On Saturday I sang several songs at Anca & Ionel's wedding together with my church music director, Slavic. It went well! We pray that God will bless Anca and Ionel. Anca is a social assistant who works at a Bucharest foundation working with orphan children. Ionel works in evangelistic ministries to areas in Romania that are yet unreached with the Gospel. Congratulations Anca and Ionel!
It has been snowing continuously in Bucureşti since Monday, making quite the mess. Now, I like winter and snow, but in Romania I much prefer the snow when I am out in the countryside or in the mountains. In Bucureşti? I hate snow. It is such a mess. Just yesterday my best friend and I had to shovel the car out of 5 different parking spaces (in Bucureşti you shovel yourself out and bury the person next to you. And since we park on sidewalks, there is absolutely no room to put the snow, so people bury their neighbor or throw snow in the middle of the road). People are falling down on sidewalks because the city does not shovel snow. I cannot wait for spring!
This is part of a video that was shown in my church in Bucureşti on Sunday. Pretty incredibile! Please take a look. We truly are upheld, delivered, and saved at the cross.
The city of Bucureşti has been busy sprucing up the 10's of thousands of grey concrete bloc apartment buildings (built under the communist regime) that dominate the city's archetecture by giving them new coats of paint and resurfucing the exteriors. Believe me, it makes a world of difference and adds a little color to the grey jungle. Just check out the before and after shots.
I stumbled upon this variation of one of my favorite songs that I sang in choir when I was in high school. It is a beautiful song and this rendition by David Archuleta (American Idol runner-up) honestly put me to tears. Bravo David!!! It made me think of the many children around the world living on a prayer. I hope you enjoy it.
We had a great time on our winter retreat up at Vatra Dornei, skiing, sledding, playing games, and spending time in fellowship with the Lord and with one another. I led the lessons and small group discussion times on being authentic Christians and finding a place of service in the Church and in the community. We had 30 youth on this retreat. It was a blessed time and I enjoyed the opportunity to get to know some fresh faces a little better.
I hope all of you have a very blessed 2010. I celebrated New Year's Eve with about 50 youth from my church where we prayed, reflected on the blessings of 2009, sang songs, and played a lot of fun games. The other night we also went ice skating...here are some shots. We have a lot planned for 2010, so please continue to hold me and my youth ministry team in your prayers.
