Multiplying and Ministering In Moldova

God Directing Us to a Church Plant-Jesus The Good Shepherd

2011-05-08T11:28:00.011-04:00

We completed our English classes in the spring of 2010 at Hope Church and Springs of Life Church. We had a great year at both churches, and God worked through us in other ways at these churches other than English. We hated to leave, but God had other plans for us at a new church plant, Jesus The Good Shepherd Church. We have been very involved at the church, and we have grown to love the people here just as much! Pastor Gheorghe Mihailov leads the church, and due to the location of the church being around the block from the technical university, he felt that it would be best to start English classes here as well. We have had students to come and go, but we have three classes right now; two beginner classes and one intermediate class, all meeting twice a week! The University students have been very patient with our language until we know that they understand what we are trying to explain and actually practice some English. We have had a couple of Coffee House ministries for our English students, and the church has supported us a great deal in this! We thought that you would enjoy seeing a few photos from our time at Jesus The Good Shepherd Church and the Coffee House. God has blessed!!! We pray and ask you to pray for this church as they grow in the knowledge and love of Christ, and as they minister to the students so close to them!! God bless your day!!

Smile, God loves you!

Picture Bible Story Flash Cards - Jesus Death On The Cross

2011-04-19T03:13:00.000-04:00

Picture Bible Story Flash Cards - Jesus Death On The Cross Smile, God loves you!

More Photos from October Evangelism

2010-11-03T05:23:00.007-04:00

Photos from Orphanage in Tocuzi; Evangelisms inHoresti, Bacioi, Hrusova, Ceriescu, and Playground in Chisinau (Let the Soccer match begin!) Tracs, Balloons, and Salvation Bands for ALL! Children's Bibles for those that would accept them were also given out.

Steve Bruce's Team went to Corjova for their Harvest Day, and we enjoyed a big meal together at the Baptist church. It was great to see the children again! Mike and I had helped with an outreach in Corjova during the summer months. God bless Moldova!!.

Smile, God loves you!

Prayer Posts and Calendar November 2010

2010-11-02T04:37:00.008-04:00

We would love to have everyone's email address that is interested in receiving our prayer letter and/or our prayer calendar. If you would like to connect with us personally please email us at mmmoldova2009@gmail.com. Many prefer to go on our blog on their own, and we are glad that you choose to visit our blog! We have been blessed by teams that have come from the USA over the last couple of months! We had some of our WMU ladies from Georgia that provided a Women's Conference, a gentleman from Athens, GA who spoke on Biblical truths, a joint team of men from Alabama and Kentucky who came to evangleize in the city of Chisinau and in neighboring villages. We also had two women from Grace Community Church in Texas (Linda and Betty) and one leader of women from Timisoara Romania, Gina Bulica. These women spoke on discipleship and vision from God! We have included photos in hopes that you get a feel for the ministry that God is providing in Moldova. One day each week we are blessed to be able to teach English and help students with their English homework at a Day Center at the Baptist Church in Malcoci! They are a wonderful group of children, and our prayer is that they will learn about Jesus as they learn English. We focus on the alphabet sounds, homework from their class at school. commonly used verbs, Bible stories, crafts, and of course snacks! Enjoy the photos from our class!! (Coming Soon) God bless your day!!! Smile, God loves you!

Prayer Calendar for Team Moldova September 2010

2010-08-31T03:49:00.002-04:00

We send our prayer calendar out monthly via email, but we may not have everyone's email address that visits our website. Please let us know if you would like to receive our prayer calendar and/or our prayer letter. Thank you for lifting our team up in prayer daily!! God bless you!! Smile, God loves you!

Baptism of Teenagers in Cojusna

2010-08-23T06:24:00.004-04:00

What a blessing to be able to attend the baptism of several of the teenagers that we worked with for a year and a half in Cojusna!! It is exciting to see God working in their lives!!!!!! We knew that you would want to be a part of this part of the journey in their lives, as well.

God's power in their lives will make all the difference in their future, and you have helped to be a part of that!! We look forward to seeing the plans that He has for each one of these young people. Thank you for your prayers for the ministry that we have the privilege of being part of here in Republic of Moldova through IMB!!

Smile, God loves you!

Summer Highlights in Moldova

2010-08-23T05:06:00.011-04:00

Where has the summer gone?! Wow, it is hard to believe that it is time for school to start back. We wanted to share some of our summer highlights here in Moldova with you.

