Sharing Life Together

I just got back from the wrap-up session of Viaţa la Maxim. The week-long outreach program went very well--thank you so much for your prayers. In the mornings, I led a VBS program for kids of various ages at a large park near my apartment. Despite rain, we still had 30 kids with their parents and grandparents on the first day, and by the last day, we had well over 60 kids. Praise the Lord! We sang songs, played games, presented dramas and puppet shows, and had ample time to share our faith with the adults.

In the afternoons, we went on prayer-walks around Bucharest, visited orphanages, and ministered in nursing homes. And if that weren't enough, each evening I played volleyball with youth in various parks around the city. The final day, we had day-long tournaments for various sports in several parks around Bucharest. During that time, we were able to have many great conversations with non-Christian youth and I am very encouraged to see how many new relationships were formed. Romanians truly have a gift for evangelism. This my friends, makes me really excited, because the Romanian youth are starting to recognize their role in the Great Commission, and it's an important one, especially considering the spiritual state (or lack thereof) in Europe today. The youth of Romania are one of the few sparks in a dark continent.

I cannot tell you enough how great it was to see Christian youth swapping phone numbers, emails, and setting up get-togethers with the non-Christian youth in the parks. It was a great week, but I must admit that I'm exhausted! Here are some pictures from some of the week's activities:

Our winning volleyball team collecting awards

An evangelism drama

We had kids of all ages

The kids loved getting their faces painted...

...and puppet shows

We had plenty of time to talk with the youth about "real" life issues

Over 10 teams participated in our volleyball tournament

Viaţa la Maxim!

Next week I am participating in a city-wide outreach event in Bucharest called Viaţa la Maxim (Life At Maximum). This event is a collaboration of churches and organizations in Bucharest working together to raise awareness about the evangelical churches in the city. One of the major questions that youth leaders face in Bucharest (as in most places) is how do you get the non-Christian youth to ever step foot in a church like one pictured above? I have heard so many ideas of people who have their own agendas of how to reach out to the lost youth of today. But personally, I think the answer is pretty simple: we start reaching the lost youth of today by simply sharing life together with them. It isn't rocket science, it just means that the youth of today are not into hidden agendas, they just want someone to a) invest in their life b) genuinely care about them c) not judge them and perhaps most importantly, they are looking for people who will d) listen to them. The Viaţa la Maxim project is an effort to build that first connection. We will be meeting in several parks around Bucharest, having sports tournaments, art, prayer-walks, city clean-up, dramas, music, and contests in addition to small group interactions. Through the week-long event, our prayer is to see some connections being made between Christian and non-Christian youth. We are not there to preach, but rather, open the door to sharing life together.

Please pray for us as we make final preparations and pray that God will open some doors for new relationships to be formed.

Reasons to visit Romania!

August is the month of vacations in Romania. If you haven't seen someone in a while, odds are they went to some of the places pictured below. Like most places this summer, it has been extremely hot in Bucharest. Last week temperatures were over 100 degrees for days and this week they are sitting in the mid-90s--oh joy! Moreover, Bucharest is quite humid. So how do we 'Bucharestians' survive the heat? Well, we head to the mountains or flock to the seaside. I have been way too busy with projects for that, but plan to head to the water when I get a chance--my mom always said I was a fish. And my favorite type of water? COLD!! I was the weird kid who loved swimming in Lake Superior. As I always say, you don't go swimming to be warm, you go to cool off! Well, here are some pictures of why Romania is such a popular European tourist destination in the summer.

The cultural palce of the city of Iaşi, Romania

In summer, every Romanian and their brother flocks to the Black Sea Coast

A typical scene in the Romanian countryside

The Fagaraş Mountain Range

The "snake roads" of the Fagaraş Mountains are both scenic

and a "rollercoaster thrill ride" :)

I Love Camp!

I just got back from spending about a week and a half in camp, working with teenage boys from a suburb of Bucharest. I had a great time. Thank you to all of you who were praying for my time at camp--God blessed us greatly! The last night of camp, I had the privilege of praying with a 17- year-old boy to receive Christ in his heart. What a privilege! He has since called me in Bucharest to speak to his pastor about being baptized. I have many opportunities to follow-up with these kids in Bucharest and encourage them in their faith walks. Below are some pictures from camp in Romania--one of my favorite places to be!

