Feb 22 2010
GospelLife: Josh and Stacy Leigh Hutchens
As we approach the end of this month a new chapter will start in the lives of some of my best friends. Josh and Stacy Leigh Hutchens will return to Moldova to complete their 2 year appointment as missionaries. As they arrive they will be working with young pastors in Moldova training them in New Testament Studies through the Eurasian Baptist Mission. As I have contemplated their mission and prayed for them I am reminded of a hymn written by Albert Simpson (1904) that I love to sing:
To the regions beyond I must go, I must go
Where the story has never been told;
To the millions that never have heard of His love,
I must tell the sweet story of old.To the hardest of places He calls me to go,
Never thinking of comfort or ease;
The world may pronounce me a dreamer, a fool,
Enough if the Master I please.Oh, you that are spending your leisure and powers
In those pleasures so foolish and fond;
Awake from your selfishness, folly and sin,
And go to the regions beyond.There are other “lost sheep” that the Master must bring,
And to them must the message be told;
He sends me to gather them out of all lands,
And welcome them back to His fold.(Chorus) To the regions beyond I must go, I must go,
Till the world, all the world,
His salvation shall know.
It is an incredible thing that God is allowing Josh to teach New Testament to young church planters and pastors in a former communist country. The vision of the school is amazing. Not only are they training pastors for Moldovan churches but they are preparing missionaries to reach their neighboring countries.
Moldova is surrounded by the ’stan countries of the former Soviet Union. Countries that are closed to missionaries and the Gospel. Americans cannot penetrate their borders with the Good News of Jesus Christ. However, a Moldovan national can pass through these borders freely and spread the Gospel as he goes. Through sending trained church planters and pastors to unreached areas Josh and those who work beside him, are reaching people groups that were impossible to reach just a few years ago.
As Josh spends his day training new pastors, Stacy Leigh will spend her time raising their son and working with the staff at a camp for young people. Over the years many young Moldovans have come to know Christ through the ministry of this camp. Most of the pastors that are trained in the school in which Josh teaches are products of the camp in which Stacy Leigh will be working. With each new generation of campers comes the opportunity for God to raise up more Christians and Church leaders.
Please pray for my friends as I have these past several months. Pray that God would save more people in Moldova. Pray that God will provide for my friends. Pray that God will use them to send out more people to the dark and dying lands that surround the country in which they serve.
You can learn more about their ministry and how to support it at www.gospellife.org
No responses yet
