialists and Communists, they did not win the majority seats. On the contrary, the President’s party won the most seats, giving her and Parliament the opportunity to bring about positive changes in the country. Please pray for our president, Maia Sandu, and for wise, positive changes to be made here.

MOTIVES ARE HARD TO SEE AT FIRST
We saw a couple families show an interest in spiritual things but in the end, it seems that either the interest fizzed out or was simply a front to receive materials things. In one of the instances, it appears that we had several items even stolen from us. Pray for us to have wisdom to know how and when to test people’s motives.

On the positive side, my disciples in Bulboci who trusted Christ last year are continuing on faithfully in their walks with the Lord. Ironically, others in the village are assuming that they are coming in order to receive material or financial aid. They cannot understand that people would come in order to learn the Word of God. The ladies are not getting material aid from the studies but joyfully receive spiritual food. We rejoice in having seen the long-term fruit in these believers with pure motives.

LIFE IS LIKE A VAPOR…MAKE YOUR STEAM COUNT
Stephanie and I celebrated 17 years of marriage in August, I turned 40 in September, and our oldest will turn 16 next month. I was once again reminded just how short life is and how each day, each anniversary is special. We heard about another missionary our age who lost the battle after getting COVID-19. We never know when we will celebrate our last anniversary, birthday, or no longer have an opportunity to minister to others. We must make the most of what God has given us today. Please pray for us to redeem the time and be fruitful.

Thank you very much for your continued prayers and financial support.

June 2021 Prayer Letter

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Life is like a box of diapers…. it’s always full of changes. Sometimes we fear changes, but change can be a good thing.

CHANGES IN SOROCA

Over the past few months, we have had several visitors join us for services. One lady, “O,” has come a couple times. She had passed our building many times with an interest to visit and finally gained the courage to come. Another lady, “L,” came from a village about 45 minutes away from Soroca, having made a profession of faith in a Baptist church year ago, and wants to be baptized. Another lady, Tatiana, has been coming to our services when in town visiting her parents who live up the road from our house. She is working to transfer from another city and move here to help take care of her aging parents. Two deaf women also visited our service once. Stephanie has been doing Bible studies with a young woman named “O,” too, who has been coming to services. Please pray for us as we do follow-up and seek to minister to these new folks.

A fellow believer in town, Irina, who was not a member of our church plant but often came to special events, went home to be with the Lord in the middle of May. A year ago, she was fearful and troubled as she saw the cancer progress and confine her to her bed. The last six months, though, we saw major changes in her life for the better. She sought to focus on glorifying God even with her bedridden state. She wrote poetry to God, gave Bibles to her caretakers, and had a much sweeter spirit. Stephanie and I visited her a week before she passed away. When she prayed, her words were filled with thanksgiving to God and praising Him for His mercy and goodness to her.

Since December of 2019, a young man, “V,” has been coming to the Thursday midweek Bible studies on evenings he does not work. We have given him the Gospel multiple times and had gone through Jacob’s Thursday series on Romans. Recently I had lunch with him and went through the Gospel again, answering questions that he had. He seemed to understand it. I helped him pick up some large items from the capital city the next day, which gave us all day to talk. He then asked if baptism is the point when a person officially crosses the line from lost to saved. When I told him that comes AFTER the new birth and reviewed repentance and faith for salvation again, he looked at me and said, “Well, I made that decision last year.” He then explained how he had been meditating on what Jacob had been teaching on Thursdays and came to believe in Christ! Please pray for “V” as we follow-up and help him take the next steps for Christ.

COVID CHANGES

Most of these changes have been positive changes over the past couple months. We are no longer under a state of emergency and the number of new COVID cases per day has been under 100 in the whole country. Due to this, we have been able to resume the Bible Club in the village of Cosăuți. Sadly, though, the teen boys I started mentoring before things shut down again have been moved to another facility.

Last year, we were unable to run Vacation Bible School due to the pandemic. With there being fewer cases and regulations, we were hoping to have it in July. Unfortunately, we are at a standstill waiting on the government to decide on whether summer camps can run and what regulations will be imposed. I have talked with our lawyer in the capital and also been in contact with the mayor’s office here in Soroca. I was told that one reason nothing has been decided on yet may be due to the impending threat of the Delta version of COVID-19. Please pray for us to hear soon on something definite regarding VBS in the near future, even if the answer is a no, so that we can make plans moving forward and get out of this limbo.

