Please keep us in prayer as we begin our first full week of VBS. July 9-13 will be at our house in the village of Zastinca. We will then run VBS in Soroca July 23-27. We are also running VBS each Tuesday of July at the children’s center in Cosauti.
Also, we had a new visitor come to the service in Bulboci…. a 90 year old gentleman named Peter. Please pray for this man. Time is short.
Last month we were bombarded with a number of emails from a supporting church, letting us know that they had prayed for us and for the work here. We were very encouraged. Usually much time and thought goes into what to include here, so we loved hearing that people, like you, ARE reading this and praying for us. Thank you!
ESL Ministry
In September, we started back again with the English ministry. More students have been coming regularly so far than the Spring semester. This week, we had 13 adults in the beginner’s class and 8 students in the advanced class. Ala, who stayed faithfully last semester for the Bible study afterwards, has continued to stay and hear the Word of God. A new student, Tatiana, joined us this week, had several questions afterwards, and seems open to the Gospel, which was presented. Please pray that the seed that was planted would grow and not stolen away or choked.
Language Teacher
God answered prayer and provided both the ladies and myself with a language teacher, Ina. Sarah and Jacob’s wife, Viola, have Romanian lessons with her three days a week, and I have Russian lessons with her twice a week. Ina’s religion is Yoga but is very open. She is constantly asking more about what the Bible teaches. Pray for her as we continue to give her the Gospel. Also, please pray that the Lord would greatly bless our progress in these languages.
Bible Club and Azimut
In September, we started holding weekly Bible Club at our house. Our team saw the benefit of having a regular spiritual influence in the lives of the children that live in our neighborhood, rather than one week a year with Vacation Bible School. We have been using the Betty Lukens felt each week, which was given to us while on our last furlough. Though we have not had the number of children come that we had during the summer, we are thankful for those that do come.
Each week, after we finish the Bible Club at our house, we pack up and head to a children’s home, called Azimut, to repeat the Bible Club for the 20 or so children there. Please pray that we will have wisdom to minister to these children effectively.
Baptismal Plans
We have two that are wanting to be baptized, one being our son, Caleb. Pray for the other young lady as she has been having challenges over the past month. Also, please pray for the Lord to provide a good location for us to do the baptism. We have requested to use or rent the Adventists’ building in town since they have a baptistry. This Saturday they are supposed to vote on whether to grant our request or not. Due to the cold weather, having the baptism indoor would be preferred.
Preaching
What can be one of the most exciting and yet fearful things to do as a believer? …go door-to-door sharing the Gospel. Please pray for Jacob and I to have boldness, compassion, and to be filled with the Holy Spirit as we preach Christ and the hope of salvation to people here.
Just a reminder that BIMI has a new mailing address: P.O. Box 9, Harrison, TN 37341. Thanks and God bless you.
Much has happened since our last prayer letter, many encouraging things. David has started a Bible study with one or our neighbors and her daughter, Nadia and Sophia. Nadia is elderly and Sophia has two young sons that come play with our kids from time to time. He has also made contact with a gypsy family who is eager to learn more about the Bible. Their first language is Russian, though they understand Romanian as well, though they cannot read Romanian. Jacob and David went last week for the first Bible study with them and plan to go again this week. Pray these families will remain open to the truth of the gospel and be saved along with their families.
As I mentioned, we have started having neighbor children come to our yard to play with our children. That has been a tremendous answer to prayer. One of the problems is that some tire of it because my children are not fluent in Romanian. My boys in particular have a hard time understanding and communicating in Romanian. To help solve the language barrier, we hired our neighbor’s college-age daughter to teach our children Romanian for the summer. It was very convenient for us that she lives so close and was willing to have lessons with them.
Jacob and Viola Hughes, our co-workers, arrived last month and settled into an apartment in town. They have already been a tremendous blessing to us in helping with construction of the house. as well as in other areas. We thank the Lord again and again for our co-workers.
