Summer Highlights

A wise pastor used to tell me that the secret of building Christ's Kingdom is about sharing life together, investing in the lives of others. This is why summer is so important in youth ministry. I have had the opportunity to impact lives of youth both inside and outside of Bucureşti, strategize with youth leaders, and share the Gospel to non-Christians. It is certainly a privilege to spend time with young Romanians, making new frieneds, hearing their stories, praying together, singing praises to God, and of course, laughing together. There have been canoe rides, long hikes, scavenger hunts, campfires, Bible lessons, dramas, small-group discussions, and many deep conversations. I love this time of the year and give God all the glory! It's amazing what a little time away at camp or on an excursion can do to build friendships and spiritual growth.

Romania: Simply Golden!

It was a big day for Romanian at the Beijing Games, as Sandra Izbasa (above) won the gold medal in the floor exercise....
Georgeta Adrunache si Viorica Susanu repeated what they did in Athens: win the gold medal in women's double sculls

and Constantina Tomescu won the gold in the women's marathon!

Flooding in Romania

Here is a local news clip of some of the flooding in north-eastern Romania. Many people have lost homes. Please pray for the waters to recede and for the necessary help to reach the people, without bureacratic nightmares.

Some thoughts on Olympics

Well, the Romanian gymnastics team won the bronze medal, continuing our long tradition of medaling in women's gymnastics. No one in Romania would deny that this was a rebuilding time period for our team, so we are quite happy with the bronze...we already knew the gold was out of reach. Congratulations to the Chinese for winning their first team gold ever--they deserved it. Now for some thoughts:

• Is there a single person out there who doesn't know that the Chinese gymnasts were under age? My problem is not with them, it is with the International Olympic Committee. If you are going to have an age limit, enforce it. If you are not going to enforce it, just lower the age limit and get on with it.
• Let me give you a little bit of perspective on why the rest of the world gets so frustrated with America's superpower status. Because NBC sports in the States paid a lot of money for rights to broadcast the Olympics, NBC sports (not the Chinese Olympic delegation nor the International Olympic Committee) has been able to dictate when events will take place, how they will be covered, etc. Take the gymnastics events for instance. NBC sports demanded that they be able to show the events LIVE to the American audience (never mind the rest of the world), and as such, the finals (for swimming as well) take place early, early morning in Beijing, all so they can be shown live on PRIMETIME American television. What does this mean for us? It means if we want to see any Olympic events, we have to get up at 4 in the morning. What does this mean for the athletes? It means they too must get up at 4 in the morning to get ready. I don't know about you, but in a sport like gymnastics where flexibility and being loose is so important, I can imagine the athletes are not happy that finals are at 9 in the morning Beijing time. Why? So NBC sports can show the events live to the American audience. Interestingly that when the Olympics were in Atlanta, the Americans and NBC sports never changed schedules so events could be shown LIVE in PRIMETIME for Europeans or Asians.
• Then there is the issue of coverage. And this is not criticism just of America, but the big countries in general. If your athletes are not from the USA, China, Germany, France, good luck trying to see your athletes compete. This is how the coverage goes for us in Romania...: we get to see the American or Chinese gymnast perform his/her routine, and then the commentator says...."And our own Marian Dragulescu just performed a perfect vault." We don't actually see the vault, just hear about it. We rarely get to see our own gymnasts, because we are forced to watch the Americans, Chinese and French. I guess that just goes with living in a smaller country, but nevertheless, is extremely frustrating.
• And then if you want to go online and watch recaps, you can't. They are blocked by NBC sports. All we get to see are pictures.
• There are over a thousand athletes in Beijing NOT named Michael Phelps (don't get me wrong, I love the guy, and think what he is doing is awesome...I love to watch him too). But come on, this is ridiculous. Coverage: Michael Phelps 90%, rest of the Olympians 10% (frustrating because we would like to watch some of the other less prominent events where Romania will take some medals).
• Russia and China are bullies. It's time for the rest of the world to wake up. I am starting to wonder whether the world will ever stand up to them, and it is kind of scary. Putin may not be the president of Russia, but I think we all know who is in charge over there (and in Romania--we REALLY know). This conflict in Georgia only highlights how little impact multi-national organizations have. I mean what is the point of groups like NATO, UN, Black Sea Congress, etc., if they have no power or sway over conflict? And then there is China. The world drools over how China has progressed, is putting on such a big display. But what about the dissidents, Tibet, religious freedom, etc.? And if I were Chinese, I would be embarrassed to hear that my country replaced a beautiful 6-year-old singer who did an incredible job singing the Chinese anthem, with a girl lip-syncing because she is supposedly more beautiful. I mean COME ON! When did we get to the point of saying a 6-YEAR-OLD little girl isn't pretty enough to be on international TV? Wow! But I will tip my hat to the Chinese for the opening ceremony--it was great. I still think, however, that the most incredible lighting the torch ceremonies were in this order: 1) Barcelona (the shooting of the arrow was just awesome) and 2) Sydney (the waterfall was beyond words).
• I just love the Olympics. The emotion, performances, etc. Congrats to the US 4x100 relay team. What a race! And did anyone see the interviews with Michael Phelps' mom? I love that lady! It's just neat watching athletes achieve what they have worked so hard for, and watching them get choked up as their anthem is played.
• Two University of Minnesota volleyball players are making waves at the Olympics. Volleyball is my favorite sport to play (gymnastics to watch) and I was a season ticket holder of U of M volleyball. Nicole Branagh is 2-0 in beach volleyball and setter Lindsey Berg is playing with the US indoor team. They were teammates at the U of M and dominated the Big Ten.
• Finally, my favorite non-Romanian athlete I'm cheering for? Spain's Rafael Nadal. I LOVE tennis, and Nadal is my man. Anyone catch the awesome Wimbledon final? VAMOS RAFA!