CHANGES WITH OUR OLDEST

     Thank you to all who have been praying for our oldest and the emotional/mental battles. Though struggles still exist, we are continuing to see improvement and greater stability and consistency. We are thankful for the Christian counselor that the Lord has provided. Please continue to keep this in your prayers.

CHANGE IN PLACES

     If you remember Tamara, the lady battling cancer and a host of other health problems, who trusted Christ a couple years ago, she is actually doing better physically than she has in a long time, though far from being healthy. Her husband, Alec, who walks with two brace crutches all the time, fell while working in the field alone. He injured his neck and was completely paralyzed for several days. He now has regained movement in his arms but still cannot use his legs yet. I have never met a family that has gone through so many trials, one after another. Please pray for their spiritual encouragement and many financial needs to be met.

CHANGE OF PACE

      For the last two weeks of June, Stephanie’s parents finally had an open window to come visit us. What a joy it was to be with family again. We spent the last week with them on vacation for a much needed break from the usual demands of life here. I am so blessed to have not only Christian parents but also in-laws. Their visit was truly a fulfillment of Proverbs 25:25: “As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.”

POLITICAL CHANGES

     On July 11th, Moldova will hold Parliamentary elections. Since the newly elected president, Maia Sandu, is limited by the balance of power in Parliament, the possible positive future changes for Moldova hang in the balance. Please pray for a fair and peaceful election and for God’s will to be done.

Thank you very much for your continued prayers and financial support.

January 2021 Update

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As with each new day, a new year comes with the promise of God’s mercy, grace, and faithfulness.  I sometimes feel like pinching myself and hoping that some of the current events over the past year are just some bad dream…. but it isn’t.  We live in the current reality.  But this current reality has a biblical context, one that gives us hope, strength, and peace.

GOD’S FAITHFULNESS IN 2020

    At the end of the year, I enjoy looking back over the past year and counting our blessings and accomplishments through God’s grace.  The spiritual blessings included a one-day winter VBS, evanghelistic women’s meeting, finishing a one-year evangelistic Bible study in Bulboci resulting in two women trusting Christ as Savior, our daughter Ana trusting Christ, getting away for my first spiritual retreat alone with God for a couple days, creating a five video Gospel series on YouTube in Romanian during the lockdown, and making inroads with the Gospel into the lives of several others.
Other blessings included growing a fruitful garden, stable financial support from churches and individuals even during the pandemic, some extra gifts sent to us that allowed us to meet our needs and be a blessing to several other families in need, having the means to replace Stephanie’s tablet when hers suddenly died, seeing our oldest children develop lifeskills (Abby wrote several books and Caleb is learning robotics and programming), we had only a mild form of COVID-19, and those we minister to saw God’s provision and help through the quarantine.  Though last year was far from how we had envisioned or planned, God was faithful.

GOD’S MERCY IN MOLDOVAN ELECTIONS

    In our last prayer letter (November), I explained the political situation here in Moldova with the presidential election.  The second round of elections were held and on December 24th, Maia Sandu was inaugurated as the new president of Moldova, winning over the socialist who had held office the past four years.  She is pro-American/Europe with a desire to hopefully take Moldova in a better direction with less corruption.  She has a long road ahead of her, especially since she would need the agreement of parliament to make necessary changes.  Please pray for Moldova under the new leadership.

TWO NEW BIBLE STUDIES

    A man I met through the Christian medical mission team outreach several years ago contacted me again, requesting a new pair of reading glasses.  After visiting him and talking, he was interested in me leading a Bible study at his house.  We have now had four weeks of lessons with him, his wife, and some others using the same Firm Foundations: Creation to Christ study I have been using with others.  They live in Bulbocii Noi, the village next to where we have been working the last several years.
In Bulboci, I continue to meet with the two new believers and a couple others each Wednesday for discipleship.  Praise the Lord, there are some others who are interested in going through the same FFCC chronological Bible study that they went through, opening the door for a new study group in the village.  Lord willing, Jacob will begin meeting with them later this month.  Please pray for the Lord to bless these new evangelistic Bible studies in the villages.  Please also pray for me with a couple other meetings with people that may lead to regular meetings.