My group of teenage boys at camp

We enjoyed beautiful weather,

allowing us to have lessons outside

My good friend Cat may kill me for this picture, but he was

just a natural at "Pudgy Bunny"

Escorting the Apostle Paul on one of his missionary journeys

The Kids loved the Slip 'N' Slide

So Mike, How can I support you?

Many of you have asked me how you can sign up to support my missions work in Romania with OC International. Thank you!!! As a faith-based missions organization, OC International relies upon the sacrificial giving of families and individuals like you who consider it a worthwile investment to support missionaries working for God's kingdom around the world. Each month, I have a monthly support requirement to raise. Believe me, everything counts. I do not take your investment lightly--it is a great blessing and encouragment to me and I thank God and pray for each person who joins my support network. So, how can you sign up to support my ministy to the youth of Romania?

1. Visit the OC International Website (www.onechallenge.org). You can sign up for automated donations right on our Website.
2. Write to OC International (P.O. Box 36900 Colorado Springs, CO 80936). Please indicate your donations are for Michael Lundell
3. Drop me an email if you have any questions. (MichaelLundell@oci.org)
4. Please remember me in your prayers!

Upcoming Ministry Events

(The Romanian National Flag)

The month of August is going to be a very busy month for me in Romania. I could greatly use your prayers for these upcoming events:

• On July 30th, I leave for camp for about two-weeks with orphan teenagers. Please pray that we would be able to be effective in communicating to these young adults that they can have a real relationship with Christ.
• I have been asked to help a young church-plant in Bucharest with some retreats and Vacation Bible School programs for their youth in mid-August. Please pray for effective planning and outreach.
• At the end of August through early September, I will be participating in a city-wide sports evangelism program across Bucharest. I have been invited to help with the volleyball program. Every city park will have some type of activity (including arts & city clean-up) in addition to speakers and Christian music. Please pray that this event will raise publicity for the evangelical churches in Bucharest and that relationships can be started to further disciple and befriend non-Christian youth in Bucharest.
• I have been asked to start a network meeting this upcoming fall for youth pastors around Bucharest to come together to share resources, prayers, and encouragement. Please pray for me as I continue to network and work with national leaders to develop such an important, needed, and useful group.

I greatly appreciate and thank you for your prayers. God continues to bless me with many opportunities for ministry in Romania, and it is a privilege to be serving Him in this land that I love So much!!!!

Old Friends are Golden

Now that I have a picture to post, I can tell you what a treat it was to be able to visit and catch up with some of my good friends from my days at Christian Student Fellowship at the University of Minnesota, who came to Romania in June for a few weeks to work in camps with orphan children. Pictured above are Andrea, Jenni, myself, Lance, and Kathy. We all have worked together in camps before and all have been touched greatly by the precious orphans of Romania and the beauty, majesty, and hospitality of the Romanian people and culture. I thoroughly enjoyed visiting with my good friends and showing them where I live in Bucharest. Praise God for their service this summer with the kids and for their passion to impact orphans with the message of hope, dignity, and love in Jesus' name. An added bonus was that yesterday I got to visit with Andrea here in Colorado before I head back to Bucharest. She was in Denver visiting relatives, so we got together on my day-off. These are some of my favorite people, so I surely thank God for opportunities to visit.

Well, I am soon off to Bucharest again. I cannot wait! This Romaniac misses his favorite land, and especially the comfort of his own bed :) Please pray for safety in travel and for a good wrap-up to the training I have had with my OC International family here in Colorado. I have learned a lot that has helped me to be a more effective and Christ-centered missionary to the youth of Romania. Mi-e dor de tara mea! (I miss my country: Romania that is!)

Training Thrills in Colorado

Currently I am in Colorado Springs, CO for several weeks, doing some training for new missionaries with OC International. This week we are looking at the importance of working on a TEAM, and as part of that, we all went whitewater rafting down the Arkansas River for three hours. It was a great exercise in team development. I had a blast! We had many missionaries who were a bit scared, but everyone went down the river. Another thing we are processing is dealing with opstacles and fear on the mission field, so whitewater rafting was a great tool, and a much welcomed break from the daily training routine. I cannot wait to go rafting again and I would love to find a place to take Romanian youth whitewater rafting.

Training at Bear Trap Ranch

Here are some pictures from the ranch where we are staying for these couple of weeks. The location is "Bear Trap Ranch," an InterVarsity camp 9,100 feet up in the Pikes Peak Region on the outskirts of Colorado Springs.