While we only had one team from Tennessee that came to work specifically with our IMB team and our ministry here, God has placed other ministries in our path and has given us great joy in working with them!! The team of two from Tennessee, Michael and Tara, were such a blessing to the children; they are close friends of our colleagues, Chris and Nancy Russell. They have a little boy at home, but they felt called to come and serve in Moldova and share God's love. This VBS was held at the Baptist Bible College in Chisinau for the children of the seminary students.

We also helped with a Kids Day at our church, Hope Church (Biserica Speranta), here in Chisinau. It was a great day of learning about the possibilities of becoming a missionary, and they learned different ways that they can serve God. The other two leaders were Aurica and Ana; both are members of Hope Church, and both work with mission organizations here in Moldova, i.e., Bible League and Child Evangelism Fellowship.

We have worked with as few as seven children and with as many as 200 children at various camps. The wonderful thing about it is that most of the leaders have been from Moldova, and it is a blessing to see God working in these young adults lives to spread His love and His gift of salvation through Jesus Christ!!!

There were two other groups that God placed us with this summer. One group was here through Pastor Eduard Edu's church, Springs of Life (Izvorul Vietii). Most on this team were from Constanta Romania, but a couple were from Oradea Romania. We were with them in Corjova for several days. The children had a wonderful time, planned great skits about what they had learned, and the team went into the village telling about Jesus' love! Many Bibles, tracks, and reading glasses were handed out that week.

The other group that we worked closely with was through Marina, a missionary from Germany. The leaders were from Moldova, and they were wonderful with the children!! There is not an evangelical church in the village where we went so the team stayed at a school. There were so many children at this camp, and they definitely heard about Jesus that week. We had clowns, skits, treats, crafts, games, testimonies, small group time for Bible study and sharing time. The focus was Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life!! There are plans to return on Sunday afternoons to reconnect with the children and have sports activities!

Please pray for all of these children who have heard about the great love that God has for them! May they realize that the void in their lives can only be filled by Jesus!!

Smile, God loves you!

English for a New Life (ESL) - Helping to Build Relationships!

2010-03-10T02:59:00.029-05:00

We enjoyed our trip back to the USA in December 2009, and it was so nice to see our family and friends!! If we missed seeing you, hopefully we will be able to have more time the next time that we return. As soon as we returned to Moldova, we had an English camp lined up. It went very well, and we had some wonderful dramas, that the children put together, which related to the Bible stories that we studied each day. They are very creative and talented!!

We have been teaching English for a New Life at two different churches in Chisinau, Hope Church and Springs of Life Church, since the Fall of 2009. We love our students both young and mature! They really want to learn, and we pray that we are good teachers for them! We went through some training ourselves before we started teaching these courses because it has been many years since we studied English grammar! We meet four nights each week, two nights at Hope Church and two nights at Springs of Life Church. It has been a blessing to form relationships with our students, and our prayer is that home Bible study groups will form out of these relationships. The English course is based on the Gospel of John, and this was exciting to us!!

Enjoy the photos from our classes and from the English Camp. We actually taught the children how to make American cookies, i.e., Rice Krispie Treats, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Snickerdoodles, Brownies, etc. They served these treats to their parents after the recognition service on Sunday evening. They did a great job!

Smile, God loves you!

Very Talented Friend in Moldova Honored for His Talents

2010-01-26T11:29:00.006-05:00

Many of you have seen photos on facebook of our friends in Moldova, and you may recognize this young man that we wanted to share good news about with you. His name is Daniel, and he is Pastor Sasha and Sora Ala's oldest son. We have always known that he was very talented in art. In fact, he gave us one of his paintings when we left Moldova in 2007, and we had many comments on his painting when people saw it. Last year, Daniel and his parents invited us to attend an art exhibit at the library near his home. We gladly accepted the invitation, but we did not realize, until after we arrived, that he was being given a first-place award for his paintings among his peers. We were thrilled to be a part of this special day in his life. We know that you will enjoy viewing his paintings as much as we did! Please pray for Daniel as he grows in his faith in the Lord and as He looks to God for direction in his life. Pray also, for his parents as they help to make decisions for his life. There are four beautiful boys in their family, and they have a sweet spirit and a great love for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Smile, God loves you!

