Trip to Washington DC

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!