Spring is in the Air

Temperatures are rising across the Romania landscape and it is feeling a lot like spring. Being from Minnesota, it's very warm! A little too warm, too soon, or at least that is what we are saying in Bucharest. Why? If it's this warm already--it will be murder come summer! But for the time being, everyone is enjoying the great outdoors and the sunsets. Quintessential Romania: painted trees. This is done to protect it from bugs (others say for added beauty, some say it was just something the Communists gave certain people to do--paint trees). I cannot wait for leaves on the trees and some color. Bucureşti really comes to life in the spring with lots of lush vegetation and flowers. Bring on the foliage :)!
I have seen a lot of people playing chess in the park already like in this picture. Spending time in the park is really a part of life in Romania--a lot more than in the States.

Andrew Palau Festival Coming in Bucuresti

Similar evangelistic festivals of Louis Palau's organization have

drawn huge crowds around the world.
Andrew Palau speaking at the youth rally night in anticipation of the May Festival

One of the bands, Catre Cer (Towards Heaven) leading praise and worship

Me, along with other leaders of the event leading prayer

Tonight we had a youth gathering of all the evangelical churches in Bucuresti in preparation for the Andrew Palau Festival that will be taking place in Bucuresti in May. Andrew is the son of the world-renowned evangelist Louis Palau. Despite having grown-up in such a Christian home, Andrew was a drug user, an alcoholic, and miles away from the Lord. Yet, his Dad, friends and family never stopped praying for him. Eventually, it was the influence of young Christians, who went to one of his Dad's festivals in Jamaica, that changed his life. Andrew says their passion for the Lord just left a real impression on him, saying, "they seemed so joyful, so committed...I thought to myself, if this God is real, I definitely want a part of that life." Thus, at the age of 27, Andrew finally decided to follow Jesus. He has quite the testimony and will be sharing that testimony and more in May at the Andrew Palau Festival in Bucuresti. Past festivals in cities like Madrid, Mexico City, Tampa, and Minneapolis have drawn hundreds of thousands of people who heard the Gospel. The Bucuresti Festival will feature many top Romanian Christian bands, as well as the Hillsong Church praise and worship band from London. Moreover, there will be football (soccer) professionals, skateboard competitions, stuff for kids, basketball, etc. The event is to have a youth focus with the attention of reaching non-Christian youth by identifying with their interests and introducing them to Christians who share their same passions.

Yet, what I am most excited about is not the big hoopla, but the follow-up. Mainly, will this have an impact? Currently, I am on the committee for discipleship for this event. In the weeks leading up to the festival, several of the bands will be speaking in over 40 local high-schools about their testimonies and decisions to give up drugs and alcohol. In addition, we are planning to have close to 1000 volunteers to counsel those who take the first steps to follow Jesus. That is coupled with follow-up nights of discipleship after the festival where people will be invited to explore more what following Jesus means. These will be done in informal coffee houses, as well as some main concert halls around the city. Already, there are over 40 churches in the city collaborating on the event. Those that make decisions to follow Christ at the event will also be notified of churches in their area and local pastors (of various denominations) are responsible to follow-up with each individual. If nothing else, I am happy to see the collaboration. Bucuresti is such a spiritually dark city, that any momentum evangelicals can muster is welcome. Please pray that this festival would produce much fruit....that more unbelievers would make real decisions for Christ, that the government would see the impact Christ has made on the lives of its' citizens, and that there would be strong and effective follow-up among churches in the city...and for good weather too!

A Local Favorite: Shaorma

Shaorma is a local favorite in Romania when you need a quick bite to eat on the run. It is pita bread stuffed with chicken or pork, french fries, garlic sauce, cabbage, onions, pickles, hot sauce, etc. (I know, calorie heaven...but oh so good!)

Making shaorma The standard walk-up shaorma stand

The finished product....now I'm hungry!

Bill Hybels Conference

Bill Hybles speaking and me with my colleague Alina
This week I attended a leadership conference put on by Bill Hybels from Willow Creek Church in the Chicago area. His church grew from a few hundred people to over 22,000 members. He has written a number of books about evangelism and church growth including The Contagious Christian. Now, I am not a big fan of the mega-church phenomenon and I don't agree with everything Willow Creek puts out, but I was very impressed by Bill Hybels adress at this conference. Some of the things we were left to consider:

• A leader is always an optimist
• A good leader delegates (therein creating leadership skills in others)
• Leaders need to have a face to face encounter with God
• A good leader challenges the status quo....it's never good enough
• A strong leader is different
• Strong leaders are always somewhat controversial (if everyone loves you, there are issues)
• A strong leader takes his time before making a decision (now, that was a new idea for me...usually we think leaders should be swift at making decisions...the argument here was that a good leader should ask, "how much time do I have to decide? 10 seconds? A day, a week, month, etc." A good leader stops to think about the right decision

So yeah, some things to think about. What was encouraging was to see many pastors in the city there shaking their heads and taking notes. The Romanian Church is quite traditional and new forms and ideas for growth and outreach are long overdue. Some bold leaders have tried new things and experienced much success. One of my favorite quotes from the conference was that if God gave you a chair in your sanctuary or a pew, that means HE has someone in mind who ought to be sitting their. So, we all repeated quite loudly, "NO MORE EMPTY SEATS." As the Body of Christ, we should always be looking to see who is on the outside that we can reach eternally for the Kingdom. And here is my thought for you. How many people have you invited to your church in the past week. Next time you drive to church or stop for coffee, think of that stranger you meet and think about inviting them with you...or at least striking up a conversation. You'd be surprised what God can do if you just open the door. In short, some good stuff!