Delayed But Not Forgotten

2010-01-20T13:59:00.014-05:00

Wow, we can't believe that we haven't entered anything on our blog since September of 2009! We have been staying very busy here in Moldova, and we were even able to make it home to the USA for Christmas with our family. What a true blessing it was to see family and friends in Georgia! We apologize for not keeping up with our blog, but in a way, we suppose that it is a sign of working in the field more. Praise the Lord!

In October of 2009 we had a team of four pastors and two laymen to visit us from the USA. We worked together to share the love of Christ in various ways here in Moldova. Many tracts, New Testaments, reading glasses, "Jesus Loves You" dolls, etc. were handed out in the city and in villages. We visited Pastor Ilia Coada's ministry sight in Tintereni, the Bible College in Chisinau, the villages of Goiani and Ceriescu. The pastors preached in several churches while they were here, both in the city and in villages. They even brought a clown along, and the children loved him so much! Enjoy a sample of the many photos that we took, and know that God's love was shown and His word was made known!

Smile, God loves you!

Beautiful Scenery From a Garden in Moldova

2009-09-08T15:21:00.003-04:00

Very beautifully landscaped!

We love the tile work in the walkways here and Wow how lovely is this! A gorgeous water lilly pond!

Every color of petunia you could think of!

It was a beautiful day for a stroll in the park!

All were there!

Isn't this fantastic!

Just a small sample of the beauty!

Mike is thinking ... "What a great place for a golf course!"

No matter where you are you can always find beauty in the world that God has made.

We wanted to share some of this beauty from Moldova with you!

We know that the winter months are just around the corner, and soon it will be nice

to look back at these pictures and look forward to next spring!

We love and miss all of you! Thank you for your prayers as we serve our Lord

in Republic of Moldova. We have been on several prayer walks in the city,

and we know that God will be glorified in the work done here

as long as we look to Him for direction each step of the way! We celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary a few weeks ago,

and our son, Brian, turned 27 this year. We can no longer say that

we are 29 and holding!

God bless your day!

Habakkuk 1:5

Smile, God loves you!

Praying for Casting Crowns and Mark Hall - Be Blessed and Be a Blessing

2009-08-11T00:49:00.003-04:00

We hope that you can view this link on Casting Crowns, but if you are not able to view it, please go to www.castingcrowns.org . This group has brought honor and glory to God all around the world! We know that several of the teenagers in Moldova have hoped that they would come here one day. Listen to their music and be blessed ... if you are a believer, they will really speak to the issues in your life and make you stop and think if you are truly making a difference as a Christian and giving "it" (your life) back to Him!! Mark Hall and co-author, Tim Luke, have just released a new book. Pray for them! If anyone wants to send us a book, we would love to read the book, too!! (Hint ... Hint) Smile, God loves you!

Parliamentary Elections in Moldova - 2nd Attempt

2009-08-08T10:50:00.003-04:00

Hopefully, if you are interested in reading this article about the most recent Parliament elections in Moldova, the link will take you there. Please continue to pray for the election of a new President. It is the duty of the Parliament to elect the President, and the Democratic parties need your prayers! Smile, God loves you!

Summer Camps in Moldova

2009-07-29T13:55:00.009-04:00

We are sorry for the delay in writing on our blog. We have had many activities going on, and if you receive our prayer letter you know about some of them already. While our goal is church planting here in Chisinau, if you know us well, you know how much we love to work with children and teenagers. It is always fun to connect with our brothers and sisters in Christ that come from the USA to minister here in Moldova! This summer we have had a BSU team from Mississippi, two teams from North Metro Baptist in Lawrenceville, GA, and we have a team of pastors and laymen coming in October. We have also participated in a one day camp at the church where we attend, Speranta, and a one day camp in Cojusna, where we were members in 2006 & 2007. Hope you enjoyed a few photos of the beautiful children and teams in Moldova above.

We pray that many more children's lives will be touched with the love of Jesus and that they will come to know the Lord as their Savior and Friend!! God bless your ministry wherever you are!

Smile, God loves you!

Residency Permit and Prayer Requests

2009-05-16T01:36:00.005-04:00

We wanted to update you on the status of our residency permit, a necessity in order to remain in Moldova!

We went to the last government office, with the Baptist Union lawyer, last Tuesday. We were told that we would know something by next week. At this last step in the process, they keep your passport; needless to say we will not be leaving Moldova until we receive these back! Please pray that we will receive our residency permits!

We also plan to meet with a couple of pastors about the possibility of starting an ESL class in order to have an opening into people's hearts and lives so that God can start a work in their lives. Please pray that God would direct all of us and that the ministry would be His and glorify Him!!