UPCOMING KIDS’ CLUB

    Since the pandemic hit in March, we have not been allowed to hold our weekly children’s Bible club at the children’s home in the village of Cosăuți.  We were about to start two new things there, going through the FFCC children’s version and a new boys’ mentoring group afterwards.  We finally have the open door again to return later this month, Lord willing, on the 19th of January, as long as no one there tests positive again with COVID-19.  Please pray for a good reunion and for the Lord to bless our Gospel influence there once again.

EVANGELISTIC SERVICE

    On January 3rd, the Sunday before “Old Christmas,” we invited people we know to a special Christmas service where we focused on why Christ came.  We praise the Lord that one teenager came.  He had come to our VBS in the past when he was younger and had also come to the kids’ English lessons.  He followed along very well during the service, even answering questions that I had asked.  Please pray for the spread of the Gospel here in the city of Soroca.  Thanks again for your prayers and support!

June 2019 Update

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     Moldova has quite a variety of roads. Just driving 30 minutes away to the village of Bulboci twice each week takes me over smooth, new asphalt, repaired asphalt, rocky roads (not the ice cream type), and dirt roads.  Last week I began thinking how much life and ministry is such. Sometimes things are going very smoothly with few bumps along the way. Other times you are hoping the car doesn’t fall apart. It is all a part of the journey and God allows all of it to help us get to where we need to go.
BULBOCI MINISTRY
We had mentioned in our last prayer letter that the 90 year old man has been experiencing opposition from his family. After he joined us for Easter, his relatives met him, took his nice clothes away and said he can receive them back when he starts coming back to the Orthodox church. With the family member causing most of the oppostion being away for the summer, he was expecting things to get better, not worse. Currently, things have calmed down and he still comes when he can. Please pray for this man to grow through this and grow in his faith.
I once heard a message of how people often use God as an umbrella. They only seek him when the storms of life come. The one man who was seeking after God has lost his interest currently, now that some things in his life have improved.
For the past month, I have been leading an evangelistic Bible study in the village each Wednesday. It is a cronological study from Creation to Christ. The first week two ladies came, then three the second week, six the third week, but then three the fourth week. The response has been very positive, but since it is an agricultural village, when the weather is good, the people go to the fields to work. Please pray for wisdom on possibly changing the day/time.
GOVERNMENT(S)
Over the past couple weeks, the political situation here in Moldova grew to a critical level. In short, Moldova ended up with two presidents and governments because two sides refused to acknowledge the other as the legal ruling power. Some worried that there could end up being civil war. After about a week of this, one of the parties conceded and stepped down. Praise the Lord that there was a peaceful resolution and that many are hopeful that the changes in the government may diminish the corruption here. Please continue to pray for the leadership here.
VBS
The first two weeks of July, we will host vacation Bible school, one week at our house in Zastînca and the other week in Soroca. Please pray for us as we finalize our preparations and for God to work in the hearts and lives of those who come.
TAMARA
About a year and a half ago, Jacob and I led Tamara to Christ. Up to that time, her life would remind people of the life of Job. God continues to allow her to relate to Job’s life. Please continue to pray for Tamara as she battles cancer, other health issues, and financial challenges.
SOROCA
For several weeks now, I have been meeting with the couple I mentione din the last prayer letter, using the Creation to Christ Bible study. Since we hold the study at their office, each week is like a different road. Some weeks we have few interruptions and others are very bumpy, taking us three hours to get through due to the flux of customers. This setup works for them well and I do not mind, as long as they are hearing and understanding God’s Word. Please pray for “V” and his wife as they seek to come to know God personally.
LIFE
As we continue down this road of life, our journey consists of things you can

Easter Sunday

probably relate to. Over the past couple months, we have had vehicle issues, new kittens born, pets die, dentist visits, gardening, unexpected witnessing opportunities, and more. Please pray for us to stay faithfully on course, regardless of how the road is.

January 2019 update

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Our four and a half month furlough is over, and we are back in Moldova. Rejoice with us on what God did during our furlough and so far since our return to Moldova.


In the span of four months, we visited 25 of our supporting churches. We enjoyed spending more time getting to know the pastors and congregations.


Despite being busy during furlough, we were able to spend the last four weeks with our sending church, Heritage Baptist Church. My pastor allowed me to preach several times during our furlough, which I appreciated. We enjoyed getting caught up on what God is doing in the lives of those in our church.


Over a month ago, I mailed out our furlough DVD and new prayer cards to all the churches we were not able to visit this furlough. If you did not receive our packet, please let me know.


It was a blessing to be able to witness in my own tongue again as we traveled around. One person we invited came to church the next day. Another person trusted Christ after a service. I even got to speak to a Russian lady and give her a tract.


