Catching Up With Old Friends

I had a fun time catching up with my good friend Callie Weed, pictured above, while she was here with her team from Florida. Callie and I worked together in the city of Târgu Mureş , Romania in the summer of 2002. We have remained close friends ever since. She has a great heart for Romania and has since shared that with her church in the Tampa Bay area. We explored the sites together, with some of my dear Romanian friends, including Cat (pictured above), and laughed so hard that our stomachs hurt! Callie will be in her final year of law school at Stetson University in Tampa, FL. Her desire is to impact adoption law and ultimately be an advocate for international adoptions and the needs of orphans around the world. Pray that God will continue to use Callie for His glory and for helping to give children around the world a better future. And for those of you who know Callie personally, tell her to get singing again--she has a BEAUTIFUL voice! Cat and I hope she will come back and record some songs with us on one of our new CDs.

The view from the People's Palace (the second largest building in the world) that we visited

A Really Cool Story

While working with the short-term team from Florida the other week, I had the pleasure of meeting Monica Wall, pictured above. Monica had just returned to Romania to work as a summer intern with a children's foundation in Bucureşti that ministers to orphan children. Monica knows what life is like as an orphan in Romania, because she used to be one. She was born in a Romanian prison, and later moved to a babies orphanage under the Ceauşescu regime, because the government deemed her mother incapable of raising her from a prison. At age 3, she was later transferred to Casa de Copii #7 . It was there that her life changed forever. Monica grew up having a problem with her ears, and a missionary named Annette took her to a hospital when she was around 10 -years -old to have her ears checked out. What was supposed to take about two weeks in the hospital, ended up taking two months. The day that she was supposed to be taken out of the hospital and returned to the orphanage, a team from Washington state came to Bucureşti to do missions work. The very night that Monica was supposed to return to the orphanage, a family from Washington had her stay with them, which was just fine with her, because the last thing she wanted to do was return to Casa de Copii #7. This family she stayed with, later adopted her in 1996 at 11-years-old. Her new mom is a special-education teacher and helped her immediately grasp the English language. In addition, she had a personal tutor in her third-grade class the instant she got to Washington. Monica says that she was immediately mainstreamed with the other students, and moved quickly from only knowing Romanian at the beginning of the school year, to being one of the top students in her class by Christmas. In only 6 months, she was speaking English fluently. While in Romania, Monica was in a regular school, but put in a room with other orphans, which she described as a system where orphans are considered "altfel", or simply regarded as "other". Monica is now 21-years-old and has two brothers and one sister. Despite growing up in a loving home, Monica has never forgotten her roots and plans to be quite active in helping the orphan situation in Romania. Monica can remember quite vividly what conditions were like and being lectured by orphanage workers to say only nice things about Ceauşescu and the Communist system. Monica is by all means a success story and a blessing for other orphans. She doesn't remember any Romanian now, but wants to learn and attends Fresno Pacific University in California to be a special education director. Praise God for Monica and pray that she will be able to impact the lives of more orphans through her life and testimony

The Florida Dream Team

I am pleased to present my first short-term missions team to Bucharest, First Baptist Church from St. Petersburg, Florida. A good friend of mine, Callie Weed (with the Carolina t-shirt), and I have worked together in Romania before, and she was excited to bring members of her church to Romania to assist in orphan care and outreach. The team has been working with a Christian foundation here in Bucureşti called Inimii Deschise (Open Hearts), also known as the Children to Love Foundation in the States. One of the strengths of my OC International team here in Romania is networking with Christian organizations in Romania to help build awareness and work together in HIS kingdom for the greater cause. We have a wonderful partnership with Inimii Deschise and are honored to send them teams. The team has been a great help and really have servant-hearts. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know each unique member--while picking on their Florida accents :) They have had a workout, visiting orphanages and group-homes in the mornings and afternoons all on foot, mastering the Bucureşti public transport network (trams, buses, subway, and trains). We also spent an evening with my OC International team, so they could get a feel of what life is like for a full-time missionary on the field, as well as get a flavor of how OC International is working to equip and mobilize the local church in Romania. It has been my pleasure to work with this team and I hope that they will be just the first of many short-term teams that I will be welcoming here to my little slice of heaven: Bucureşti that is. I will be contacting many of you in the near future with some short-term opportunities. Thank you First Baptist!