We are continuing to build relationships here in Moldova and to meet friends from our time here in 2006 & 2007. This is one part of the culture that we love! They are all about relationships, and so many times in America you feel that everyone is too busy to form close friendships. While we have many friends from our past we don't always take the time to connect, and if we have failed to do this due to our busy lives in the past, we apologize.

We thought that you might enjoy a couple of photos! God bless you!!!!

If you didn't see our prayer letter, hopefully you can pull it up from our blog through the attachment above. If you want to be added to our list to receive a prayer letter, please send us an email at mmmoldova2006@hotmail.com

Smile, God loves you!

Spiritual Retreat and Renewal in Romania

2009-04-20T05:16:00.010-04:00

We made it back safely to Moldova after a wonderful time of spiritual retreat and renewal in Romania! This retreat was a gift from the Missouri Baptist Association to the IMB missionaries in Romania and Moldova, and it was such a blessing to all of us!!! We were able to meet some of the missionaries in Romania that we had not had a chance to meet when we were in Bucuresti for our language study. Many of these missionaries are out in an area by themselves, and they had experienced some difficult times over the past year, i.e., deaths in their family in the USA, difficult times in ministry, etc. God provided this for all of us, but especially for those that needed special praise and worship and special time in their heart language (English) with other believers!!! Thank you Norm Howell and Chris Ramsey for ministering to each of us in such a wonderful way!!!!! While the scenery was beautiful, it took us nine hours to drive 250 miles due to the mountain roads, village speed limits, and time at the border. It is quite a bit different than getting on the expressway in the USA and driving that distance; however, it was definitely worth the time and effort that it took to get there!! We were told that it would be a good idea to have someone stay at our house while we were away. Our colleagues suggested a young woman that they knew, and everything was fine when we returned. It helped her out a little with finances, and everything was safe in our home as well. Most people have a dog to watch over their homes here, but at this point we do not have a dog. We would still need to have someone come by and take care of the dog if we were gone, and it gave the indication that the house wasn't empty. Here are a few pictures from our time in Romania:

Citadel in Rasnov

Team Romania and Moldova/Shannon-Our new cluster leader/ Worship Leaders

Norm Howell

Chris Ramsey

Mountain Scenery in Romania

The day before we left for Romania, we turned in all of our documents for our residency permit. Please pray that these documents will be all that is needed in order for us to obtain residency here in Moldova. Also, please pray as relationships are being formed, that God would reveal those He has been speaking to regarding home Bible Study and church plants.

We look forward to hearing from each of you! God bless you as you serve Him where He has planted you!!! Smile, God loves you!

Protests in Moldova Explode, With Help of Twitter - NYTimes.com

2009-04-08T02:19:00.000-04:00

Protests in Moldova Explode, With Help of Twitter - NYTimes.com Many of you have asked about the situation in Moldova after the elections. We wanted to share one of several articles that have been written on the events which began after the elections on April 5. Please continue to pray for a peaceful and fair solution to this problem. Thank you for lifting the people of Moldova and us up in prayer!! Smile, God loves you!

Leaving Friends in Bucuresti Romania and Meeting Others in Chisinau Moldova

2009-03-31T16:07:00.003-04:00

Wow, it has been way too long since we wrote on our blog. Between Facebook, the blog, and our prayer letter we have not updated lately. We completed our language class in Bucuresti, and we loaded up a colleague's van and headed for the border. We did not have any difficulty getting across either of the two borders, and we know that it was due to prayers that were lifted up on our behalf. Thank you so much for your prayers!! We are excited to be in our new home, and we wanted to share a few things that might give you a laugh or two. We have some very kind neighbors, and we were told that the elderly man and woman across the street from us had lived here for years. They can give you the history of IMB personnel who have lived in this house. The elderly gentlemen has taken care of the yard for some of those that lived here in the past, and he evidently wants to start back at his job of making our yard beautiful. We are really afraid that he will overdo and hurt himself, but he is so persistent. If our gate is unlocked we find him out in the yard trying to work, i.e., lifting rocks that are way too big for him to lift, taking the cover off of the well and I'm afraid he will fall in, shutting off the water which means we have no water inside our house. Please pray that we will not offend him as we try to relay our thoughts to him. It is bad to want to keep your gate locked every minute of the day. If we don't unlock it he calls and asks us if he can come over. Well, we need wisdom on this one for sure! We have met a young boy, Andre, who is 11 years old. He has been to the grocery store with us twice already. He is very sweet, and he knows a little English. Mike helped him with his English homework tonight, and of course it is British English, which is normal in this area of the world. We may confuse him more than help him ... we'll see. While we have been trying to get settled into our new home, we also need to start on our residency process through the Baptist Union. This will be a long process, but please pray that the documents that we have will be all that is needed to help us gain our residency. We will write more later, but we wanted to let you know that we are where God has called us to minister. Please pray for our friends, Frank and Diane, who are trying to get their visa in Romania. They are having a very difficult time, and they have been told that they may need to leave the country for 3-6 months. Please pray that God will show them His perfect plan! God bless each of you! We love you and look forward to hearing from you soon. Smile, God loves you!

