Catching up with Friends in Târgu Mureş

Last weekend I was blessed to be able to go up to Târgu Mureş (tir-goo-moor-esh), Romania to visit some dear friends and attend the ordination service of a young pastor at the Second Baptist Church in the city. I ate some WONDERFUL food and had a great time of fellowship. I am always humbled to see how graciously so many families here welcome me with open arms. We shared a lot of laughs and stories. Please remember the Second Baptist Church in your prayers, as you can see by the picture below, there is still a lot of construction to be done to the church and construction has all but been stalled after a decade of construction. The church doesn't have the funds to complete the construction, but is in much need of a new worship space, which was designed to be in the upper level. For now, over 30 people every Sunday morning are standing on the edges of a small room in the lower level, because there is no room. Hopefully this will be the year that the space will finally be completed.

The Second Baptist Church of Targu Mureş...now going on 10 years in construction

One of my adopted Romanian moms, "Margareta"

Crazy Games in Jilava

Recently, I have been working with around 15 adolescents from Jilava, a suburb south of Bucharest. Most of the youth come from non-Christian families and, unfortunately, this has affected much of their values and worldview. But praise God for people like Viorel, (pictured last in line in our leap frog game) who is dedicated to impacting the lives of these youth with the power of the Cross. Viorel, who attends my church in Bucharest, invited me to help him with his discipleship initiatives with this rambunctious group. I, of course, was happy to help out. A few of the older boys live at the small country church/day center along with Viorel and his wife. The day center also provides a pharmacy for the people in the nearby community. The community of Jilava is extremely unreached. Please pray for Viorel to have strength and wisdom as he tries to be light in the midst of the darkness in the lives of these youth. And pray that I can be an encouragement to Viorel and the kids.

Hillsong Conference

True worship is that which comes from the heart! That was the theme pastor David Reidy from Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia communicated to about 800 youth and pastors this past week at a three-day praise and worship conference in Bucharest.
Hillsong Church is a church of over 20,000 members in Australia and has since planted sister churches in such places as London and Ukraine. The music department's recordings are world renowned, having composed such songs as "Shout to the Lord." During the three-day conference, various musicians from Hillsong's worldwide churches led seminars on a theology of praise and worship, how to lead a music team, how to engage a congregation in authentic and collective worship, as well as break-out sessions relating to playing specific instruments. In addition, Reidy discussed such hot topics as dealing with conflict on a music team. The conference went very well! A conference like this certainly is not an everyday occurrence in Bucharest. I especially enjoyed the break-out sessions and Reidy's very simple words of advice to music teams: "Don't try to duplicate something else. Be who you are! Really good music teams are those who recognize their own identity and play from the heart!" It seems simple really, but I'm sure we can all think of musicians and groups who try to copy someone else. Every night, Hillsong gave a concert, featuring a local Romanian Christian group--the concerts were a big hit. Watching 800 Romanian youth gathered together, singing with their whole hearts to the Lord was simply awesome.

One of the evening concerts

Tickets to the three-day conference were a hot commodity

During one of the singing workshops, some of my friends made me get up on stage to do background vocals during mock music rehearsals. I had a blast!

Spending Time with the Kids

Recently I have been helping my friend Cornelia with her youth program in Voluntari (kind of a suburb of Bucharest). On Saturday mornings, I, along with some Seminary friends of mine, help Cornelia in making lessons, games, crafts, and small-group discussions for the kids. I have enjoyed many long conversations especially with the adolescent boys and we are actually tackling some serious life issues. You can pray for me to have wisdom in my interactions with the boys and please pray for Cornelia as she so graciously dedicates her time and service to these kids. Here are some pics. from last Saturday:

Little Sorin always has a lot of energy

Alin and Adi--two real "cards"

My friend Cornelia , the youth leader at Voluntari

Some of the kids

Answering His call

"I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy
Spirit" Mark 1:8

On Sunday at church, we had a special baptism service, where we had the privilege of hearing the testimonies of how Jesus changed the lives of five individuals from various walks of life. How beautiful it is to see the Kingdom of God grow!

Five were baptized

Sorry I didn't zoom into this pic. closer! Here is Pastor Taloş

baptizing a couple who wanted to share this special moment together.

My friend Cat provided the music accompaniment