Summer Highlights

A wise pastor used to tell me that the secret of building Christ's Kingdom is about sharing life together, investing in the lives of others. This is why summer is so important in youth ministry. I have had the opportunity to impact lives of youth both inside and outside of Bucureşti, strategize with youth leaders, and share the Gospel to non-Christians. It is certainly a privilege to spend time with young Romanians, making new frieneds, hearing their stories, praying together, singing praises to God, and of course, laughing together. There have been canoe rides, long hikes, scavenger hunts, campfires, Bible lessons, dramas, small-group discussions, and many deep conversations. I love this time of the year and give God all the glory! It's amazing what a little time away at camp or on an excursion can do to build friendships and spiritual growth.

Romania: Simply Golden!

It was a big day for Romanian at the Beijing Games, as Sandra Izbasa (above) won the gold medal in the floor exercise....
Georgeta Adrunache si Viorica Susanu repeated what they did in Athens: win the gold medal in women's double sculls

and Constantina Tomescu won the gold in the women's marathon!

Flooding in Romania

Here is a local news clip of some of the flooding in north-eastern Romania. Many people have lost homes. Please pray for the waters to recede and for the necessary help to reach the people, without bureacratic nightmares.

Some thoughts on Olympics

Well, the Romanian gymnastics team won the bronze medal, continuing our long tradition of medaling in women's gymnastics. No one in Romania would deny that this was a rebuilding time period for our team, so we are quite happy with the bronze...we already knew the gold was out of reach. Congratulations to the Chinese for winning their first team gold ever--they deserved it. Now for some thoughts:

• Is there a single person out there who doesn't know that the Chinese gymnasts were under age? My problem is not with them, it is with the International Olympic Committee. If you are going to have an age limit, enforce it. If you are not going to enforce it, just lower the age limit and get on with it.
• Let me give you a little bit of perspective on why the rest of the world gets so frustrated with America's superpower status. Because NBC sports in the States paid a lot of money for rights to broadcast the Olympics, NBC sports (not the Chinese Olympic delegation nor the International Olympic Committee) has been able to dictate when events will take place, how they will be covered, etc. Take the gymnastics events for instance. NBC sports demanded that they be able to show the events LIVE to the American audience (never mind the rest of the world), and as such, the finals (for swimming as well) take place early, early morning in Beijing, all so they can be shown live on PRIMETIME American television. What does this mean for us? It means if we want to see any Olympic events, we have to get up at 4 in the morning. What does this mean for the athletes? It means they too must get up at 4 in the morning to get ready. I don't know about you, but in a sport like gymnastics where flexibility and being loose is so important, I can imagine the athletes are not happy that finals are at 9 in the morning Beijing time. Why? So NBC sports can show the events live to the American audience. Interestingly that when the Olympics were in Atlanta, the Americans and NBC sports never changed schedules so events could be shown LIVE in PRIMETIME for Europeans or Asians.
• Then there is the issue of coverage. And this is not criticism just of America, but the big countries in general. If your athletes are not from the USA, China, Germany, France, good luck trying to see your athletes compete. This is how the coverage goes for us in Romania...: we get to see the American or Chinese gymnast perform his/her routine, and then the commentator says...."And our own Marian Dragulescu just performed a perfect vault." We don't actually see the vault, just hear about it. We rarely get to see our own gymnasts, because we are forced to watch the Americans, Chinese and French. I guess that just goes with living in a smaller country, but nevertheless, is extremely frustrating.
• And then if you want to go online and watch recaps, you can't. They are blocked by NBC sports. All we get to see are pictures.
• There are over a thousand athletes in Beijing NOT named Michael Phelps (don't get me wrong, I love the guy, and think what he is doing is awesome...I love to watch him too). But come on, this is ridiculous. Coverage: Michael Phelps 90%, rest of the Olympians 10% (frustrating because we would like to watch some of the other less prominent events where Romania will take some medals).
• Russia and China are bullies. It's time for the rest of the world to wake up. I am starting to wonder whether the world will ever stand up to them, and it is kind of scary. Putin may not be the president of Russia, but I think we all know who is in charge over there (and in Romania--we REALLY know). This conflict in Georgia only highlights how little impact multi-national organizations have. I mean what is the point of groups like NATO, UN, Black Sea Congress, etc., if they have no power or sway over conflict? And then there is China. The world drools over how China has progressed, is putting on such a big display. But what about the dissidents, Tibet, religious freedom, etc.? And if I were Chinese, I would be embarrassed to hear that my country replaced a beautiful 6-year-old singer who did an incredible job singing the Chinese anthem, with a girl lip-syncing because she is supposedly more beautiful. I mean COME ON! When did we get to the point of saying a 6-YEAR-OLD little girl isn't pretty enough to be on international TV? Wow! But I will tip my hat to the Chinese for the opening ceremony--it was great. I still think, however, that the most incredible lighting the torch ceremonies were in this order: 1) Barcelona (the shooting of the arrow was just awesome) and 2) Sydney (the waterfall was beyond words).
• I just love the Olympics. The emotion, performances, etc. Congrats to the US 4x100 relay team. What a race! And did anyone see the interviews with Michael Phelps' mom? I love that lady! It's just neat watching athletes achieve what they have worked so hard for, and watching them get choked up as their anthem is played.
• Two University of Minnesota volleyball players are making waves at the Olympics. Volleyball is my favorite sport to play (gymnastics to watch) and I was a season ticket holder of U of M volleyball. Nicole Branagh is 2-0 in beach volleyball and setter Lindsey Berg is playing with the US indoor team. They were teammates at the U of M and dominated the Big Ten.
• Finally, my favorite non-Romanian athlete I'm cheering for? Spain's Rafael Nadal. I LOVE tennis, and Nadal is my man. Anyone catch the awesome Wimbledon final? VAMOS RAFA!

