Spring is in the Air

Temperatures are rising across the Romania landscape and it is feeling a lot like spring. Being from Minnesota, it's very warm! A little too warm, too soon, or at least that is what we are saying in Bucharest. Why? If it's this warm already--it will be murder come summer! But for the time being, everyone is enjoying the great outdoors and the sunsets. Quintessential Romania: painted trees. This is done to protect it from bugs (others say for added beauty, some say it was just something the Communists gave certain people to do--paint trees). I cannot wait for leaves on the trees and some color. Bucureşti really comes to life in the spring with lots of lush vegetation and flowers. Bring on the foliage :)!
I have seen a lot of people playing chess in the park already like in this picture. Spending time in the park is really a part of life in Romania--a lot more than in the States.

Andrew Palau Festival Coming in Bucuresti

Similar evangelistic festivals of Louis Palau's organization have

drawn huge crowds around the world.
Andrew Palau speaking at the youth rally night in anticipation of the May Festival

One of the bands, Catre Cer (Towards Heaven) leading praise and worship

Me, along with other leaders of the event leading prayer

Tonight we had a youth gathering of all the evangelical churches in Bucuresti in preparation for the Andrew Palau Festival that will be taking place in Bucuresti in May. Andrew is the son of the world-renowned evangelist Louis Palau. Despite having grown-up in such a Christian home, Andrew was a drug user, an alcoholic, and miles away from the Lord. Yet, his Dad, friends and family never stopped praying for him. Eventually, it was the influence of young Christians, who went to one of his Dad's festivals in Jamaica, that changed his life. Andrew says their passion for the Lord just left a real impression on him, saying, "they seemed so joyful, so committed...I thought to myself, if this God is real, I definitely want a part of that life." Thus, at the age of 27, Andrew finally decided to follow Jesus. He has quite the testimony and will be sharing that testimony and more in May at the Andrew Palau Festival in Bucuresti. Past festivals in cities like Madrid, Mexico City, Tampa, and Minneapolis have drawn hundreds of thousands of people who heard the Gospel. The Bucuresti Festival will feature many top Romanian Christian bands, as well as the Hillsong Church praise and worship band from London. Moreover, there will be football (soccer) professionals, skateboard competitions, stuff for kids, basketball, etc. The event is to have a youth focus with the attention of reaching non-Christian youth by identifying with their interests and introducing them to Christians who share their same passions.

Yet, what I am most excited about is not the big hoopla, but the follow-up. Mainly, will this have an impact? Currently, I am on the committee for discipleship for this event. In the weeks leading up to the festival, several of the bands will be speaking in over 40 local high-schools about their testimonies and decisions to give up drugs and alcohol. In addition, we are planning to have close to 1000 volunteers to counsel those who take the first steps to follow Jesus. That is coupled with follow-up nights of discipleship after the festival where people will be invited to explore more what following Jesus means. These will be done in informal coffee houses, as well as some main concert halls around the city. Already, there are over 40 churches in the city collaborating on the event. Those that make decisions to follow Christ at the event will also be notified of churches in their area and local pastors (of various denominations) are responsible to follow-up with each individual. If nothing else, I am happy to see the collaboration. Bucuresti is such a spiritually dark city, that any momentum evangelicals can muster is welcome. Please pray that this festival would produce much fruit....that more unbelievers would make real decisions for Christ, that the government would see the impact Christ has made on the lives of its' citizens, and that there would be strong and effective follow-up among churches in the city...and for good weather too!

A Local Favorite: Shaorma

Shaorma is a local favorite in Romania when you need a quick bite to eat on the run. It is pita bread stuffed with chicken or pork, french fries, garlic sauce, cabbage, onions, pickles, hot sauce, etc. (I know, calorie heaven...but oh so good!)

Making shaorma The standard walk-up shaorma stand

The finished product....now I'm hungry!