Some of the sleeping cabins

"Bear Trap Ranch" in the Pikes Peak region out of

Colorado Springs is where we are doing are training

Some of my mentors Deb Walker on the left and Liz Leary

Targu Mures

This past weekend, my family went to Targu Mures, Romania in the north-central region of Transylvania to visit with a number of families that are very special to me in my past ministry in this beautiful community. We had wonderful hospitality, great food, and unique experiences. My family simply fell in love with this very charming city. My friends were more than just a little excited to finally meet my family and friends--Praise the Lord!

My family got to experience their first Penticostal church service at "Biserica Penticostala Betel" in Targu Mures. In my work in youth ministry, I work with a number of denominations that make up the evangelical alliance in Romania. The Penticostal Union is the largest dencomination other than Eastern Orthodox in Romania. My family enjoyed this new, "cross-cultural" experience.

My Dad & Corrine got to go out in the countryside and learn about

Romanian farming with the Gaborean Family

My family enjoying a great meal with the Tinca Family

Mr. Cordos showing my Dad how we cut grass in Romania

Talking with the Cordos family in their beautiful garden

An Afternoon at the Tamas Family

Yesterday my family enjoyed the afternoon visiting some of my favorite people in the world, the Tamas Family. I think my Dad made a new friend in Simion Tamas--they laughed a lot and enjoyed looking at pictures of the log cabin my Dad built in Minnesota. Simion has been a part of building over 300 Baptist churches around Romania. My family got to enjoy their wonderful hospitality and eat Sarmale, the Romanian national dish. The Tamas family takes good care of me!

My Family with some of the Tamas Family. My friend Cat is kneeling down and his Dad Simion is putting his arm around his wife Jeni (who recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary) in their large, beautiful garden.

CAT's oldest brother "Felix" and his wife Oana. He is a pastor of a Baptist Church Plant in a small village outside of Bucharest. Please pray for Felix and Oana as they hope to try and travel to the States (pending the visa process) to try and find sponsorships for their work in church planting.

A picture of the Tamas boys, seeming as I can never quite get Florin in a picture. Felix (a pastor), Simion (who works closely with the Baptist Union), CAT (the music prodigy and one of my best friends), and Florin (a youth pastor and missionary).

Sarmale: The national dish of Romania (cabbage or grape leaves stuffed with pork, beef, and rice and smothered in sour cream. Very Yummy!)

Fellowship and Excursions

My Family enjoyed visiting the Radan Family the other night. We ate pizza, snacks, swapped stories, pictures, etc. and enjoyed a great time of fellowship. Thank you so much to the Radan Family for their warm hospitality. Margareta (Ela's mom) has already invited my Dad to come and visit their church in the countryside. My Dad has had several invitations. This past week, he led a seminar on human resource development for various Christian organizations and shared his testimony of faith in Christ to an evening meeting of former Romanian Military Officers at a local evangelical church in Bucharest. I also took them out for a day trip to the beautiful region of Sinaia, Romania, where we went up the cable cars to the peaks of the Carpathian Mountains and visited the gorgeous Peles Castle, home to King Carol I of Romania. My family loved it!

We had a wonderful time at the Radan family (Daniel is next to my Dad/Ela by my sister Corrine, and her mom Margareta by my mom). We ate wonderful food, fellowshipped, and enjoyed swapping stories.

The Rainbow on our train ride--a nice remembrance of God's covenant with his people in the book of Genesis

My mom took this shot of the valley while riding down the cable car

We arrived to the beautiful region of Sinaia, Romania by train

Amy & Corrine enjoying the Carpathian Mountains

The Peles Castle in Sinaia that my family visited

Happy Birthday Grandma Pat & Bev Christianson!

We took this group photo last night especially to wish my Grandma Pat and Amy Christianson's mom, Bev, a very happy birthday on June 13th! Yup, their birthdays are on the same day. We love you both and hope you have a great day. As we say in Romanian (pay attention, 'cuz' we'll all be speaking Romanian in heaven !): La Multi Ani! (many happy years)

Fireworks

So, fireworks huh--everybody loves them right? Well, what about at two in the morning when you are trying to sleep in Bucharest, Romania. Last night my family and I were awakened to a loud bang outside of my block apartment that sounded like gunfire--the whole bloc was illuminated. It turned out to just be your average person setting off fireworks in the park across from where I live at two in the morning :))) The fireworks went off for about 10 minutes straight, which set off the car alarms in my neighborhood, which then made the police sirens go off. While this hasn't happened in my neighborhood in a while, I told my family that it's all part of the ambiance :))) When in Romania I told them, expect the unexpected!

