Targu Mures

This past weekend, my family went to Targu Mures, Romania in the north-central region of Transylvania to visit with a number of families that are very special to me in my past ministry in this beautiful community. We had wonderful hospitality, great food, and unique experiences. My family simply fell in love with this very charming city. My friends were more than just a little excited to finally meet my family and friends--Praise the Lord!

My family got to experience their first Penticostal church service at "Biserica Penticostala Betel" in Targu Mures. In my work in youth ministry, I work with a number of denominations that make up the evangelical alliance in Romania. The Penticostal Union is the largest dencomination other than Eastern Orthodox in Romania. My family enjoyed this new, "cross-cultural" experience.

My Dad & Corrine got to go out in the countryside and learn about

Romanian farming with the Gaborean Family

My family enjoying a great meal with the Tinca Family

Mr. Cordos showing my Dad how we cut grass in Romania

Talking with the Cordos family in their beautiful garden

An Afternoon at the Tamas Family

Yesterday my family enjoyed the afternoon visiting some of my favorite people in the world, the Tamas Family. I think my Dad made a new friend in Simion Tamas--they laughed a lot and enjoyed looking at pictures of the log cabin my Dad built in Minnesota. Simion has been a part of building over 300 Baptist churches around Romania. My family got to enjoy their wonderful hospitality and eat Sarmale, the Romanian national dish. The Tamas family takes good care of me!

My Family with some of the Tamas Family. My friend Cat is kneeling down and his Dad Simion is putting his arm around his wife Jeni (who recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary) in their large, beautiful garden.

CAT's oldest brother "Felix" and his wife Oana. He is a pastor of a Baptist Church Plant in a small village outside of Bucharest. Please pray for Felix and Oana as they hope to try and travel to the States (pending the visa process) to try and find sponsorships for their work in church planting.

A picture of the Tamas boys, seeming as I can never quite get Florin in a picture. Felix (a pastor), Simion (who works closely with the Baptist Union), CAT (the music prodigy and one of my best friends), and Florin (a youth pastor and missionary).

Sarmale: The national dish of Romania (cabbage or grape leaves stuffed with pork, beef, and rice and smothered in sour cream. Very Yummy!)

Fellowship and Excursions

My Family enjoyed visiting the Radan Family the other night. We ate pizza, snacks, swapped stories, pictures, etc. and enjoyed a great time of fellowship. Thank you so much to the Radan Family for their warm hospitality. Margareta (Ela's mom) has already invited my Dad to come and visit their church in the countryside. My Dad has had several invitations. This past week, he led a seminar on human resource development for various Christian organizations and shared his testimony of faith in Christ to an evening meeting of former Romanian Military Officers at a local evangelical church in Bucharest. I also took them out for a day trip to the beautiful region of Sinaia, Romania, where we went up the cable cars to the peaks of the Carpathian Mountains and visited the gorgeous Peles Castle, home to King Carol I of Romania. My family loved it!

We had a wonderful time at the Radan family (Daniel is next to my Dad/Ela by my sister Corrine, and her mom Margareta by my mom). We ate wonderful food, fellowshipped, and enjoyed swapping stories.

The Rainbow on our train ride--a nice remembrance of God's covenant with his people in the book of Genesis

My mom took this shot of the valley while riding down the cable car

We arrived to the beautiful region of Sinaia, Romania by train

Amy & Corrine enjoying the Carpathian Mountains

The Peles Castle in Sinaia that my family visited

Happy Birthday Grandma Pat & Bev Christianson!

We took this group photo last night especially to wish my Grandma Pat and Amy Christianson's mom, Bev, a very happy birthday on June 13th! Yup, their birthdays are on the same day. We love you both and hope you have a great day. As we say in Romanian (pay attention, 'cuz' we'll all be speaking Romanian in heaven !): La Multi Ani! (many happy years)

Fireworks

So, fireworks huh--everybody loves them right? Well, what about at two in the morning when you are trying to sleep in Bucharest, Romania. Last night my family and I were awakened to a loud bang outside of my block apartment that sounded like gunfire--the whole bloc was illuminated. It turned out to just be your average person setting off fireworks in the park across from where I live at two in the morning :))) The fireworks went off for about 10 minutes straight, which set off the car alarms in my neighborhood, which then made the police sirens go off. While this hasn't happened in my neighborhood in a while, I told my family that it's all part of the ambiance :))) When in Romania I told them, expect the unexpected!