AN AMAZING TESTIMONY

2009-02-28T05:16:00.003-05:00

www.freecdtracts.com/testimony_11.htm We wanted to share this video with you. What a blessing!! Never stop sharing the gospel even when you "feel" that you are not making any headway. Never give up ... you never know who God is using you to reach. You may never see the results, and you may never be well known in religious circles for your efforts, but your reward will be in heaven. Smile, God loves you!

Daily Life in Language and Culture

2009-02-11T01:58:00.005-05:00

We may be redundant on our blog if you also receive our prayer letter, but we wanted to touch base with those that may not receive this info via email. We have had many adventures since we have been in Bucuresti Romania. We have learned how to find our way around the city on the trams, buses, subway, and by walking. We have learned the system of paying bills which includes someone coming to your door and paying them right there, going up a couple of flights of stairs to another apartment and paying, and going to the post office and paying. We also purchased a cell phone, and when Mike asked for the phone number of the cell phone he was told that when he calls someone they can tell him the number. Well, he called someone and they told us what number came up on their screen, but later we realized that we were not receiving any calls. We could call out with no problem, but Mike wanted to be sure that we had given a good number to those here in Bucuresti on our team. He walked into another Orange cell phone store, and he asked the employee if he could check to see what our number was. He looked at him strange, but he helped him. The number was totally different than what came up on our co-workers phone screen, and Mike felt silly ... I told him he would never see this person again so it was okay if he thought that we were crazy Americans. Ha Ha!

We have been very blessed by the beauty of Sinaia, which is about 3 hours from Bucuresti. Our SC (field leader) here in Bucuresti took several of us on the train to visit this beautiful area of Romania. The castle, the architecture, and the little city square were marvelous to see, but that particular weekend it was snowing and cold. We sat in a warm restaurant to eat, and we were ready to go again!

The churches that we have visited have been full of the Holy Spirit's guidance, and we have been so encouraged to see many Romanians going to other countries on mission trips. One group at Good News went to Ethiopia for a couple of weeks; another person from Holy Trinity had been to southern Africa for two years as a missionary! The choir at Holy Trinity sang beautifully last Sunday night, and this was their young adult choir.

Mike needed dental work done, and we have found a good dentist here in Bucuresti. The root canal takes about four days total, but it is much less expensive than at home in the USA. He is doing fine, but yesterday's visit was a little painful because she didn't use Novocaine. When she drilled she used something to deaden it, but since this visit was only a five minute visit she didn't use anything. All was well after the one moment of pain.

We have had a couple of instances where we felt as if the Lord was giving us opportunity to be a witness for him. One day we were walking to our language class, and a Gypsy woman tried to give Myra a small bunch of flowers. We pass her everyday at this same location, but this was the first day she had tried to give these to her as a gift. Myra didn't accept it at that time, but when we returned we passed by her and gave her a track as a gift. She offered the flowers again, and Myra thanked her and tried to pay her but she would not accept the money. This is very unusual! We hope to see her again soon. We have also had a chance to talk with people on the subway and we would appreciate your prayers as God guides us to others here and in Moldova!

We have had several emails from you about loved ones that are sick, in the hospital, or those who have died. We have been praying for you! God knows your pain, and He is there to comfort you!!! We love and miss you all! God bless you as you live for Him!!

Mike & Myra

Smile, God loves you!

Learning and Living in Bucuresti

2009-01-15T13:57:00.005-05:00

Hello from Bucuresti Romania!