Oh How Times Have Changed: the Bucharest malls

Almost all of the malls in Bucureşti are housed in the original structures that former Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu had intended to be human feeding centers. His idea was to have dome structures around the city that would serve as the food collection centers, meaning Bucharest residents would come to these places and food would be rationed and distributed based on the communist government's mandated per-person food quotas, which sometimes amounted to as little as 1 dozen eggs for a complete family to last an entire month. Some have said that internment camps throughout history sometimes gave their prisoners more meat than the Romanian communists ever allocated to the Romanian people. But oh how times have changed! Ceauşescu was assasinated before his idea ever came to fruition. Thus, the city of Bucureşti was left to decide what to do with half-built dome structures. The result? They were privatized and transformed into the city's malls. What was intended to be communist controlled food-rationing centers are now what some consider to be the epitomy of capitalism: the western shopping mall. Who 'woulda' thought?

The half-finished dome structures....
are today the city's malls like Plaza România...

the original Bucureşti mall (notice the dome structures)

Shopping in Bucharest

I thought I would give you all an idea of what shopping is like in Romania. The European supermarkets are different, and thus, carry different items. Some of the things you can either not find in Romania, or are difficult to find include: almost anything mexican (some stores carry tortillas, but are not always in stock), chocolate chips, colby/cheddar cheese, brown sugar, boxed mac & cheese, etc. Overall, prices are much more expensive in Romanian supermarkets than their American counterparts. Still, the face of shopping in Romania has changed DRASTICALLY over the last 5 years. The options used to be so limited, but now western european stores are springing up just about everywhere. That said, there is a major difference between the cities and countryside....it's like two different time periods living side by side. In the countryside, some homes may not have running water, and the local store is what farmers (working with their own horse and plow) sell on the main street or in the local store (often someone's home). Contrast that with cities like Bucureşti, where malls and stores like Starbucks and Ruby Tuesday have opened. Yes, Romania is a land of complexities! So here is a tour of some of our stores: Selgros: this would be the Romanian version of Sam's Club where items are bought at a cheaper price and sold in bulk quantities. It's like a warehouse and you have to sign up for membership to buy items there (much like Sam's Club). The best thing about this store?

They sell cheddar cheese! :)

Auchan: a French mega-supermarket with arguably the cheapest prices for food in Bucureşti. It's huge, like a super wal-mart. The good? Cheap prices. The bad? Hardly ever carry any specialized food item--there is usually a handful of items on someone's list that they can't find here.
Kaufland: a German supermarket similar to Target or Walmart but smaller.

Cora: the mega-mega supermarket. This is a French chain. Think of a Super Walmart, but much bigger! They do carry more specialized items. The problem? It's SOO big and SOO crowded. Even with about 100 checkout lanes (literally) you can still wait in line (even after 9 p.m.) for 40 minutes to an hour. I try to avoid this store like the plague. But then again, I hate shopping.

Carrefour: another French mega-mart. Prices here are a bit cheaper than at Cora. The problem? The workers don't even know what they carry half the time and the aisles are narrow and crowded. Like Cora, the lines try anyone's patience.

BricoStore: The Romanian HomeDepot...pretty reliable and good quality

Romania: Always Interesting

Hey, it works!
Who needs a grill?A little scotch tape goes a long way for a Dacia!

Apparently the sack of potatoes weighed a lot more than the woman who actually needed the wheel-chair!

The Newest thing to hit Bucharest

Europe's largest Hard Rock Cafe recently opened in the city last week along the lake of the largest park in the city. I think I have been to this restaurant twice, once in Boston with choir and once with friends in Minneapolis. Anyway, I'm sure the one in Bucharest will be twice as expensive, as things usually go here. I'm not a huge fan; all I want is a Taco Bell :) Just more signs that Bucharest is moving farther away from the city's communist past.

Coffee on the Go

The girl leaning up against the railing is distributing hot coffee to people caught up in traffic. It's something I have seen around the city of Bucureşti a few times. Now I'm not a coffee drinker, but I hear it's pretty cheap and not bad. It puts a whole new spin on the "drive-up window".

