“And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him” (Matt 4:19–20). GOOD CHOICE!
On another occasion, Jesus met a rich young ruler who was religious; “Jesus said to him, ‘If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.’ But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property” (Matt 19:21–22). BAD CHOICE!
Choose Me
Kids in my generation used to play outdoor games like kickball. When choosing teams, all of us would line up and wait for the captain to choose the team from the lineup. I remember my heart pounding and thinking, “Choose me, choose me!” I did not think that way if the game was a spelling bee!
A recent meeting of the new church plant in Criuleni.
We received a phone call recently and were invited to join a new team. Given some obvious factors, we did not fear being wanted on a soccer team! Even being a part of a spelling team would not be so scary if we could use AI or Grammarly. Instead, we were invited to join a church planting team to help plant new churches in Criuleni, about twenty miles from Chisinau, where we live.
This meant, of course, changing teams. We were a part of the church we helped start in Chisinau, and the team's captain, Pastor Mihai Chisari, is doing an excellent job of training Moldovan leaders as the Imago Dei Baptist Church grows spiritually and numerically. It was decided that the Imago Dei church would pray over us and send us to join the new church planting team.
Thank you for being a part of our prayer team as we seek to reach the town and the province of Criuleni for Christ. We have two churches starting in this province now and plan to plant even more churches as the Lord allows. While we are training church planters in the Institute of Church Planting (ICP), we are also being immersed once again in the process of planting more new churches.
I Chose You
Jo Ann and I became high school sweethearts in 1962. We could not have imagined the amazing adventure the Lord had in store for us in our naivety. In those days, we were more interested in holding hands and passing the Spanish class that we needed to graduate. In March of 1966, we were married. We have been sweethearts for 62 years and married for 58 of those years.
Jo Ann's Junior Prom - 1963
Above all things, we are grateful that He chose us! “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you” (John 15:16). We were lost “hippies” when He reached down, lifted us up, and set us on the Rock which is Christ.
We are so thankful that the Lord has given us these many years to serve Him together in so many places around the globe because He sent us to “go and bear fruit.” We have been in Moldova for the last six years and are enjoying one of the most fruitful ministries of our career. We are also thankful that some of you have been praying for us all those years, and others have joined us along the way.
Our three daughters spent most of their growing-up years in Peru, but since those days, the Lord has taken us to serve Him in many different places. The girls are grown, and now we enjoy watching videos of our great-grandson!
Speaking of grandchildren . . .
They Chose Each Other
We have been invited to attend the wedding of one of our grandsons in April. Serving in the foreign field does not provide many opportunities to participate in the milestones of our children and grandchildren. We are thankful that the Lord is helping us to share the joy of this wedding with our family back in the States.
Gabe and Melissa
You Chose Us
Many of you receiving this epistle have chosen to pray for us as we serve the Lord in fields beyond the USA. Also, many of you give financially in amazing ways that we might remain in Moldova. We trust that you will continue to pray that:
We might see fruit that remains in Moldova and beyond. Many of our Christian University (UDG) students, where we teach, come from Moldova and Central Asian countries.
The new church plants in Criuleni would grow strong, with many families coming to know the Lord and being discipled in the local church.
Gabe and Melissa's wedding will glorify the Lord.
New churches will start due to the Institute of Church Planting in Moldova.
The Lord would continue to give health and strength to Jo Ann and me.
The killing and damage due to the war in Ukraine might end soon, and the threat to Ukraine and Moldova might be eliminated.
Many of you have given special offerings to help us with the Institute of Church Planting (ICP) expenses. Those offerings were a huge help as we printed new books and were able to help the church planters keep their vehicles on the road. We are thankful to all those who faithfully pray for us and those who provide the financial support necessary to keep us on the field. May the Lord continue to bless and keep each of you.
SPECIAL NOTE:
A rare event at our home office required all ABWE missionaries to receive new email addresses. Please take note of our new addresses. They should not change again until the Millennium by God's grace. Soon, our old addresses will be phased out.
Rich - rich.davis@abwego.org
Jo Ann - joann.davis@abwego.org