We made it with only one suitcase missing, but this suitcase made it about two days later. We are very thankful for this!!! We were greeted at the airport by Dwayne and we met Larry, the cluster leader on the way to our apartment. Our apartment is in the center of Bucuresti, and it is very convenient to the subway which we ride everyday in order to get to our language class. It is only a 15 minute walk from our apartment. Our classes are going well, and our teacher is a young lady by the name of Flory (short for Florentina).

Traffic is very heavy in the city of Bucuresti, and we were forewarned to bring allergy medications and asthma inhalers if needed. There is quite a bit of pollution due to all of the cars. There are many more fast food restaurants in Romania than in Moldova. They have KFC, Burger King, McDonalds, and Pizza Hut; there may be others, but we have not found them yet. The public transportation is very good in the city, and we are learning our way around by walking or riding the subway.

We visited a church this past Sunday, and Myra was told that she would not need to wear a head covering. She was very surprised, but very happy, too. Many of the churches in the city are moving away from this tradition. This church had a very good praise band and youth choir, and we had prayer for about six or seven young people that will be going on a mission trip to Ethiopia soon. This is very exciting to see the people of Romania sending their own people as missionaries to other nations!! This is one area that the IMB will be helping them with; they have asked the IMB to help to encourage missions and show them how to set up a system of sending missionaries. God is really moving in this area!!

We have met some very helpful people here in Bucuresti. One gentleman in the subway was asking if we needed help today. He said that he works with the Pro Life group here in Bucuresti, and he was very interested as to why we were here; there were six of us together at the subway when we met this young man.

As we have seen the cold wave hit many of you in the USA, we are experiencing the white covering ourselves. We had around 4 or 5 inches of snow, but it turned to slush. It will be in the single digits this weekend during the night. We came prepared with all the gear, and we are very thankful to have the extra layers and warmth.

We are including some pictures for you of the view from our apartment and of our language class. We miss you all. We love to receive emails letting us know how you are doing, and we are praying for those that have given us prayer concerns individually and from your churches. Thank you for your encouragement and prayers!! Also, thank you for giving to Lottie Moon so that we are able to be where God has sent us to share His love and gift of salvation!!

God bless you!

Smile, God loves you!

Trip to Washington DC

2008-12-08T18:17:00.008-05:00

We had a wonderful trip to Washington DC, all 350 or so of our FPO group! Our goal was to observe people from other cultures, to bring people one step closer to the Lord, and to share His saving grace and love for them through evangelism. We went in teams of four or more, and Mike and I went with a couple that will be serving in Romania. The cultures of Romania and Moldova are very similar, and we tried to visit the Romanian Embassy in Washington DC. We were told over the telephone that we could stop by, but when we arrived at the front door they would not let us in without an appointment. We did ask if they knew of any Romanian restaurants, but they said that there were none in the area. While trying to decide our next step, a gentleman walked by. We asked for directions, and when he answered Mike noticed that he had a foreign accent; he asked what his native language was, and he told us that he was from Romania. God had a definite plan in this encounter! We all started walking in the same direction, and we found out that he was of the Orthodox faith. He did not understand how he could know that he was going to heaven, but he was interested in finding out. All four of us had a time of sharing with him, and we gave him the 4 Spiritual Laws trac. He was not ready to take the step of faith, but he did take the trac home with him. We asked if we could pray for him, and he told us that he would like for us to pray for his family and for their health. We prayed with him on the street corner. Please continue to pray for him; his name is Mihai.

We decided to find a different cultural restaurant, and a very sweet lady, who was a Believer, directed us to a Thai Restaurant. We enjoyed the warmth of the restaurant, and the food was very good! We had one or two other encounters, and we pray that God is moving in these people's hearts and will bring others to them to water the seed that was planted.

We thought that you would enjoy a couple of pictures from our trip. We did pray at the Capitol and at the White House, and we will continue to pray for our nation and for President-elect Obama.

We love you and thank you for your prayers!!

Smile, God loves you!

Let the Nations Be Glad!

2008-11-07T22:39:00.003-05:00

It has been another great week, and we have been under some wonderful training! We would love to pack all of the speakers in our suitcase and take them with us to Moldova, but while they have been very inspiring, they have always led us straight back to the Word of God. We have been studying about the characteristics of the New Testament Church and church planting movements around the world. It really makes you want to know everything that God teaches us in His Word so that you stay on track with where He is leading! That is what these men have stressed the most to us ... our prayer life and our quiet time and study time with God.