In Moldova, I do a lot of spiritual feeding. On furlough it was nice to be on the receiving end again and challenged and fed spiritually.


This past furlough we again rented a vehicle from Baptist Missionary Transportation Ministries. Praise the Lord, in four months of traveling about 10,000 miles, we had no car trouble and no accidents.


In our travels we were also able to spend time with family in Michigan and Ohio. And my brother in Virginia drove to meet up with my parents and us in Kentucky. We spent Thanksgiving and Christmas with Stephanie’s family in Memphis. We really miss family when we are home in Moldova, so it was a blessing to be able to spend some special time and holidays with family for a change.

Due to an engine problem with our first flight out of Memphis, we were delayed in getting to Moldova by 4 days. In the end, we arrived in Moldova on January 20th and all our luggage by the next day.

What a joy it was to see our co-workers again and get back to work here in Moldova. Shortly after our arrival, though, Viola’s father passed away. Please pray for her and her family as they grieve the loss of Mr. Hitz and for the Lord to comfort them in this time.


Other than the worst case of jetlag we have had as a family, we are feeling refreshed and very positive about what God is going to do this year in Moldova.


For example, after the service this past Sunday in the village church plant, the 90 year old man who has been coming for months stood up and said he wanted to be baptized and be a part of the group. We explained once again the need to repent and accept Jesus and his Lord and Savior. He said he wanted to do that right then. What a joy to see him trust Christ in front of all there. He is already wanting to be baptized, so we don’t have to convince him of that step of obedience. Even though his family has been against him coming on Sundays, he has been faithful. Please pray for “Peter” to grow in his faith with the time God grants him left.

We have two other prayer requests for you. First, we are renewing our residencies for Moldova. In the past, we have received two year residencies. Our lawyer is trying for a three year residency for us. Please be in prayer for our residencies to be extended, Lord willing, by three years.


Second, please pray for the political situation in Moldova. They will have elections on February 24th for seats in parliament. If the Socialists get the majority, that can be bad for Moldova and us as missionaries. The President is a Socialist, too, and favors Putin, who does not favor freedom of religion. Please pray for peace and freedom here to continue.


Thank you for your prayers for us and your continued giving. May each one of us be even more fruitful in the coming year.

August 2017 Prayer Letter

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I sat down to write this prayer letter multiple times over the past couple months, only to have more things occur that were worth sharing. Rejoice with us in the following:
DANIEL TRUSTED CHRIST
     On June 30th, after our family devotions, our son Daniel asked to speak with me privately.  With tears in his eyes, he asked me when he can be saved from his sins.  We had been talking to him about salvation for quite some time, but the Lord used events from earlier in the day and a talk from our co-worker to finally bring him to see the seriousness of sin and his need of Jesus as his Saviour.  He repented of his sin and put his faith in the Lord Jesus  that night. Please pray for Daniel to understand more and more about this great salvation and grow in the Lord.
OUR SERVICES GROWING
     In our last prayer letter, we had mentioned that there were some new people who started coming to services through having attended our Family Conference evenings in May.  One of them was saved and baptized years ago in northern Russia in a Baptist church. She had been attending a Pentecostal church in town until she heard about us through the Family Conference.  She faithfully comes almost every Sunday AM, Sunday PM Bible study at our house, and Thursday PM Bible study.  She loves the Lord and has been a blessing to us personally and others to whom the church is ministering.
Outside of our missionary team, we often have around ten others who come to our Sunday morning service. The Sunday PM Bible study at our house has grown to four Moldovans coming most weeks.  More come consistently to the Thursday Bible study than a year ago, too.  We thank the Lord for the people we get to feed spiritually on a regular basis.
SUMMER HARVEST
     At the beginning of July, Jacob and Viola Hughes returned to Moldova from furlough.  The next week we held VBS at our house. We thank the Lord that we had more children this year than last year.  A couple weeks later, we ran VBS in Soroca at our meeting place.  On the last day, four girls trusted Christ as their Lord and Savior!  Two of them were girls who had come last year to our VBS.
     The following Sunday afternoon, Jacob and I drove almost an hour away to visit a lady to whom I given a ride back in May. As I often try to do when I pick up hitch-hikers (it is common here), I talked to her about Christ and salvation. She was very distraught with life.  She had cancer surgery at the start of the year, her mother died a couple months after, and she was at the time on her way to the capital city to pick up her brother’s body who had died in a car accident.  We kept in touch off and on over the past several months.  Her problems only increased as she was diagnosed with cancer again and had other complications. She read through a book I had given her on the Gospel. When Jacob and I went to visit her, she said she was ready and wanted to be saved. We had the joy of leading her to Christ.  She wants us to talk with her husband about salvation next. Please pray for “T” and for the Lord to encourage her and help her to grow spiritually and be a light even through her difficulties.
SAVED FROM DEATH
     This summer we had the privilege of seeing the results of prayer and biblical counsel.  A lady who was previously considering abortion, gave birth to a beautiful little girl.  God’s Word spoken to soft hearts is not limited to spiritual salvation but can even result in physical life.
FIELD CONFERENCE
     In July between weeks of VBS, we attended BIMI’s European field conference in Israel.  In our 7 years of being in Moldova, this was our first time to attend the field conference.  Abby and Caleb joined Stephanie and me while the younger three stayed with the Hughes at our house.  The preaching was encouraging and challenging, fellowship with other missionaries uplifting, and sites we saw amazing.  I had so many misconceptions of places and events from Scripture.  I took copius notes and many pictures in order to try and capture the plethora of information during the week.  We thank the Lord for a wonderful opportunity to learn more about Israel’s land and people.  I have already been able to implement in my preaching/teaching the things that I saw and learned.
AN ENCOURAGING FUTURE
     In August, our team here in Soroca spent several days together on our annual retreat to pray, thank God for the past year, and plan out the next 12 months.  My big take-away from the retreat is that God had done so much over the past year in answering prayer and working in amazing ways that I can only look forward with prayer and anticipation what the next 12 months hold in store. Opportunities have opened up in two other villages near us.  The harvest is ripe but the laborers are few. Pray for more laborers and these new ventures.
Thank you all for your faithful prayers and support.

