The Lord has blessed us with a good day! (11:00pm, Friday, April 11, 2008)

The sun did come out; the rain never fell, but the blessings feel liberally. I will try to relate what Steve & the girls have reported.

BALTI- The ladies are doing GREAT WORK & have broken through barriers no one else have been able to break down. They have quickly broken through and have a beautiful relationship with the sisters at Balti. Connie & Ernestine both presented two lessons a piece today. Four more lessons are planned for tomorrow. In addition, they have an appointment for a private study with their translator. Their translator, a young lady, has been exposed to much Bible teaching having translated for other teams in the past. But, Connie & Ernestine are the first ones to get her interested in a private study. Please pray for this young lady and this class.

Tiraspol/Benderi - I had a long phone conversation with Steve this evening and he was excited about what they accomplished today. They presented two lessons a piece in Benderi & Tiraspol. While in Benderi they received an invitation for all six of us to return the week after the conference to conduct separate classes for men & women. The brethren in Tiraspol have expressed interest in attending also. Steve was impressed with the attitude and faith of Alexander, the formerly institutional preacher in Benderi. The American "sponsor" is to return in September. Alexander expects that at that point they will loose the use of their meeting house. In addition he will loose his residence and all of his support (Ithink that is close to $300 @ month not counting residence). He has great faith in God & his brethren. He knows his needs will be met even though he has no idea how God will do this work.

Chisinau - Sid and I had a busy day in Chisinau. We spoke to a class of college students and invited all of them to attend our Bible studies. The professor has all of them write down the address. I do not know if any one will come, but inviting is all we can do since we can't drag them there. Later in the day, we accompanied Ira to the orphanage where she taught a Bible class. She did a great job. This is one zealous and hard working young lady. Tomorrow she is traveling to a village to teach Bible class. We would like to accompany her, but the distance is great enough that she won't return to Chisinau until Sunday afternoon (Don't worry. The church doesn't assemble for worship until 5:00). Tonight Sid and I tag teamed on a lesson on the Lord's letter to the church in Ephesus in Rev. 2. I presented the historical background and Sid did the exposition of the text. He did a great job and had wonderful class participation.

After class, Serghei V. (Aka Serghei 2 or Serghei the driver), Ira and their girls joined us for pizza at Andy's Pizza. This was one of the first these young girls (ages 5 & 3) had evern been to a resturant. Melissa has her first exposure to pizza. Needless to say, she is not fond of pizza.
The best part of supper was our conversation with Serghei & Ira. I cannot say enough about this good couple and how valuable they are for the church in Chisinau. Serghei may never be a preacher or teacher, but he would make a great elder some day. He has good insight into what is holding them back and keeping the church from growing. He & Ira are commited to doing all they can do to help the church overcome laziness and get serious about growing. They live nearly one hour from where the church meets, yet they clean the building, check on the sick, & Ira teaches the children's class. They are disappointed and concerned that the brethren do not enjoy a close relationship outside of worship. They said that what we were doing (eating and laughing with them) was what the Christians needed to do - build a relationship.

I'll keep you reading for hours if I report all that is in my heart, but I will close for now. Please, there are urgent spiritual needs that must be met within all four churches - won't you partner with us by joining us in prayer?