We need to be able to focus on what and who God is placing around us every day; this is part of being a servant leader. There is one particular word for servant that is used over 124 times in the New Testament ... Doulos, which means devoted to another to the disregard of one's own interests, and it also translates as slave. 1 Corinthians 4:1-5 is a great passage to read on the subject of servanthood.

While we were not able to attend the funeral services of a dear friend of ours, Frank Ross, we have prayed for his family this past week. Frank and his wife, Wilma, were very instrumental in our going on the mission field, and while we will miss Frank very much, we know that he is having the time of his life in heaven with the Lord!

The young man that we asked you to pray for last week is doing well. He has not been back to work at our location, but we have heard that he will not lose sight in his eye. Praise the Lord for answered prayers!

In the book that Myra read, Let the Nations Be Glad!, the supremacy of God in all areas of life was highlighted over and over again. It was also mentioned that missions is not the main point. Worship is the main purpose for our being here, but because people are not worshipping God internally as we should, missions is necessary in order for God to receive all of the praise and the glory that He so richly deserves. The scripture tells us that one day every tongue and peoples from every nation will proclaim that Jesus is Lord! Praise Him Today!!!!!!!! We love you and are praying for you as God speaks through the Holy Spirit in your life.

Please begin praying with us for the people groups in Moldova. We pray that God is working in many people's lives in Moldova, and that their searching will lead them to the truth of God's love through His Son Jesus Christ! Pray that those in the city of Chisinau will begin to have a real burden to plant churches in the villages where they were raised, and pray that leaders will come forward to be trained in multiplying house churches all over Moldova! We were reminded that Satan doesn't want these prayers to be lifted up, and he will try to put everything in your way to prevent you from praying ... PRAY IN SPITE OF HIS INTERRUPTIONS! Smile, God loves you!

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations ... and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age!

2008-10-31T20:29:00.004-04:00

We have had an amazing week! Dr. Jerry Rankin spoke with us three days on Spiritual Warfare, life on the field, and while it was intense, it was a soul searching time full of excitement in reaching the lost for Christ! Another exciting time was when all of those going on the field placed our photo on the map and asked for prayer for the country where we are going. God has brought more laborers and we want to have a servant's heart full of love!

Dr. Elbert Smith has such insight into the scriptures, and he is really making us stop and see what God is saying to us in His Word. Tonight he and his wife are hosting about 87 journeymen in their home ... these are the young adults/students going on the field. We have been amazed at their talents and gifts, and it does our heart good to see so many young people dedicated to bringing glory to God and making Him known around the world.

We would like for those of you in the churches which have committed to lifting us up in prayer over the next three years to know that we would love to have a team from your church to come to Moldova and prayer walk, hand out Bibles, hold VBS, or whatever God is laying on your heart. We would love to talk to you about this if God is leading a group to be His hands and feet!

They are feeding us well, and while it is all very healthy food, we are trying to watch the portions. We do not usually have three large meals every day, but at a buffet style meal it is easy to eat more than you need to. Please pray for one of the men that helps so faithfully in the kitchen; he was helping us after dinner as we put our dishes away, and a plate crashed on the floor with a piece flying up into his eye. They took him to the ER to be cared for, but we haven't heard how he is doing at this point. He has been so willing to serve us and we need to serve him now by lifting him up in prayer. Thank you for doing this!

The learning center is a beautiful place of tranquility where you can reflect on what God has called you to do, and it is only possible through your gifts to Lottie Moon and the Cooperative Program. There is always something happening on this campus, and we give praise to the Lord for providing all of the staff and the training available here!

We ask for you to keep us in your prayers as we continue in our training! Please email us if you have something that we can pray about with you.

Smile, God loves you!

Orientation and Training

2008-10-21T09:24:00.004-04:00

Well, we made the drive fine to Virginia! We left around 5:30 on Monday morning, and we had prayer with Myra's parents before leaving. Of course, Myra's Mom had lunch packed and ready to go ... thanks Mom! Myra's Dad woke up early to help get the car packed and to see us off. We talked with them after his doctor's appointment, and the doctor started his B12 shots which we hope will be a great help to Dad! Please pray for God to help us absorb all that we need to before going to Moldova. This will be a busy eight weeks, but it will be a blessing for us! We will try to keep you informed while we are here from time to time. We are praying for you when we see updates asking for prayer! I really needed my In Touch devotional yesterday before we got on the road, and we thank you for your prayers! God is so good to give us what we need exactly when we need it!!! Keep the Full Armor of God on this week!!! "May the Lord bless you and keep you; May the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace." Numbers 6:24-26 Smile, God loves you!