One of the greatest blessings about the house this summer is that the running water was hooked up and turned on in June, much earlier than the November we had been told. My personal prayer was that the water would be on at least by July, by the time the baby was born. It has turned off for a week or more twice, so when it comes back on we always scramble to catch up on laundry. It tastes much better than the well water and it is probably safer to drink. Not only is there running water, but a neighbor actually paid to put rock on the street that runs in front of our driveway. Now getting out with the car after it rains is not so problematic. No more mud!
David also was able to finish applying for the gas connection to the house and we are just waiting on the company to come. The projects in the near future are the septic system, finishing the walls in the kitchen, and laying the tile in the kitchen. We were able to buy the tile this week! Please pray for wisdom, patience, and speed as the men work to complete the house. The kitchen should be complete in another week or two. That is very exciting because we will be able to use these two rooms upstairs for bedrooms instead of squeezing all six of us into one room.
Yes, I said six. Ana Joy decided to come three weeks early (July 13), blessing our home 
with her easy, sweet disposition. I was very nervous about how the Lord was going to work it out to get to the hospital in time and get the three kids handed off to someone else. My water broke on Sunday morning, but I didn’t go into labor until six hours later, which gave us plenty of time to make the three hour trek between Soroca and Chisinau. We even had time to stop and buy diapers. We 
called some American friends of ours that live in the capital, and they graciously met us at the hospital and took the kids with them for the rest of the day. Ana has had some minor complications, but for the most part, she is healthy. Praise The Lord. Please do pray that her jaundice clears up soon and that I continue to recuperate from the birth.
We have a new mailing address since we have been in Soroca. It is included here:
Str. Independentei 73
C.P. 7
Or. Soroca 3006
Republic of Moldova, EUROPE
Thanks again for the prayers and support.
Lord willing, Jacob and Viola Hughes will be flying out today to make their journey to Moldova, arriving here tomorrow (Friday). We are looking forward to their arrival and our team being back together. Here are some specific ways you can pray for them:
Tonight I met with Nadejde for the second Bible study. We started going through the Gospel of Luke today. Her daughter, Sofia was not listening in another room like last time but joined us this time. Even though Sofia expressed her dislike for Jehovah’s Witnesses and has made statements of being Orthodox and staying Orthodox, she is still open to the Bible studies and the talks I have had with her mother. Keep praying for boldness on my part and wisdom and for their hearts to be fertile for the Word of God. The hardest part seems to be getting a person into God’s Word. We praise the Lord for this open door.
Please also pray for me as I will be calling a gypsy family this week who contacted me after I gave their daughter some food and a gospel tract with my phone number. They may be more interested in material needs being met, but I am praying that they will find the spiritual need met instead.
Plumber drilled two holes in our exterior wall today (one for the gas boiler and one for the air vent that the gas company requires). Two more holes for him to do: one for the bathroom vent and one for the stove-top vent-a-hood. Very thankful for his good attitude with the challenging work. Drilling a 4 inch diameter hole through solid stone walls that are 2 feet thick is not an easy job.
Yesterday we were approached by a young gypsy lady and her infant, asking for food. Bought them a loaf of bread, bag of oatmeal, and a yogurt. Gave her a gospel tract with our number on the back. Today I received a phone call from her mother asking about us, where we meet, etc. She was interested in us coming to her house to start a Bible study. There is always the possibility that people put on a front of spiritual interest with desires to get material needs met, but they did that with Christ, too. We’ll take that chance and see where things lead. The mother’s name is Galia, her daughter is Tania, and the infant is Vasile. Pray for boldness and wisdom on our end as we yet take another in-road.
In our quest to make more contacts in our neighborhood and find a friend with whom Caleb can play, we were invited into the home of an older lady who we have talked to some. She lives down the road from us. There is a boy close to Caleb’s age who lives there. I was invited inside to meet her brother who is about to turn 81 years old. Due to his bad leg and being blind, I’ve never seen him out nor met him. I was able to sit and talk with them for a couple hours. We talked about the Gospel and what the Bible says rather than tradition. I am scheduled to return Sunday afternoon with my Bible and share more with them. Please pray for Nadia (“Hope”) and Eleazar. Eleazar loved having someone visit since he rarely gets any visitors.