Flooding in Romania

Northeastern Romania (counties of Suceava, Botoşani, Iaşi, Neamţ, and Vaslui) are experiencing devastating flooding. Please pray for the waters to recede, for the safety of the people, and for needed government aid to get to the people without bureaucratic nightmares.

Spotlight on Târgu Mureş

The city of Târgu Mureş (pronounced ter-gew-moor-esh) is probably my favorite city in Romania for many reasons. It is pretty, historic, and there is lots to do here. But it's the people that make it special. I have worked a lot in this city and have many friends here.

The city is the center of Mureş county, in northcentral Romania, in the famed region known as Transylvania. The city was first documented in 1332 in the papal registry under the name Novum Forum Siculorum.
In 1405, the King of Hungary Sigismund of Luxembourg granted the city of Tîrgu Mureş (by then named Székelyvásárhely, see Székely) the right to organize fairs; in 1482 King Matthias Corvinus declared the city a royal settlement. It became a municipality in 1616, changing its name to Marosvásárhely, the Romanian equivalent of which is Târgu Mureş (târg and vásár mean "Market" in Romanian and Hungarian respectively). The city received a major boost to its social and economic life when it became home to supreme court of justice of the Principality of Transylvania in 1754.
Avram Iancu, the leader of the 1848 Romanian revolution in Transylvania, was a young lawyer in the city of Târgu Mureş before engaging in the fight for the rights of Romanians living in Transylvania. The provincial appearance of the city changed greatly in the late 19th century and early 20th century. In 1913, the Transylvanian Secession-style city hall complex was opened, as part of mayor Bernády György s urban renewal. Economic success continued until World War II. After the conflict, together with the rest of Transylvania, Târgu Mureş became part of Romania. and was re-named Oşorheiu. From having been an 89% Hungarian-populated city (1910). After World War II, the communist administration of Romania conducted a policy of massive industrialization that completely re-shaped the community, and set up a Hungarian Autonomous Province based in the city, which lasted 15 years. Târgu Mureş became the center of economic and social life of the region.
In March 1990, shortly after the Romanian Revolution of 1989 overthrew the communist regime, Târgu Mureş was the stage of violent confrontations between ethnic Hungarians and Romanians.
As of 2000, a considerable percentage of the population of Târgu Mureş has started to work abroad temporarily. The local economy has started to get stronger after various investors settled in the area. The most important investor in the area is Prolemn SA. Târgu Mureş has a substantial ethnic Hungarian minority, some of whom identify as Székelys- Since 2003 some Székely organizations have been campaigning for the city to again become center of an autonomous region.

The city’s greatest growth has been in the 20th century. It has a sugar refinery, a nitrogenous fertilizer works using natural-gas by-products, and factories producing furniture, clothing, leather goods, and processed foods. New residential districts at Oancea and Merişani contrast with surviving old buildings. Pop. 163,625.

The city's historic medieval fortress

The Romanian Orthodox Cathedral dominates the main center, known as the place of roses

The interior of the Cathedral--the only cathedral in the world where every inch of the interior is intricately painted

On the other end of the city center lies the smaller Orthodox Cathedral

The Catholic Church

The city is known for it's handmade arts and crafts like these

The city's industry is growing, as evidenced by the newly opened Mureş Mall

One of my favorite places to visit is this, the recreation area known as "The Weekend" It has 4 heated Olympic size pools, waterslides, rowing, sand volleyball courts, tennis, table tennis, restaurants, and basketball courts. Entrance is cheap, and after 6 p.m. is free!!

The rowing area and some of the pools

Siberian tigers at the city's zoo

Surrounding the city are a number of health spas, like this one

The leading medicine university in Romania is in Târgu Mureş

Love the Randomness

Just another random sign in rural Romania: “Private rented field You may not use it for bees”

Cipri's Wedding

This past weekend it was my honor to serve as best man in my good friend Cipri's wedding in Târgu Mureş. Cipri and I go back, having worked several summers together in orphan outreach, and I stayed with him and his family for many months. Currently, he has been working in Ireland (Dublin) and it is there that he met Liliana, the love of his life. Liliana is from the Republic of Moldova, a former Romanian territory, annexed by the Russians following WWII. They speak a dialect of the Romanian language there. Plans are for the couple to work in Ireland for another year, and then establish themselves back in my favorite Romanian city: Târgu Mureş. It was a nice wedding. I should have more pictures soon, but am still waiting for all the pics that were professionally done with the wedding party. Please pray with me that their love for each other would be rooted in Christ and that they would grow deeper each day in their love for both one another and for Christ.