Barnabas Ministries

It's a new year with new objectives. Our OCI team in Romania has lots of things on tap for this new year. One of our new areas of concentration will be in forming Barnabas teams around the country of Romania. As one reads the book of Acts we find the New Testament church being birthed, taking root and bearing God-honoring fruit. In this context we are either introduced to and/or learn more about men and women who were important instruments in this birth and expansion of the church in its earliest years. Barnabas was one of those pioneers. Though not having as high a profile as Peter, John, or Paul, he impacts this fledgling body in a number of very significant ways. One of these is that he was a platform builder under others. Again and again, we find him pushing others up, helping them flourish in their spiritual health and influence. We at OCI Romania are tying to have a similar ministry in Romania: encouraging others and building platforms in ministry. We will be doing this by forming various regional teams of movers and shakers, collaborating together, praying together, and regularly meeting together. This year I hope to be more involved in mentoring strategic leaders in Bucureşti (and I fully plan to learn from them as well). Some of the other things on tap include continued development of the youth leadership network and missions mobilization through missions training courses, conferences, and trips. These are exciting times. Thank you for your prayers as we work together in Romania to bring Europe back to Christ.

Faith Formation

I have been really encouraged lately by the youth meetings of our church. It seems that we have somehow taken it to a new level. Our discussions and studies are a lot deeper, relevant, and interesting. For instance, we have looked at the issue of forgiveness and had discussions based around questions such as, what makes forgiveness hard? Why does it seem at times that Christians are the most unforgiving? Does forgiving mean you ever forget? Anyway, some deep stuff. This past week we looked at the issue of repentence as it specifically relates to the life of a Christian. We broke into small groups looking at the letters written to the seven churches in the book of Revelations. This led to even more discussions and some profund thoughts. One person stated, it seems that many churches have become just like churches in ancient Ephesus or Philadelphia for example, where things seem to be going okay, but Jesus is outside knocking on the door. Do we answer? A lot to think about. I love that we have grown as a group and are actively engaging in discipleship and talking about real, relevant issues. Thank you for your contined prayers for us. Our group is growing both in numbers and most importantly, in spiritual formation.

Winter in Romania

Driving through the slush

Skiing/Sledding at the mountains

Peleş CastleThe Bucegi Mountain Range

Data Cables

I guess when you have poles that look like this all over the city of Bucureşti, it's no wonder that we have a lot of power outages--often at the most inconvenient times. Such is life!

Bucureşti: the MOST crowded city in Europe

There are over 9,000 people per square kilometer in Bucureşti (kilometers are smaller than miles folks), which makes the city the most crowded city in Europe...and it's not even close. In second place? Berlin with about 6,000 per square kilometer. To give you a feel of what this can look like, these are pictures from the big gathering in the central square for the lighting of the Christmas tree. And the scenes from the Metrou (subway) could be from any day during the right hours. Anyway, there is NO such thing as personal space in Bucureşti....but, it is great for people watching! I wonder how long it took for those cars to move....
Rush hour at the subway

I confess...even I have walked up the railings with some youth

(truth or dare gets you every time)

Poftă Bună!

At Christmas in Romania, it's a tradition for many people to have a pig roast---slaughtering the hog and roasting it. I was recently acclimated to this national delicacy!

First big snow in Bucharest 03.01.2008

It's been a mess around here. The snow fell last Thursday and there are STILL streets that haven't been plowed at all in Bucuresti. I think Minneapolis officials need to come and present how they handle snow emergencies there. But in a city where cars outnumber parking spaces by about a 6:1 ratio, you can imagine the chaos to try and plow streets. One guy digs his car out and buries the car next to him in snow. Anyway, it's a big sloppy mess. But as we say, life in Bucharest? NEVER boring! :)

White-Out!

Woke up this morning to a winter wonderland. Bucureşti is buried in snow, airports closed, and everyone and their brother out shoveling. Officially, the city does very little plowing, saying that people know how to use a shovel. So, I gather you can imagine the mess. I've got shoveling to do! In a city where parking is already a major headache (a place to park is a privilege), snow banks along the sides of the roads don't help anything
This is after people were shoveling

A street near me

And lots of people getting stuck

Happy New Year!

New Years is the biggest holdiday in Romania. I had people asking me as early as September what I would be doing for New Year's Eve. I spent the evening with friends and my Romanian family. Throughout Bucureşti, they set up stages, concerts, and lots of fireworks. People usually stay up all night celebrating. I prayed with my Romanian mom for the new year after the clock ticked 12. I pray that you have a blessed new year and that you would all draw nearer to God with the passing of each moment. Happy New Year! The fireworks starting in Piaţa Revoluţiei
Pomp & Circumstance

Scenes of Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful time with friends and family celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ! Christmas was a very busy time for me, with lots to do at church, caroling, dressing up as Santa Claus for kids at a local hospital, and of course, eating wonderful food. I was blessed to spend Christmas with my very near and dear Romanian family. Here are some pictures "out and about" during Christmas time in Romania. Every Romanian Christmas meal includes the traditional bread called cozonac
In the villages, people dress in traditional costumes, and go caroling on Christmas Eve

The piaţa is where most people go to buy their Christmas tree, and then transport it on public transportation like the trams or subway

On Christmas Day, the children of my church led the service--my Romanian mom made their costumes

The entire stage was transformed into the manger scene

The music team

Our sleeping baby Jesus

Santa and his reindeer outside of the national theater in the city-center of Bucureşti