My Romanian Brother Florin

This is my Romanian brother, Florin, preaching at a local seminary's chapel service in Bucureşti. Florin, or Cica (chee-kah) as we call him, is a missionary/youth minister of a church 30 kilometers to the east of Bucureşti, called Fundulea. The church is largely made up of ethnic gypsies, and has really grown to have a wonderful outreach in the community. Florin is involved in working with the boys of the church in Bible study, young-men's discipleship, and helps to coordinate weekly soccer (fotbal for Europeans) matches for people in the community. He is a third-year pastoral student with a great heart for the Lord and a passion to preach the Gospel. I love his lively, straight-forward and challenging style to preaching. Moreover, he is engaged and will be getting married this July. I know that I have already learned a lot from "Cica" and am privileged to have him as one of my Romanian brothers. Please join me in praying for God to use Florin for HIS kingdom and for Florin and Ana (his fiancee) to have a long, Christ-filled life together.

Special Baptism service at Harul Church

On Sunday my colleague, Donna, invited my friend Cat and I to assist with music for a special baptism service at her church. The choir sang a piece by Ken Tucker that was too difficult for many piano players to play, but Cat (the amazing player that he is) had little problem playing the piece. I also sang a song with Cat during special music time. It was a great time of worship, especially having the privilege of watching six people profess their faith in Christ through baptism. The choir did a great job! This is a young church plant called "Harul" in Romanian (Grace Church) that spent many years in construction, but the congregation remained faithful. Today they have a beautiful facility in a largely unreached section of Bucureşti. The pastor is open and has a great heart and vision for outreach. Here are some picture from the day. My colleague Donna directing the choir

The baptized

One of the adolescents who was baptized

Cat concentrating at the piano

Scenes of Bucureşti

Rows and rows of apartment blocks

Aerial view of old-town Bucureşti

Mid-day hub of a busy city

At dusk

Evangelism in Odobesti

On Saturday I helped organize a large evangelism event in the city of Odobeşti, about 40 kilometers to the west of Bucureşti, with youth from my church and students studying at a Christian seminary. At least once a month, I have been going to this city to run a Bible club with children and adolescents. Since this is largely an unreached community, I called my best friend Cat and his band helped us organize an evangelism concert, complete with dramas, testimonies, games, food, and lots of time for one-on-one conversations. I was pleased for how the event turned out for several reasons. First, it was a chance to reach-out to a lost community. Second, it was a great way for the youth from my church and friends to get involved in outreach and to develop leadership and evangelism skills. Third, the day was absolutely beautiful, so we were able to have the concert outside. Fourth, somewhere between 150-200 people attended the concert--PRAISE THE LORD! Lots of parents came with children and seemed to have a great time. On the way home, the youth were buzzing with all the great connections and conversations that were had over the course of the day. We are hoping to build on this momentum to expand the Bible club in this city and spur growth in the local evangelical church. Here are some pictures from the day: One of the best up and coming Christian bands in Romania:

"Profides"

Playing games with the kids

Playing in a drama about

earthly temptations We were pleased to have young and old attend the concert

Here I am in another drama Around 100 kids attended the event

The President is impeached!

It's official! The Romanian parliament has officially impeached President Train Băsescu for allegations of not cooperating fully enough with the parliament and opposition parties. Yesterday there were massive rallies in some of Bucureşti's central squares in defense of the president. Băsescu has been quite outspoken about the need for reform in the government, especially in the years prior to Romanian's EU entry. He remains extremely popular among the populace. What now? It is likely that Băsescu will run in the elections (to be determined) to get his postion back. Some speculate that he would easily receive over 50 percent of the vote, eliminating the need for a runoff. What a mess! If you would like to read more, please follow this link:

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/04/19/romania.suspend.reut/index.html

Paul Washer in Romania

Last week I finally had the chance to listen to Paul Washer, director of HeartCry Ministries, preach at a local church here in Bucureşti. Washer, a former missionary himself in Latin America, is a gifted speaker and extremely popular here in Romania. He led a conference co-hosted by my home church here on post-modernism and its effects on the local church. His style is very straight-forward and thought-provoking. One of the main premises in his sermon is the lack of appropriate teaching on sin and repentance in the Church today and the rise of "feel good" churches that don't properly communicate to new or young Christians the importance of repentance and living according to Christlikeness. It certainly provided something to think about. If any of you have ever heard Paul Washer speak or have some thoughts, I would love to hear from you.