It is tradition in Romania for the couple to sit under a canopy at the wedding.

The reception was held at a quite elegant hotel ballroom

And the food....WONDERFUL. Traditionally, a Romanian wedding could last 10 hours or more. Each course is served by the hour. This is a picture of JUST the appetizers. This is followed by soup, then salad, then the main course, then ice cream, then cake, and then after all that, another round of fresh meats off the grill with side dishes. It was delicious!

Oameni dragi (dear friends) the Floreas

Me with Cipri and Liliana

With Cipri's parents

Camp Update

The late night crew, keeping everyone up :)

I got back from a couple weeks of camp. Man, did God "knock our socks off" once again. I participated in a camp with some fellow youth leaders for a week strategizing for the upcoming year and leading some small-group discussions. It was a productive week. That was followed up with my church's youth camp. Words cannot express how God moved in this camp. We were blessed to be staying at a cabin in Paltiniş, Romania, with a spectacular view of the Carpathian mountains...adding further proof to my claim that Romania IS the MOST beautiful country. I think the fact that we were well organized for this camp made a huge difference. The Bible study was just that, a study, interactive and challenging. The theme of the camp was "The Final Destination" as we looked at living a life with and for Christ. We enjoyed laughing so hard, we cried, making new friends, many deep conversations, and sharing our testimonies to marginal Christians. One lady said that, "if this is Christianity, I want to be a part of it." An added bonus was a day-long hike (quite the adventure) to a mountain peek at 7,600 feet. The serenity and just utter beauty of God's creation was on full display. We also had a video/picture contest between groups, where groups had to complete several challenges. For instance, making a film of themselves singing the Romanian National Anthem with people from the village. You can imagine the laughs and fun that was had by all. We really grew as a group from the camp, and learned life lessons, both through study and application. Even the food was great at this camp! Like I said, camps in Romania are special times. Praise God for His work!

Wherever there is water, there is Mihai's heart :)



Gotta love the silly pics once in a while. This is me with Cipri and Anita

Bible Study

The Final Destination

The hiking gang (many stayed back at the cabin)

Lunch time

Camp Time!

It's summer and it's camp time! Please pray for this precious time, that relationships would be formed, strengthened, lives transformed, and that more and more Romanian youth would devote their lives to Christ. Please also pray for me as I mentor fellow youth leaders and people from my church. It's camp time--I'm SO excited!

Romanian Nat'l Fotbal team

The Euro 2008 Fotbal (soccer) championships may be over (Romania missed making the quaterfinals on a heartbreaker...I'm still not ready to talk about it) but after the Championships (Spain won by the way), our national team did us proud by winning the prize for the most passionate singing of a national anthem. When was the last time you saw sports teams singing the national anthem with so much passion? They did us proud! Here is the national team's rendition of Deşteaptă-te Române! HAI ROMÂNIA!

Some things learned in Romania!

This list is adapted from the work of Sharon Bemis, a friend in Romania

• It takes six chocolate bars to make a double recipe of chocolate chip cookies.


• 40 degrees Celsius is hot! (about 105 degrees Fahrenheit). Temperatures in Bucureşti hover at 40 degrees celsius for most or all of July


• Brown eggs are just as good and clean as white ones.


• The toilet flusher is not always a knob (in Romania, it never is); it might be a chain, a button on the wall, a button on the toilet, or a bucket of water.


• Speaking of toilets, toilet paper is not always meant to be thrown into the toilet. Now for a question to keep you awake tonight: what do you do when the sign reads “Do NOT throw toilet paper into the toilet, it WILL clog it; please throw it into the basket,” and you forget and throw your paper in the toilet on habit? Do you leave it there hoping no one will know that you were the culprit, or do you fish it out? Just hypothetically speaking, of course . . .

• I will never understand the point of putting a glass window on the bathroom door


• Two guys walking down the road holding hands does NOT mean the same thing in every part of the world. It might just mean that they’re good friends.


• Coca-Cola is not the same all over the world.


