Life often feels like a roller coaster. It is full of ups and downs and goes by quickly. The last two months have been a roller coaster.

CHURCH PLANT IN SOROCA
We were thrilled to see the numbers grow this past Spring on Sunday mornings and began making plans for having our charter service to begin membership. Since our last prayer letter, “M” has disappeared from town. We have not seen him nor his family. I don’t know what happened in his life, but please pray for him.
In addition to losing “M,” our two Peace Corp volunteers, who had been with us over the past year or so, finished their contract and have left. We also had two dear ladies who sold their house and moved to the capital city. For a small group, this drastically changes the dynamics.
In spite of this we are moving ahead with our plans this Sunday (August 5th) to have our charter service and begin membership. Please pray for this step to help lay a strong foundation for moving forward.

BIBLE CONFERENCE
Last year we held our first annual conference, with the theme being “Family.” This year, our theme was the Bible. We taught on inspiration, inerrancy, preservation, and why we use the translations that we use. Those who came responded very positively to the messages and information.

VBS in Soroca

VBS
This year, we ran Vacation Bible School in three locations: at our house in Zastînca, our church rental in Soroca, and the children’s center in Cosăuți. Our theme this year was the life of Joseph. We felt that the children who came listened the best of any year previously. Several children that had come to Sarah Bodaly’s children’s ESL classes came to the VBS. One of the girls who came had trusted Christ last year. What a joy it was to see those who had come in the past and several new faces, too.

FRUIT
A couple years ago, we first met “D” at a children’s home. This teenager was very reserved, rarely smiled, and very aloof. He would rarely stay for the Bible lesson. The last year, he had warmed up some to us. Jacob had the idea of inviting him and some other young people from the center to attend a week of Christian camp where the Gospel is clearly preached. On the way home from picking “D” up from camp, he shared with me how he decided to repent and trust Christ as Savior. What a joy it was to hear this! His smiles a lot more and is much more open to us. He has started reading the Bible that we gave him. Please pray for “D” to grow in the Lord.

BULBOCI
The latest news from the church plant in Bulboci involves an 89 year old man named “Peter.” A lady who comes to the services on Sunday invited him. He has come the last four weeks. He is a sweet, old gentleman who is joy to be with. I met with him a couple weeks ago and went through the Gospel thoroughly with him. This past Sunday, I preached on how one becomes a child of God. He is listening and very open. Please pray for this dear man.

TEAM RETREAT
Each August, our mission team goes away for several days for our annual team retreat. We pray together, review the past year, plan the next calendar year, and reconnect as a team outside of ministering. Please pray that the Lord will bless the retreat, refresh each of us, give us greater unity, and guide us as we plan the next year together.

HOME ASSIGNMENT (a.k.a. FURLOUGH)
As I write this, we have only 29 days left before head back for furlough. We fly out on

August 28th. Imagine what you would have to do if you had to leave your home and work for several months. I have a very large list still that I have to get done before we fly out. Part of the tasks are what I have to do in order to be ready for the work of reporting to supporting churches (like creating our furlough video). Please pray for wisdom as we seek to finish all we need to in the remaining days.
Note to our supporting churches: If we are not scheduled to report to your church this furlough, we will be mailing our new prayer cards to you and access to our furlough video. Lord willing, we will be able to do this in September.

Thank you all for praying for us.

Watch out, here we come!