Volleyball Tournament & Fellowship

Last Saturday I organized a youth fellowship day among several youth leaders and their churches, comprised of a volleyball tournament, prayer, fellowship, and food. We had a great turnout and a lot of fun together. Thanks for your prayers!

Romania's first Gold

Alina Dumitru won Romania's first gold medal at the olympics in judo, upsetting the world champion and heavily favored japonese woman pictured above. Hai Romania!

Let the Games Begin

As Beijing welcomes the world to the Olympic Games (and the smog...I cannot believe the pictures of the pollution there), let me remind you of Romania's long Olympic history. Romania has been a force in the summer games for some time. In fact, our country has won the most medals per capita (divide the medals by the population of the country) at the summer games since 1972 (I know, random fact, but we are proud of it nonetheless). Our most famous Olympian is without a doubt, Nadia Comaneci, considered even by ESPN as the top female athlete of all time. For a country whose Olympic budget is not even a fraction of America's, Romania holds it's own. Here's to the triculor...Hai România!!!!!!! Some athletes and sports where Romania should do well:

America's arch rival in rowing and canoeing? That's right, Romania. Perhaps no sport has been so dominated by Romanians than rowing.

The gymnastics competition will be between America, China (with their extremely underage gymnasts with fraudulent passports), and of course, Romania. This is considered a rebuilding year for Romania, but nevertheless, don't count us out. Romania is the two-time defending Olympic gold medal team. Look for Romania to be dominate on the balance beam. Our top gymnast is Stelina Nistor (pictured above), who is a top medal contender on the uneven parallel bars. Let me remind you that America was not even on the gymnastics map until they stole their coaches from....yes, Romania. The head of the American gymnastics team is Marta Karolyi, from Oneşti, Romania and former coach to Nadia Comaneci.

On the men's side, Romania is aiming to be on the podium (a bronze would be an accomplishment). Top contenders are Daniel Popescu (above) and Marian Dragulescu (below), who should compete for some individual medals on the vault (he is considered the best in the world) and the floor exercise.

In track and field, Romania is competitive in the triple and long jumps, in addition to long-distance running.

The Romanian women are gold medal favorites in handball

The Lighter Side

Hmmm...red or green, in Romania,,,,we don't pay attention to the light anyway :)
Apparently in Bucureşti, Santa drives a bus

Hope he bothered to buy a ticket

A little Coca-Cola decour

Translation: "swimming/bathing forbidden, fishing forbidden, keep it clean"

A little hard to get to this trash can

Varza (cabbage): it's the NEW trend :)

Leading a service in Pantelimon

Tonight I helped organize some of our youth in leading a church service at a small community church in a suburb of Bucureşti called Pantelimon. We led worship, recited some poems, shared testimonies, passages, and enjoyed the fellowship with this small congregation. This next year we want to be doing more in missions in our city and across borders. This is exciting because I think this group has TONS of potential. We have a youth group that has really grown this past year in maturity and in unity. That is the Lord's doing. They are young people who put the needs of others before themselves. And I am here to tell you that this is RARE in my generation. I think my generation is probably the most selfish in world history. But this group is growing. An example of this is a woman in our youth group "Nataşa" whose family has lost everything in the floods. Immediatedly our youth responded with words of encouragement, prayers, and began working to form teams to go up to this village to work in construction and relief efforts. Other examples? We have online group forums, and everyday they share prayer requests, words of encouragament, etc. And now they are rising to the challenge of how they can be a blessing to others and work more in Romania's role in the Great Commission. We will be forming a missions team and already have our eyes set on several initiatives and work in reaching the lost of Romania and beyond. Please pray for these efforst to bear much fruit.