Volleyball Tournament & Fellowship

Last Saturday I organized a youth fellowship day among several youth leaders and their churches, comprised of a volleyball tournament, prayer, fellowship, and food. We had a great turnout and a lot of fun together. Thanks for your prayers!

Romania's first Gold

Alina Dumitru won Romania's first gold medal at the olympics in judo, upsetting the world champion and heavily favored japonese woman pictured above. Hai Romania!

Let the Games Begin

As Beijing welcomes the world to the Olympic Games (and the smog...I cannot believe the pictures of the pollution there), let me remind you of Romania's long Olympic history. Romania has been a force in the summer games for some time. In fact, our country has won the most medals per capita (divide the medals by the population of the country) at the summer games since 1972 (I know, random fact, but we are proud of it nonetheless). Our most famous Olympian is without a doubt, Nadia Comaneci, considered even by ESPN as the top female athlete of all time. For a country whose Olympic budget is not even a fraction of America's, Romania holds it's own. Here's to the triculor...Hai România!!!!!!! Some athletes and sports where Romania should do well:

America's arch rival in rowing and canoeing? That's right, Romania. Perhaps no sport has been so dominated by Romanians than rowing.

The gymnastics competition will be between America, China (with their extremely underage gymnasts with fraudulent passports), and of course, Romania. This is considered a rebuilding year for Romania, but nevertheless, don't count us out. Romania is the two-time defending Olympic gold medal team. Look for Romania to be dominate on the balance beam. Our top gymnast is Stelina Nistor (pictured above), who is a top medal contender on the uneven parallel bars. Let me remind you that America was not even on the gymnastics map until they stole their coaches from....yes, Romania. The head of the American gymnastics team is Marta Karolyi, from Oneşti, Romania and former coach to Nadia Comaneci.

On the men's side, Romania is aiming to be on the podium (a bronze would be an accomplishment). Top contenders are Daniel Popescu (above) and Marian Dragulescu (below), who should compete for some individual medals on the vault (he is considered the best in the world) and the floor exercise.

In track and field, Romania is competitive in the triple and long jumps, in addition to long-distance running.

The Romanian women are gold medal favorites in handball

The Lighter Side

Hmmm...red or green, in Romania,,,,we don't pay attention to the light anyway :)
Apparently in Bucureşti, Santa drives a bus

Hope he bothered to buy a ticket

A little Coca-Cola decour

Translation: "swimming/bathing forbidden, fishing forbidden, keep it clean"

A little hard to get to this trash can

Varza (cabbage): it's the NEW trend :)

Leading a service in Pantelimon

Tonight I helped organize some of our youth in leading a church service at a small community church in a suburb of Bucureşti called Pantelimon. We led worship, recited some poems, shared testimonies, passages, and enjoyed the fellowship with this small congregation. This next year we want to be doing more in missions in our city and across borders. This is exciting because I think this group has TONS of potential. We have a youth group that has really grown this past year in maturity and in unity. That is the Lord's doing. They are young people who put the needs of others before themselves. And I am here to tell you that this is RARE in my generation. I think my generation is probably the most selfish in world history. But this group is growing. An example of this is a woman in our youth group "Nataşa" whose family has lost everything in the floods. Immediatedly our youth responded with words of encouragement, prayers, and began working to form teams to go up to this village to work in construction and relief efforts. Other examples? We have online group forums, and everyday they share prayer requests, words of encouragament, etc. And now they are rising to the challenge of how they can be a blessing to others and work more in Romania's role in the Great Commission. We will be forming a missions team and already have our eyes set on several initiatives and work in reaching the lost of Romania and beyond. Please pray for these efforst to bear much fruit.