Bill Hybels Conference

Bill Hybles speaking and me with my colleague Alina
This week I attended a leadership conference put on by Bill Hybels from Willow Creek Church in the Chicago area. His church grew from a few hundred people to over 22,000 members. He has written a number of books about evangelism and church growth including The Contagious Christian. Now, I am not a big fan of the mega-church phenomenon and I don't agree with everything Willow Creek puts out, but I was very impressed by Bill Hybels adress at this conference. Some of the things we were left to consider:

• A leader is always an optimist
• A good leader delegates (therein creating leadership skills in others)
• Leaders need to have a face to face encounter with God
• A good leader challenges the status quo....it's never good enough
• A strong leader is different
• Strong leaders are always somewhat controversial (if everyone loves you, there are issues)
• A strong leader takes his time before making a decision (now, that was a new idea for me...usually we think leaders should be swift at making decisions...the argument here was that a good leader should ask, "how much time do I have to decide? 10 seconds? A day, a week, month, etc." A good leader stops to think about the right decision

So yeah, some things to think about. What was encouraging was to see many pastors in the city there shaking their heads and taking notes. The Romanian Church is quite traditional and new forms and ideas for growth and outreach are long overdue. Some bold leaders have tried new things and experienced much success. One of my favorite quotes from the conference was that if God gave you a chair in your sanctuary or a pew, that means HE has someone in mind who ought to be sitting their. So, we all repeated quite loudly, "NO MORE EMPTY SEATS." As the Body of Christ, we should always be looking to see who is on the outside that we can reach eternally for the Kingdom. And here is my thought for you. How many people have you invited to your church in the past week. Next time you drive to church or stop for coffee, think of that stranger you meet and think about inviting them with you...or at least striking up a conversation. You'd be surprised what God can do if you just open the door. In short, some good stuff!

Oh How Times Have Changed: the Bucharest malls

Almost all of the malls in Bucureşti are housed in the original structures that former Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu had intended to be human feeding centers. His idea was to have dome structures around the city that would serve as the food collection centers, meaning Bucharest residents would come to these places and food would be rationed and distributed based on the communist government's mandated per-person food quotas, which sometimes amounted to as little as 1 dozen eggs for a complete family to last an entire month. Some have said that internment camps throughout history sometimes gave their prisoners more meat than the Romanian communists ever allocated to the Romanian people. But oh how times have changed! Ceauşescu was assasinated before his idea ever came to fruition. Thus, the city of Bucureşti was left to decide what to do with half-built dome structures. The result? They were privatized and transformed into the city's malls. What was intended to be communist controlled food-rationing centers are now what some consider to be the epitomy of capitalism: the western shopping mall. Who 'woulda' thought?

The half-finished dome structures....
are today the city's malls like Plaza România...

the original Bucureşti mall (notice the dome structures)

Shopping in Bucharest

I thought I would give you all an idea of what shopping is like in Romania. The European supermarkets are different, and thus, carry different items. Some of the things you can either not find in Romania, or are difficult to find include: almost anything mexican (some stores carry tortillas, but are not always in stock), chocolate chips, colby/cheddar cheese, brown sugar, boxed mac & cheese, etc. Overall, prices are much more expensive in Romanian supermarkets than their American counterparts. Still, the face of shopping in Romania has changed DRASTICALLY over the last 5 years. The options used to be so limited, but now western european stores are springing up just about everywhere. That said, there is a major difference between the cities and countryside....it's like two different time periods living side by side. In the countryside, some homes may not have running water, and the local store is what farmers (working with their own horse and plow) sell on the main street or in the local store (often someone's home). Contrast that with cities like Bucureşti, where malls and stores like Starbucks and Ruby Tuesday have opened. Yes, Romania is a land of complexities! So here is a tour of some of our stores: Selgros: this would be the Romanian version of Sam's Club where items are bought at a cheaper price and sold in bulk quantities. It's like a warehouse and you have to sign up for membership to buy items there (much like Sam's Club). The best thing about this store?

They sell cheddar cheese! :)

Auchan: a French mega-supermarket with arguably the cheapest prices for food in Bucureşti. It's huge, like a super wal-mart. The good? Cheap prices. The bad? Hardly ever carry any specialized food item--there is usually a handful of items on someone's list that they can't find here.
Kaufland: a German supermarket similar to Target or Walmart but smaller.

Cora: the mega-mega supermarket. This is a French chain. Think of a Super Walmart, but much bigger! They do carry more specialized items. The problem? It's SOO big and SOO crowded. Even with about 100 checkout lanes (literally) you can still wait in line (even after 9 p.m.) for 40 minutes to an hour. I try to avoid this store like the plague. But then again, I hate shopping.

Carrefour: another French mega-mart. Prices here are a bit cheaper than at Cora. The problem? The workers don't even know what they carry half the time and the aisles are narrow and crowded. Like Cora, the lines try anyone's patience.

BricoStore: The Romanian HomeDepot...pretty reliable and good quality

Romania: Always Interesting

Hey, it works!
Who needs a grill?A little scotch tape goes a long way for a Dacia!

Apparently the sack of potatoes weighed a lot more than the woman who actually needed the wheel-chair!