Gotta Love It!

Just your normal city park bench :)

24 hours in Bucharest

Friends and conversation on the terrace
Steps to the underground world, otherwise known as the Bucharest Metro (Subway)

Quiet solitude

Mass transport

Daily shopping at the local piaţa

Just hangin with the guys over "tabla"

moving the masses

If it's saturday, it's wedding day Night vision

And what would a day in Bucharest be without waiting...waiting for the tram, waiting for the light to turn green, waiting for a friend, waiting in line, waiting for hope, waiting for answers, waiting for reforms, waiting for a Saviour....yes, waiting

Foişorul de Foc: the Fire Tower

The Old Fire Watch Tower is not far from my apartment. It was built in 1715.... amazing. It was the place where fires were watched for in the city way back when. Today, it is a landmark and a great directional point for that neighborhood.

Overseen in Bucureşti

Morning rush-hour at the Dristos metro (subway) stop
Translation: "If you stop and park in front of my gate, your tire will be flattened! Dude!"

Translation: "We don't have tickets for ITB and we don't know where to buy them either"

Bucureşti, România: the fancy car capital of europe

The above quote is meant to be sarcastic. I just saw on EuroNews that Bucharest, Romania has more cars worth over 100,000 euros registered in the city than in any other city in Europe! Wow! I can't say that I am really that surprised. I have seen more Lamborghini's, Ferrari's, BMWs, Porsche's, etc. in Romania in ONE day than I have ever seen in the States--and I'm not exaggerating. There are some wealthy people in Romania making a lot of money off of the average Romanian worker. In Romania there is an even wider discrepancy between the rich and the poor than in most countries. The wealthy are VERY wealthy, and the poor the polar opposite. As a guy, I have to say it is quite the testosterone rush to get to check out so many cars that all guys dream of driving, but then reality sets in. What in the world does someone need a car like that for? And think of all the wonderful causes that money could go towards in Romania, where needs are just screaming out at you. In Romania, appearance is everything. The elites want to show off their fancy cars and exploit their wealth for all eyes to see. Even people in the middle and lower economic classes put a lot of effort into how they dress--again in Romanian culture, appearance is important. So if you want to see the coolest, most expensive cars in the world, head to Romania. Lets pray that people would stop putting their status on material wealth and start searching instead for the Kingdom of Heaven!

Spotlight on Constanţa

This is another one of my favorite places to visit in Romania. Why? I love the water and the Black Sea. Constanţa (pronunciation in Romanian: /kon'stan.ʦa) is the oldest city in Romania. Constanţa has the biggest harbour on the Black Sea and the fourth largest in Europe, having the potential in the next few years to become the second largest in Europe after Rotterdam.

A number of inscriptions found in the town and its vicinity show that Constanţa lies where once Tomis stood. Tomis (also called Tomi) was a Greek colony in the province of Scythia Minor on the Black Sea's shore, founded around 500 BC for commercial exchanges with local Daco-Getic populations.

Tomis was later renamed to Constantiana in honour of Constantia, the half-sister of Constantine the Great (274-337). The city lay at the seaward end of the Great Wall of Trajan, and has evidently been surrounded by fortifications of its own.

The third largest city in Romania, Constanţa is now an important cultural and economic center, worth exploring for its archaeological treasures and the atmosphere of the old town center. Its historical monuments, ancient ruins, grand Casino, museums and shops, and proximity to beach resorts make it the focal point of Black Sea coast tourism. Open-air restaurants, nightclubs and cabarets offer a wide variety of entertainment. While in the area, you can visit traditional villages, vineyards, ancient monuments and the Danube Delta, a bird-lover's paradise.
Constanţa is more than just the entry point to the Black Sea coast. It is a place with a long and interesting past, attested by its many Roman vestiges, historic buildings, facades and mosques that color the Old City Center.

The city is also the center of Islam in Romania, as depicted by this mosque

The ship yards

Fountains in the center

The city is known for its bright pink busses

And its famed casino

Training Youth Leaders

This picture would be indicative of a youth ministry course in Romania. Why? Because the classroom is empty. Currently there does not exist a single course in any of Romania's Christian universities relating to youth ministry. This is a tragedy. The level of thinking is that once a student completes pastoral training, he is suddenly ready to put on the youth leader hat. Obviously, you can smell the train wreck that this creates. Few youth leaders in Romania have ever had any training whatsoever (not even a seminar or a class) to prepare them for working with youth in their church. Hence, it is no wonder why the quality of youth ministry in Romania is suffering. I am well aware of this HUGE neeed in Romania. I am working this fall on writing a proposal to teach a course at several of Bucharest's seminaries on contemporary youth ministry (an introduction per say). In addition, we will be organizing some seminars related specifically to youth ministry issues with fellow pastors and the youth leadership network. Please pray for me as I work out these proposals, meet with the proper people, build coalitions, and ultimately try to adress this huge need.

One of the local seminaries in Bucharest

The Bucureşti Nightmare: Parking!

Since 1994, there are over 1 million more cars in Bucureşti, and the city has constructed VERY few parking spots to accommodate the situation. As a result, parking is absolutely awful. It is not rare for someone to search around their own apartment bloc for 30 minutes just trying to find a place to park. I have to park literally three to four city blocks away from my apartment because there is nowhere else to park. Many people leave their cars in the middle of a major boulevard, parked on the tram tracks, because there is no parking spot for kilometers. We are all praying that SOME DAY the city officials will wake up and start building parking ramps. For now, it is WWIII to find a place to park. And when it snows, well....you can imagine the catastrophe.

Tight streets, even tighter parking

This, by the way, is a one-way street....with people going both ways trying to find a place to park

And then if you do find a spot, you have to worry about this: someone parking in front of you and blocking you in. Just recently, I had someone block me in at night and I was in a hurry to get out...not fun :(