• Dyed blond hair very rarely looks good or remotely natural.


• Dyed purple or blue hair looks even less natural. Especially when it’s on a 75-year-old woman.


• Good teeth are a luxury. Braces even more so!


• Having all of your teeth as an adult is also a luxury.


• Europeans have NO CLUE about what really goes on in America. As a journalist, the European press brings a whole new meaning to the term "media bias"


• It's difficult explaining to my Romanian brothers and sisters why it might be offending to go up to a black and ask to take a picture with him/her (in Romania, there are very few blacks)


• Store bought tomatoes in the United States don’t taste very much like tomatoes should taste. Romania has better fruits and vegetables


• Pomelo is an incredible fruit (too bad the price has about tripled in the last several months).


• You will never hear someone say, “I want to marry an American because their accent is just so attractive!!”


• It is possible (and not even hard) to heat up leftovers in the stove.


• The washing machine is perhaps the most useful and amazing invention ever. Probably even more useful and amazing than the automobile.
• Having a dryer is a luxury...a clothes line takes a long time in winter


• Cellphones have deteriorated my generation's ability to talk face-to-face



• Related to that, cellphone etiquette should be a required course in schools


• It’s possible to live without peanut-butter


• It’s NOT possible to live without COLBY cheese, root beer, and Taco Bell


• There IS a word in Romanian for ‘cranberry’–’merisor.’ Unfortunately, Romanians have never heard that word before.


• The world doesn’t end if things don’t start ‘on time’ (or at least it hasn’t yet).
  ‘On time’ is relative.


• Pigeons and doves are NOT the same thing (in Romanian they are the same word: porumbel)


• Smelling good is relative.


• If you have an average home, multiple cars, a fishing boat, etc.,; this does NOT mean you are just making ends meet


• Romanians make the best mashed potatoes


• European football (soccer) fans make NFL fans in States look apathetic


• Southerners give America a bad reputation. In Romania, if you have a northern accent, they won't believe you are from the States. Nope, either Canada or Ireland!


• Being able to play your favorite sport at the local school without paying $20 an hour is a luxury


• Believe it or not, Americans are very defensive drivers...come to Romania and see why


• If Americans don't start requiring kids to learn a second language in grade school...I give up!


• Romanian is the language of heaven!
  
• I am proud to be an adopted Romanian!


• I am proud to have seen more Minnesota Viking material in Romania than Packer garbage by about a 4:1 ratio...SKOL Vikings!


• It made me smile when a Romanian friend returning from states said, "I loved Minnesota, all the lakes and nice people was a welcome retreat from how boring it is in Wisconsin!"


• Geography lesson: Bucharest, Romania and Budapest, Hungary are NOT the same


• Too many Christians do not fast and pray....but Romanian Christians are warriors in this regard


• Romanian youth are incredibly talented and creative....not shy at all


• Romania is STUNNINGLY beautiful
• Absolute truth is NOT relative and is the same in every culture.
  
• A lot of ‘truth’ isn’t very true.

Kairos Course in Bucureşti

Each week my colleagues and I have been teaching the Kairos course to a group of Romanian youth quite passionate for missions. The Kairos course is an excellent in-depth examination of God's plan for the nations and looks at the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12), the re-affirmation of that covenant time and time again throughout the course of the Bible, as well as the history of missions, modern issues in missions, un-reached ethnic groups, strategic church planting, cross-cultural communication, and much more. I have enjoyed interacting with this group and am excited for their potential. Some of them have already been on short-term trips to places like India, Ethiopia, Ukraine, in addition to the thousands of villages in Romania without an evangelical church. The students have been challenged that we too play an important role in God's plan for the nations. Kairos poses an important question: if your church is not involved at all in missions or reaching the lost, is your church then biblical? And if you do not have a heart for the lost; if you do not serve, support, or pray for the lost and the world missions movement, are you being biblical? Something to think about!

We live in a world fixated on "meism," (my problems, my job, my family, my bank account, my business). Yet, we serve a God fixated on the principle of "Agape" (other-regarding care). Our God wants us to open our eyes and put the needs of others before ourselves. I think this a group of Romanian youth demonstrating that very concept. With what little they have, they are using a great percentage of their time, effort, and monetary resources to serve in missions, support missions, and pray for missions. Praise God!