What? My Family is in Romania!!!!!

Well, I can hardly believe it, but as I write this update to you, my family is here in my block apartment in Bucharest, Romania--incredible! Well, they arrived here with all of their luggage, praise the Lord! They were exhausted, I'm sure, from the long flight, but it is such a huge blessing to have them here in Romania and to be able to share with them what has become nothing less than my heart beat and passion in life: sharing the love of Jesus amongst the beautiful culture and people of Romania. The first night that my family arrived with my sister's best friend Amy Christianson (she's been part of the family for a while), we had a pizza reception at the office, and my teammates enjoyed hearing stories about my Dad's log cabin and all of the work my mom has been doing in special education in Minnesota (how to treat autism in Romanian public schools is a HUGE need--if you have specialties in this area--LET ME KNOW!!). Afterward, they slept and slept. We have been enjoying some great hospitality from my teammates and exploring Bucharest by foot and public transportation. I think I have been wearing them out!!!

The funniest thing that has happened to us so far is that we all got stuck in the elevator in my Bloc the first day they arrived. Well, elevators in Romania are a bit different than in the States, and I think we were pushing the weight limit a little bit. So, we took it all the way down to the ground floor, but got stuck--I had to get a lady to nudge the door so we could get the elevator to work again. Meanwhile, the elevator is pretty small and my mom got a little claustrophobic. But, praise the LORD that we were only stuck for a few minutes. How is that for a welcome introduction to Romania? I guess you can chalk that one up as a cross-cultural experience. They have been using the stairs since :)) Again I must say what a blessing it is to have them in Romania to meet the people who mean so very much to me--my Romanian family and friends. We will be working with orphans, visiting friends, riding in cable cars up snow-capped mountains to see a cross, my Dad will be teaching a seminar on human-resource development, and of course, we will be enjoying some great Romanian cuisine, conversation, and enchanted castles. I hope my family enjoys visiting and seeing my country!

Wandering About Bucharest!

Here are some more pictures of what my family has been up to these first couple of days halfway around the world. It has been fun showing them my world and the country and people who are so very near and dear to my heart! Romania este o frumoasa tara! Romania is a beautiful country!

My parents enjoyed a stroll in my favorite park: "Herestrau"

We visited a museum showing traditional village homes of rural Romania

Visiting the old neighborhoods of Bucharest

Amy Christianson, a good friend of our family was able to make the trek to

Romania as well. Here, she got a big kick out of the "smart cars".

I don't think I could even get my body in this car :))))

Enjoying delicious Romanian Pizza!!

In front of the fountains in central Bucharest

Bucharest's Transportation Web

Many of you have asked me how I get around Bucharest. The answer is public transportation. Currently, Bucharest is home to the third largest transportation system in Europe (following London and Paris). But, once the new developments of the Bucharest subway system are complete (and of course there are always delays), the city will have the largest public transportation system in Europe, which includes above ground trams (pictured left), buses, subways, and maxi-taxis (15 passenger + vans). One of the best things that the communists did in Romania was invest in public transportation. You can get almost anywhere in the city with either the Subway, trams, buses, or maxi-taxis. And since such a large portion of the city does not have a car, it is very helpful. The public transportation system in Bucharest is years ahead of the Twin Cities, for my friends in Minnesota. It amazes me to hear that Minneapolis just got lightrail and people still have to debate whether it's useful. Trust me folks--public transportation helps!!! When I tell my Romanian friends that the Twin Cities does not have a Subway or much lightrail options, they are shocked--especially when they hear how cold it can get.

I am a big fan of the Bucharest Metro (Subway)--it's reliable, fast, cool (a true blessing for an extremely warm-blooded guy like me), and gets me to where I need to go. I heard the Metro company of Bucharest just ordered new cabins (not quite sure what you call Subway cars) for each line of the Metro--making it one of the most modern of Europe. Each station of the Metro has a boarding platform with seats, and some stations have stores, restaurants, cafes, McDonalds, etc. The Metro is part of what we Romanians refer to as the "under world".

I also enjoy that rail travel is still alive and well in Romania. It is a great way to get out and explore the beautiful country of Romania--complete with the snow-capped mountains, castles, rolling hills, and the Black Sea. The central train station in Bucharest is referred to as Gara de Nord. My team uses the trains a lot for many of our ministry visits outside of Bucharest. They are very affordable, comfortable, and typically quite punctual.