Happy Easter! Paşte Fericit!

Happy Easter everyone. Just wanted to share with you a few things about Easter in Romania. Take a look: The paintings and icons are beautiful, but far too many Orthodox Romanian Christians are guilty of icon-worship. This particular picture depicts the empty tomb.

During Easter, many Romanians create decorative eggs like the ones shown above

In the Romanian Orthodox Church, a common Easter celebration is to light candles and march home with them from the cathedral after a pre-Easter mass. The candles are to symbolize the light (Christ) going out into the world. I love the symbolism of this ritual, but am saddened that for many Romanian Orthodox Christians, it is just that, a ritual and not a heart-thing.

Oţelu Roşu

I had been wanting to pay a visit to the city of Oţelu Roşu for a long time, so I was pretty happy to participate in an evangelism concert last Saturday in this beautiful village in the Banat region of western Romania. Some friends of mine from Bucureşti were invited to play at the cultural palace and a number of youth from the city came, including orphans and disadvantaged children that I have worked with in the past at Fundaţia Humanitas Pro Deo, an orphanage where I have helped lead VBS programs and Bible studies. I cannot express what a blessing it was to visit this foundation again and to follow-up with kids that I have not seen in a few years. Unfortunately, there were more sad stories than success stories. The life of an orphan in Romania is truly difficult to grasp--they are certainly considered the "least of these". Still, it was great to pay a visit, share pictures, prayers, laughs, and stories. I also had a great time staying with my hosts, Iulian Panca (Emi's brother for those of you who know him) and his wife. The food, conversation, and fellowship were great. Here are some pictures from the weekend. One of my favorite groups "profides" playing at the concert
Sharing a message at a local church on Sunday

Fundaţia Humanitas Pro Deo în Oţelu Roşu

With some of the orphans and staff

With "Stancii"

With Claudiu

Cosmina with one of the newest members of the orphanage

What a bunch of goof balls!

Busy writing articles!

Currently I am writing several articles about the need for real, authentic, and effective youth ministry in Romania. OC International in Romania distributes a newsletter "Ţinta" (the point) that is distributed to over 2000 churches in Romania. When we did a reader response survey, roughly 90 percent of those who receive the newsletter responded that they actually read the articles and that it is at least somewhat impactful. This is a huge responsibility and an opportunity to speak to pastors and church leaders openly about the needs the importance of youth outreach in Romania. Please pray for me as I rely upon God's wisdom in writing these articles. It helps that I have a journalism background. I pray that the articles will be a blessing for the Church in Romania and ultimately spur dialogue and healthy church reform.

Erin Miller's in Romania!

Erin Miller from Immanuel Church in Princeton, MN is here in Bucureşti for two weeks working with a foundation called Children to Love, where she is helping to bring some smiles to hundreds of orphan children in Romania. Erin has been studying abroad this year in Germany and decided to do a backpacking trip around Europe on her spring break. I am thrilled that Erin so willinglz offered her time and service to make a difference in the lives of Romanian orphans. I have enjoyed getting to know Erin better and showing her this country that I love so much. Erin enjoyed eating clătite, a Romanian dessert much like a thin pancake, stuffed with creamy chocolate, and sprinkled with powdered sugar. Erin has been working hard at the various orphanages and seems to be liking Romania a lot, but admits Eastern Europe is much different than Germany. I will be taking Erin to my church and she will be enjoying a nice, traditional meal with my dear Romanian family, the Tamaş'. I'll keep you updated.

Romania, oh how I love thee!

Yep, IKEA will be opening in Bucureşti this coming week...my colleagues can hardly wait

Bucureşti traffic? It's a nightmare. Believe it or not, this is the main so called "interstate" running a ring around the city. Nope, there is no accident, just a lot of selfish drivers in an exercise of "survival of the fittest." And see those cars to the left of the tram? Well, "legally" they should be to the RIGHT of the tram. Okay LORD, I repent! I will never, ever, ever complain about the traffic of the Twin Cities again :) And you thought you had a challenging commute to work!

