“Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made” (Genesis 2:1-3).
Seven is often referred to as the number of completeness or fullness – some would even say perfection. If we are talking about what God did in creation, there is no question that His work was complete and perfect.
The Seven Churches
In the Book of Revelation chapter one, Jesus explained to the Apostle John the mystery of the seven stars and the seven golden lampstands. The seven stars were the angles of the seven churches and the seven lampstands were the seven churches.
While a Bible study of the Book of Revelation would be fascinating and appropriate given the days in which we live, we did not really want to write to you about that. Rather, we wanted to share with you the wonderful news that seven local churches are being started here in Moldova by the seven church planting “angels” studying with us in the Institute of Church Planting (ICP) that we have been teaching since January. A few of the wives of these men are also studying with us as well as some very dedicated church members.
This Bible study group held their first Sunday meeting on May 28th. This was the inaugural meeting of a new church in formation completing our list of 7 church plants with leaders being trained in the ICP. Our partner, Eduard, is in the front the second from the left in the dark blue shirt. Please pray for this new group of believers and for the eventual formation of a biblical NT church. .
This is a humble beginning to be sure, but we are so excited about the potential in the months and years to come. We just completed teaching the Good Soil seminar to all the leaders in both locations and now they will use the summer to practice the evangelism and discipleship that this course emphasizes. We left plenty of The Story of Hope books with the 40 Bible stories of redemption in the Romanian and Russian languages for the brethren to use this summer. Please pray for this and all the evangelistic events to take place this summer here in Moldova. Please see below for an update on summer camps with the Imago Dei Baptist Church.
Seventy Refugee Families
At the Imago Dei Baptist Church here in Chişinău we are caring for several Ukrainian families and individuals who had to flee from the war. We are renting 4 apartments and paying all the expenses along with providing food and other necessary items. The funds for these ministries are coming from compassionate churches who provided funds to us directly, as well as to the Ukrainian Refugee Crisis Fund administered by ABWE.
A wonderful opportunity has opened up for us in the area where we are starting a new church plant with Andrey and Natalia. The director of Social Services in the town where Andrey and Natalia live, has given us the names and addresses of 60-70 Ukrainian families that the government is not able to help. Can you imagine the blessing of showing up at the door of 70 families with a huge bag of food for each house and the love of Christ? Andrey will be visiting these homes each week and building friendships with these dear people and looking for opportunities to share The Story of Hope in the Russian language. Please pray for Andrey and Natalia as they care for their 9 children and also minister to these Ukrainian families.
Andrey is ready to begin deliveries to several of the Ukrainian refugee families who live in the area around his town of Criuleni. We are in the relationship building stage of this budding church plant as Andrey and Natalia are starting a children's ministry, along with the outreach to the Ukrainian's. This summer they will be doing evangelism with beautiful The Story of Hope booklets in both Romanian and Russian. Please pray for them.
As we mentioned in a previous letter, the Lord has given us a desire to help both of our church planting “angels” in the Criuleni region with fuel for their vans and maintenance costs. If it were possible to provide them with $100 a month each, that would be a huge help. Please pray with us about this need as it is a bit more than Jo Ann and I can handle alone given our other ministry expenses. If you would like to help provide these funds for Andrey and Dennis, please click on the following link where you can give directly to the Moldova Institute of Church Planting project.
Seven More Churches?
Our Moldovan partner, Eduard and his wife, have hearts for church planting that match ours. When we discovered that our passions, gifts, and resources complimented each other, we knew that the Lord was putting us together to multiply churches here in Moldova and beyond.
Rich with Pastor Ion's wife, Veronica, translating for the ICP in Sofia (about 100 miles north of Chişinău).
Some of the "angels of the churches" in Sofia studying for 4 hours on a Saturday afternoon in the ICP.
Eduard shared with Jo Ann and me that there is another group of Moldovan “angels of the churches” who desire to begin training with us in the Institute of Church Planting. We are planning to open another training center. We do not know yet how many “angels” and their wives might come to study when we begin training again in September, but wouldn’t it be just like the Lord to move these new leaders to start another 7 churches? We can’t wait to see what the Lord is going to do by the end of this year, or during the next if the rapture does not take place first! Please pray with us as we share the vision of the Great Commission with these faithful and dedicated servants and that, indeed, the seeds for several more church plants will take root.
The Seventh Day
Jo Ann and I have our work cut out for us for the next 3 years. Our goals are to continue teaching at the Christian University (UDG) and to complete the entire first training program for the Institute of Church Planting, while we also help with the refugee ministries and in the Imago Dei Baptist Church.
We were attending a special joint service with a sister church on a Sunday afternoon with baptisms and the Lord's Supper. What a blessing!
It will take us 3 years to complete the ICP training and we have only completed the first of five phases of the church planting course for two of the locations. The new location will start with the first of the five phases in September and will need 5 semesters to finish. That takes us to the end of 2025 if the Lord should delay His return that long. Naturally, this also assumes that the Lord will continue to give us the health and strength for these opportunities. Please continue to pray for us as we seek to be used of Him here in Europe.
“God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work.” We haven’t finished all our work yet, but we have completed some of it. Since we will not be teaching during the summer, we felt like a little rest would be nice. We are flying back to Pennsylvania on June 13 and plan to visit some of our dear friends and supporters on the east coast. We’ll take some down time in our home in the Harrisburg area and visit with our Ohio family.
$7,000 Summer Camp Project
The Imago Dei Baptist Church is once again planning a wonderful summer camp for the many children and young people in our neighborhood. Each year the number of campers increases and so do the costs. Please pray with us as we ask the Lord to provide for the camps once again this year. We need at least $7,000 dollars to cover the costs this year. Perhaps the Lord will put it into the hearts of some to give $70 or even 7X70. The Lord knows the need and we simply bring it before Him in prayer. If you would like to be a part of this camp project, please click on the following link, and then click the “Give Now” button under “Richard and Jo Ann Davis” where you can give online toward this need.
When you indicate the amount you would like to give, you should see a dialogue box that says “Additional Donation Details.” You could indicate there that your gift is for the Imago Dei youth camp ministries this summer.
Mihai baptizing the newest member of the Imago Dei Baptist Church. The Lord continues to bless the church with solid growth. We are starting to get crowded in our current rented facilities which is a good thing!
Thank you for taking at least 7X2 minutes to read this letter! We appreciate more than you know all your love and prayers on our behalf. Thank you for giving that we might be able to be here serving the Moldovan people as well as the Ukrainians.
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