2017 May Prayer Letter

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How do we feel right now? I think the best way to describe it is that our cup is full and running over. We thank the Lord for His many blessings and His working in our lives and in the lives of those around us.

VAN PURCHASE
Praise the Lord that we were able to buy the van mentioned in the last prayer letter. We have already put it to good use with transporting people to church in the extra seats and taking tables, stroller, and other gear in the back to church.

 

RESURRECTION SUNDAY
We celebrated the Lord’s resurrection this year on the same day as Easter in America, which is not always the case. Including our family and Sarah, we had 19 people in attendance. We had a breakfast meal first and then the service. This year, Abby has started learning the violin, and Caleb and I started learning guitar. We played for the first time in the service for Easter.

FAMILY CONFERENCE
Each Thursday evening in May, in place of our regular midweek prayer and Bible study, we have had a Family Conference. We made a conference workbook and had some free and discounted materials about the home for people. Six Moldovans came the first week, seven the second week, and nine this past week. While this may not sound like a lot, one woman who came the first week has come to every Sunday morning and evening service as well. She was saved and baptized in a Baptist church in northern Russia and had just found out about us. Another couple has come the past two weeks and plan to come every Sunday as well. One of my ESL students has also come each Thursday with her husband. The responses from those attending the conference has been very positive. Pray for the Word to have free course in the hearts and lives of those who have come. Also, pray for the last week of the conference to be used of God as we talk about the dangers of technology, including social media and pornography, and how to enable filters.

DISCIPLESHIP
The Bible studies with the one man I had mentioned continue to go well. Since then, an older woman also wanted me to start Bible studies with her. Her son was coming to our church periodically before he moved to the capital city to find work. I am currently covering the topic of salvation with her. Please pray for salvation to be clear to her and for the man to grow in his walk with the Lord.

SUNDAY EVENING BIBLE STUDY
The lady I had mentioned in the last prayer letter who comes Sunday night to our home Bible study recently married and now comes with her husband each week. Ironically, her husband is the Orthodox young man whose father had told me I could not talk to his son when I had called a couple times. The Sunday evening Bible studies started three years ago with just a neighbor. We now have five coming regularly. Please pray for the work to continue to grow, not just in the city of Soroca, but also in our village of Zastînca.

FAMILY VISIT
My wife’s younger sister came to visit us for a week, along with her husband and three children. The week was one of needed refreshment, encouragement, and fellowship. We thank the Lord for the opportunity for them to come visit us.

Thank you all for your faithful prayers and support.