Day Centers and Feeding the Elderly OM Moldova 2007

2008-09-22T12:35:00.005-04:00

Below are some links where you can view information on Moldova and hand-made items from Moldova. Enjoy! www.amintire.com www.wmu.com www.WorldCraftsVillage.com Smile, God loves you!

Master and Teacher

2008-09-22T08:58:00.008-04:00

We wanted to share this link with all of you! - www.rbc.org/utmost/index.php - The point in this study on September 22nd was whether or not we allow God to be the Master over our lives. My Utmost For His Highest website (John 13:13,16) "To have a master and teacher is not the same thing as being mastered and taught. Having a master and teacher means that there is someone who knows me better than I know myself, who is closer than a friend, and who understands the remotest depths of my heart and is able to satisfy them fully. It means having someone who has made me secure in the knowledge that he has met and solved all the doubts, uncertainties, and problems in my mind. To have a master and teacher is this and nothing less— '. . . for One is your Teacher, the Christ . . .' ( Matthew 23:8 )." We had a very busy, but a great weekend!! We took the Hispanic Children in Action on an imaginary mission trip to Moldova. They had their boarding pass in hand, assigned seating as on an airplane, sound effects of jet engines, announcements pre-recorded of the pilot and flight attendant's announcements, etc. Myra baked a Moldovan Easter Sweet Bread, and they all seemed to enjoy it. We drove to Kite, GA to visit with Larry and Dianne Martin on Saturday, and they gave us some valuable insight on church planting efforts in Moldova. On Sunday, we spoke at our home church, Hampton First Baptist Church asking them to be one of our prayer partnering churches while we are in Moldova. On Sunday evening we shared with the members of Lovejoy First Baptist Church, who will also be one of our prayer partnering churches. We know that Satan tries to edge his way in when anyone is trying to do the Will of God, but through the power of prayer Jesus showed us by example, that all things are possible with God!! We love you and pray God's blessings in your life!! Smile, God loves you!

Memories from Moldova in 2006 & 2007

2008-09-18T10:53:00.004-04:00

God blessed us through the people in Cojusna at Emanuel Pentacostal Church. When we were asked by our OM leaders if we would be willling to help this church every weekend, we had no idea how much we would be blessed by them. God continues to work in their lives as they make Him known in Moldova!! To our dear friends ... Multumim frumose pentru bunatate vostru! Smile, God loves you!

Learning and Praying

2008-09-02T10:21:00.005-04:00

We are praying for five Southern Baptist Churches to become our prayer partners while we are in Moldova. There is still a need for a Strategy Coordinator in Moldova, and we ask that you pray and spread the word to anyone that you know who has a degree in theology, through the Baptist seminary, that they would obey God's call in missions. We have been prayed for and supported by many people from many churches and denominations, and we have met so many dear friends through the mission field. God blesses us in so many ways that we overlook from time to time, but the small details and miracles in life are so important to see!! God continues to teach us about obedience, and through good and bad He strengthens us and molds us so that people can see more of Him and less of us. Pray for us as we try to get all of our paper work done in time for the orientation in October. We do not have training in church planting, and we feel weak in this area. Pray that God will make us strong ... 2 Corinthians 12:9 (Jesus' words) "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." We pray that His power will show strong and perfect in our weakness. Smile, God loves you!

Going into all the world ... with the IMB

2008-08-28T14:48:00.005-04:00

We are just putting our blog together. We are glad that you are interested in hearing about and seeing what God is doing in Moldova! We will be going through orientation for a couple of months, spending the holidays with our family, and then we are off to Bucharest Romania for language study! We should be in Moldova the end of March or the first part of April ... the flowers will be beautiful around this time! If you would like to know more about church planting in Moldova please follow this link: http://web.mac.com/lomjr From the Open Windows Summer 2008 devotion: Why the Cross? Devotional Passage: 1 Peter 2:21-25 Jesus' death on the cross is a shadow of what we deserved from God's hand. Facing a holy God during judgment, yet having sin permeating our lives, would cause us enormous agony. Our destiny would include an unending death. We would want it to end, but our pain would continue forever. Praise God that He took that punishment upon Himself. Why the cross? So "that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness." Thank you Jesus!! Smile, God loves you!