A Taste of Romania

#1 The majestic watersThe Black Sea coast near Mamaia

King Decebal sculpted in rock along the Danube
Danube River

Fertile Valleys

Baraj pass on the Argeş river

#2 Medieval Castles & Fortresses

Hunedoara Castle

Peleş Castle in Sinaia home of Romania's King Carol

Bran Castle, legendary home of Vlad Ţepeş (Dracula)

Biertan Fortress near Sibiu

Rupea Fortress

#3 The Danube Delta

#4 Historic traditions, times gone by

Sheep herding

Interior of a traditional peasant home

The Merry Cemetary

In traditional folk costume

#5 ManasteriesBuilt into rock

Out of stone

Detailed paintings even on the outsideSuceviţa manastery

CODE RED!

The following article was found on http://www.hotnews.ro/ about the heatwave we've been under here in Romania recently. Today a Code Red was issued, making almost everything in the city shut down, with the government of Bucharest saying frankly, don't even bother going outside between the hours of noon to 6 p.m.--it's that hot! And the big cool down will mean we will DROP to 95 degrees Friday (woohoo) before rising to 105 and higher again next week. This is the most unbelievable heat I have ever experienced. And if you know me, you know I am already the most warm-blooded guy on the planet. We're just in survival mode here. So here's the article:

Romania sees over 50 degrees Centigrade in heat wave yet far from climaxRomania is hit by the second heat wave this year with official temperatures over 36 degrees Centigrade, meaning some 50 degrees in real terms on the streets of Bucharest. Two people died because of the heat on Tuesday in the Eastern region of Galati, taking the toll to 34 victims since the first heat wave in June."36 degrees is something one may be pleased with only if working in statistics or meteorology. For the people in the street, the reality differs... by some 14 degrees", Hotnews.ro reads.Covering a story about the heat wave, the reporters found over 50 degrees Centigrade in front of the Government's Palace and 43 degrees in the shadow across the street. Bus ticket booths, where employees get only 2 liter of water per day (which boils after the first hour), are at a mere 42 degrees.The weather continues to worsen, even higher temperatures being expected during the following days. A red code warning is possible, news say, but for the moment only the orange code was instated in 21 counties (roughly half of Romania).

A Great Day!

Saturday was an extremely special day, as I was privileged to participate in the wedding of my Romanian brother, Florin, and the love of his life, Ana. It was a beautiful ceremony, held at a Christian camp a few hours northeast of Bucureşti, with the lush, green rolling Romanian hills in the background. Despite the heatwave (was literally about 110 degrees outside), the ceremony was very nice and the reception too, because my best friend Cat and his band provided the music. I also sang some special dedication songs at the reception. By the end of the night, my very near and dear Romanian family and I were exhausted, having been involved in all the set-up, decorating, and tear-down. Please pray that Florin and Ana would have a marriage full of love, faith, and happiness, with Christ at the center. Here are some pics from the big day: Mr. and Mrs. Florin Tamaş

Best friends

With my Romanian family

The altar with the rolling Romanian hills in the backdrop

The chairs

Sharing their vows

In Romania, we don't mess around with wimpy candles!

I sang a few songs at the reception

We're Having a Heat Wave, Tropical Heat Wave...

Well, got back from the hills around camp back to the flaming furnace that is Bucureşti! We have had nothing but 100 degree weather for days now and next week will be even hotter--some are estimating over 115 degrees by Sunday. Yup, 115 degrees!!!!! About every 5 seconds I dump a water bottle over my head. This is quite the oven. It's hot, very, very hot! Even 90 degrees would feel like a cool down! I'm headed to the pool tonight! Everyone and their brother is either at the pool or headed to the seaside!

A map of the counties in Romania. The areas in orange are under the severest of heat index warnings--which happens to include where I live. Translation: don't even attempt to go outside!

Tabăra, Tabăra, Tabăra!