What? My Family is in Romania!!!!!

Well, I can hardly believe it, but as I write this update to you, my family is here in my block apartment in Bucharest, Romania--incredible! Well, they arrived here with all of their luggage, praise the Lord! They were exhausted, I'm sure, from the long flight, but it is such a huge blessing to have them here in Romania and to be able to share with them what has become nothing less than my heart beat and passion in life: sharing the love of Jesus amongst the beautiful culture and people of Romania. The first night that my family arrived with my sister's best friend Amy Christianson (she's been part of the family for a while), we had a pizza reception at the office, and my teammates enjoyed hearing stories about my Dad's log cabin and all of the work my mom has been doing in special education in Minnesota (how to treat autism in Romanian public schools is a HUGE need--if you have specialties in this area--LET ME KNOW!!). Afterward, they slept and slept. We have been enjoying some great hospitality from my teammates and exploring Bucharest by foot and public transportation. I think I have been wearing them out!!!

The funniest thing that has happened to us so far is that we all got stuck in the elevator in my Bloc the first day they arrived. Well, elevators in Romania are a bit different than in the States, and I think we were pushing the weight limit a little bit. So, we took it all the way down to the ground floor, but got stuck--I had to get a lady to nudge the door so we could get the elevator to work again. Meanwhile, the elevator is pretty small and my mom got a little claustrophobic. But, praise the LORD that we were only stuck for a few minutes. How is that for a welcome introduction to Romania? I guess you can chalk that one up as a cross-cultural experience. They have been using the stairs since :)) Again I must say what a blessing it is to have them in Romania to meet the people who mean so very much to me--my Romanian family and friends. We will be working with orphans, visiting friends, riding in cable cars up snow-capped mountains to see a cross, my Dad will be teaching a seminar on human-resource development, and of course, we will be enjoying some great Romanian cuisine, conversation, and enchanted castles. I hope my family enjoys visiting and seeing my country!

Wandering About Bucharest!

Here are some more pictures of what my family has been up to these first couple of days halfway around the world. It has been fun showing them my world and the country and people who are so very near and dear to my heart! Romania este o frumoasa tara! Romania is a beautiful country!

My parents enjoyed a stroll in my favorite park: "Herestrau"

We visited a museum showing traditional village homes of rural Romania

Visiting the old neighborhoods of Bucharest

Amy Christianson, a good friend of our family was able to make the trek to

Romania as well. Here, she got a big kick out of the "smart cars".

I don't think I could even get my body in this car :))))

Enjoying delicious Romanian Pizza!!

In front of the fountains in central Bucharest

Bucharest's Transportation Web

Many of you have asked me how I get around Bucharest. The answer is public transportation. Currently, Bucharest is home to the third largest transportation system in Europe (following London and Paris). But, once the new developments of the Bucharest subway system are complete (and of course there are always delays), the city will have the largest public transportation system in Europe, which includes above ground trams (pictured left), buses, subways, and maxi-taxis (15 passenger + vans). One of the best things that the communists did in Romania was invest in public transportation. You can get almost anywhere in the city with either the Subway, trams, buses, or maxi-taxis. And since such a large portion of the city does not have a car, it is very helpful. The public transportation system in Bucharest is years ahead of the Twin Cities, for my friends in Minnesota. It amazes me to hear that Minneapolis just got lightrail and people still have to debate whether it's useful. Trust me folks--public transportation helps!!! When I tell my Romanian friends that the Twin Cities does not have a Subway or much lightrail options, they are shocked--especially when they hear how cold it can get.

I am a big fan of the Bucharest Metro (Subway)--it's reliable, fast, cool (a true blessing for an extremely warm-blooded guy like me), and gets me to where I need to go. I heard the Metro company of Bucharest just ordered new cabins (not quite sure what you call Subway cars) for each line of the Metro--making it one of the most modern of Europe. Each station of the Metro has a boarding platform with seats, and some stations have stores, restaurants, cafes, McDonalds, etc. The Metro is part of what we Romanians refer to as the "under world".

I also enjoy that rail travel is still alive and well in Romania. It is a great way to get out and explore the beautiful country of Romania--complete with the snow-capped mountains, castles, rolling hills, and the Black Sea. The central train station in Bucharest is referred to as Gara de Nord. My team uses the trains a lot for many of our ministry visits outside of Bucharest. They are very affordable, comfortable, and typically quite punctual.