This is how we dry clothes in Bucureşti...myself included

Just when I thought I've seen it all, there is always a new surprise awaiting in Bucureşti

I love this pic. because it is quintessential Romania. If it's Saturday, the guys meet their buddies at the local park bench :)

Youth Network Meetings

Our youth leader network meetings are off and running. After a lot of planning and preparation, we had our first official meeting last week. The purpose of the group is to provide a forum for youth leaders to come together to pray for one another, encourage one another, and simply help each other. As I have visited various churches across denominational lines in Bucharest, it was more than apparent to me the utter need for youth leaders to get together. Although the turnout on the first night was not what we wanted (traffic and scheduling are quite difficult in Bucureşti), we have a good, solid group of young leaders and even more leaders who are very interested in pooling together youth leaders to build one another up. I am looking forward to the opportunities we will have to discuss topics such as discipleship, guy/girl relations, staying Christian in college, etc., that we will be discussing. The youth leaders who did attend expressed their enthusiasm in bouncing ideas off of one another and seeing what we can do better together that we cannot do alone.

Since we also have youth leaders from various denominations, we hope sometime in the future to take our youth groups to visit other youth groups and churches. For instance, Baptists visiting Pentecostal churches, etc. The need for healthy dialogue and respect among the evangelical churches in Bucureşti is a pressing need. This is just one idea we have to help build bridges. A "fun" idea we have is to sometime in the future do "The Amazing Race: Bucureşti" among different youth groups in the city, or sport tournaments, etc. We are certainly not short of ideas!

Please pray for us as we draft our constitution of common values, purpose, and discuss real and relevant issues related to youth ministry. And please pray especially that this network will be a blessing to everyone involved and ultimately contribute to producing fruit that will last.

Church Visit to Oradea

Recently, I visited some churches in and around Oradea, Romania with fellow leaders in my church in Bucureşti in order to get some ideas both for our youth and music ministries. We learned a lot and were able to do some strategizing of our own. I especially enjoyed the time just sitting down and brainstorming, in addition to listening to the beautiful church choirs. Oradea is a beautiful region of Romania, and I enjoyed the fresh air and mountian views.
Emmanuel Church in Oradea

The city-center of Oradea

The Choir

Ethnomusicology Course

My OC International team here in Bucharest has helped organize a course on ethnomusicology over the next two weeks, being taught by Dr. Roberta King, a professor from Fuller Seminary in California. Dr. King has traveled around the world, teaching on the importance of both understanding a theology of praise and worship, as well as the criticalness of cultural relevance in music communication. The students participating in the course represent various denominations and backgrounds. It is our prayer that these students will, in turn, be able to impact their own churches in articulating a Biblical theology of praise and worship and engage their congregations in true, authentic, and culturally relevant worship. Dr. Roberta King

Some of the students

Logos High School Retreat

I just participated in a three-day retreat with Logos, a Christian high school in Bucureşti. I spoke to the students about praise and worship and how worship is not something we go to do just on Sunday mornings, but should be a reflection of how we live our entire lives--in worship and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ. We also spent significant time brainstorming how we can use our talents in the Church and community. We had a fun time at a camp facility in Ojasca, playing games, singing songs, going on excursions (even swam in the river...many of you know that I love cold water--and well, it was a nice day, so I thought, why not?), and spending time in God's Word. I look forward to more opportunities in the future where I can hopefully encourage this group of young leaders to use their God-given talents for the glory of His kingdom. I can't wait to see all that they are going to do to help reach Bucureşti and greater Romania for Christ. The group shot

We had fun jamming out and learning some new songs

We visited a volcano nearby the camp facility

Some of the formations surrounding the volcano

La Mulţi Ani Cat!

This past weekend we had a surprise birthday party for my good friend Cat! It was a lot of work, but he was genuinely surprised and everyone had a fun time singing songs, playing games, and praying that God will continue to use Cat for His glory. Cat is an extremely talented piano player, having won multiple contests even at the age of 5. He has a great heart and loves the Lord. Happy Birthday Cat!