Well I returned from a successful few weeks at camp, full of Bible lessons, application, prayer, games, excursions, singing, campfires, and lots and lots of good, deep conversations. I am extremely honored to have prayed with several young adolescent boys to receive Christ in their hearts. And since we are all from Bucharest, I will be following up with them to walk them through the next steps (I've decided to surrender my life to Christ, now what??). One of the things I will be doing is talking to their pastors about the potential of starting a men's Bible Study with these boys and seeing when they can be baptized---exciting times! I always have a lot of fun at camp, but have to admit that it's exhausting. A lot of very long days and very little sleep. But the privilege of sharing Christ with kids at such a deep and intimate level is so rewarding. Based on the number of messages and phone calls I have been getting from the boys, I would say that we definitely made a lasting impression. Lives were touched for Christ and for that, eternity will never be the same. Praise be to God our Father who gives us all good things! Here are some pictures from the hoopla: It's always fun working with my buddy Cornelia. She leads the youth at a Baptist church in Bucuresti and we team up often to work in youth missions projects around Bucharest

Opening up the Word of God together with the kids, in addition to Raluca blowing her nose (hehe)

One of the girls' groups after re-inacting the story of the woman at the well

Everyone in the phone booth

One of our recreation activities was a video scavenger hunt between teams. This is my team's (the Nerds) attempt to take a picture with everyone in the air at the same time.

Me driving the bus in a drama

Off to Camp!

It's the summer time, so for me, that means it is summer camp season. It is always a privilege to work with youth, orphans, and young adults in Christian camps in Romania. My favorite times are simply the conversations I get to have with youth around a campfire or at meal times. Please pray that God will work through us to touch lives for Christ this camp season. I will be working at several different camps this summer. Please pray that God would also give me super-natural strength for the day to day activities. I'm already wiped out, so I will definitely have to really on the Lord's strength. Thanks for your prayers!

Unbearable Heat!

For the past several weeks, Bucharest has been nothing short of an oven and there have been numerous incidents of heat stroke. Just take a look at the weather map up above and look closely at Bucharest....106!!!!! And we are told this is nothing compared to what temperatures are likely to be in July. I think I'll move my desk to the sea side :)...And just to let you know an update on the heat, it actually reached 112 degrees! Wow!

Viaţa la Maximum

This week I will be working in a city-wide youth evangelism event called "Life at the Maximum" with several churches throughout Bucuresti. There will be a Vacation Bible School for kids in the parks every morning, teams who will be sitting down and talking to the elderly in the parks, sports evangelism events/tournaments, dramas,in addition to testimony sharing and concerts. I was a part of this event last year and was blown away by the ability of Romanian youth to sit and share Christ with those around them so openly and authentically. I cannot wait to see what God has in store this time around. I will be working on the teams who will be sitting down and sharing Christ with people in the park. In addition, I am volleyball captain :) As many of you know, you can never have enough time to play volleyball in your life :) Please pray that lives would be impacted eternally for Christ in this week and that through these activities, churches will be motivated to work together for God's kingdom more often in Bucuresti. Our theme for the event is quite simple: Jesus loves you and wants to have fellowship with you. A life lived to the maximum is a life in communion with Christ shared with those around you, your friends, colleagues and family.

Romania - Simply Surprising

One of the recent Romania tourism videos. Take a look!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Happy Birthday Grandma, or as we say in the land of the Romans, La Mulţi Ani! Hope you have a great day. Love ya!

Only in Bucharest!!! :)

About a month ago, Bucharest hosted a car race and watch this video to see what happened. I laughed pretty hard at this one. Even if you don't know Romanian, the analyists were trying to help the dog out. Just click on the arrow in the picture to watch.

Bucharest Evangelical Choir

Here is a video of the Bucharest Evangelical Choir that I was talking about. Just click on the arrow in the picture to listen.

A Random T-shirt I like

My favorite shirt being sold on amazon! (notice how it is in maroon and gold, Gopher fans!)

Bucharest Today

The National Library

The Bucharest Atheneum: said to have arguably the best acoustics of any concert hall in Europe

Casa Poporului (House of the People): the second largest building in the world to the U.S. Pentagon that communist dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu built for his "offices," but is now used largely as an international conference center. It is bigger underground than above ground

The fountains in Piaţa Unirii (unity square) with the People's Palace in background

The Romanian People

Some cool photos of the Romanian people in the 1930s: Selling fruit

Traditional gypsy woman

Smoking his pipe

An old-fashioned lemonade stand

Peasant selling utensils made of wood (all photos used with permission)