Flooding in Romania

Northeastern Romania (counties of Suceava, Botoşani, Iaşi, Neamţ, and Vaslui) are experiencing devastating flooding. Please pray for the waters to recede, for the safety of the people, and for needed government aid to get to the people without bureaucratic nightmares.

Spotlight on Târgu Mureş

The city of Târgu Mureş (pronounced ter-gew-moor-esh) is probably my favorite city in Romania for many reasons. It is pretty, historic, and there is lots to do here. But it's the people that make it special. I have worked a lot in this city and have many friends here.

The city is the center of Mureş county, in northcentral Romania, in the famed region known as Transylvania. The city was first documented in 1332 in the papal registry under the name Novum Forum Siculorum.
In 1405, the King of Hungary Sigismund of Luxembourg granted the city of Tîrgu Mureş (by then named Székelyvásárhely, see Székely) the right to organize fairs; in 1482 King Matthias Corvinus declared the city a royal settlement. It became a municipality in 1616, changing its name to Marosvásárhely, the Romanian equivalent of which is Târgu Mureş (târg and vásár mean "Market" in Romanian and Hungarian respectively). The city received a major boost to its social and economic life when it became home to supreme court of justice of the Principality of Transylvania in 1754.
Avram Iancu, the leader of the 1848 Romanian revolution in Transylvania, was a young lawyer in the city of Târgu Mureş before engaging in the fight for the rights of Romanians living in Transylvania. The provincial appearance of the city changed greatly in the late 19th century and early 20th century. In 1913, the Transylvanian Secession-style city hall complex was opened, as part of mayor Bernády György s urban renewal. Economic success continued until World War II. After the conflict, together with the rest of Transylvania, Târgu Mureş became part of Romania. and was re-named Oşorheiu. From having been an 89% Hungarian-populated city (1910). After World War II, the communist administration of Romania conducted a policy of massive industrialization that completely re-shaped the community, and set up a Hungarian Autonomous Province based in the city, which lasted 15 years. Târgu Mureş became the center of economic and social life of the region.
In March 1990, shortly after the Romanian Revolution of 1989 overthrew the communist regime, Târgu Mureş was the stage of violent confrontations between ethnic Hungarians and Romanians.
As of 2000, a considerable percentage of the population of Târgu Mureş has started to work abroad temporarily. The local economy has started to get stronger after various investors settled in the area. The most important investor in the area is Prolemn SA. Târgu Mureş has a substantial ethnic Hungarian minority, some of whom identify as Székelys- Since 2003 some Székely organizations have been campaigning for the city to again become center of an autonomous region.

The city’s greatest growth has been in the 20th century. It has a sugar refinery, a nitrogenous fertilizer works using natural-gas by-products, and factories producing furniture, clothing, leather goods, and processed foods. New residential districts at Oancea and Merişani contrast with surviving old buildings. Pop. 163,625.

The city's historic medieval fortress

The Romanian Orthodox Cathedral dominates the main center, known as the place of roses

The interior of the Cathedral--the only cathedral in the world where every inch of the interior is intricately painted

On the other end of the city center lies the smaller Orthodox Cathedral

The Catholic Church

The city is known for it's handmade arts and crafts like these

The city's industry is growing, as evidenced by the newly opened Mureş Mall

One of my favorite places to visit is this, the recreation area known as "The Weekend" It has 4 heated Olympic size pools, waterslides, rowing, sand volleyball courts, tennis, table tennis, restaurants, and basketball courts. Entrance is cheap, and after 6 p.m. is free!!

The rowing area and some of the pools

Siberian tigers at the city's zoo

Surrounding the city are a number of health spas, like this one

The leading medicine university in Romania is in Târgu Mureş

Love the Randomness

Just another random sign in rural Romania: “Private rented field You may not use it for bees”

Cipri's Wedding

This past weekend it was my honor to serve as best man in my good friend Cipri's wedding in Târgu Mureş. Cipri and I go back, having worked several summers together in orphan outreach, and I stayed with him and his family for many months. Currently, he has been working in Ireland (Dublin) and it is there that he met Liliana, the love of his life. Liliana is from the Republic of Moldova, a former Romanian territory, annexed by the Russians following WWII. They speak a dialect of the Romanian language there. Plans are for the couple to work in Ireland for another year, and then establish themselves back in my favorite Romanian city: Târgu Mureş. It was a nice wedding. I should have more pictures soon, but am still waiting for all the pics that were professionally done with the wedding party. Please pray with me that their love for each other would be rooted in Christ and that they would grow deeper each day in their love for both one another and for Christ.

It is tradition in Romania for the couple to sit under a canopy at the wedding.

The reception was held at a quite elegant hotel ballroom

And the food....WONDERFUL. Traditionally, a Romanian wedding could last 10 hours or more. Each course is served by the hour. This is a picture of JUST the appetizers. This is followed by soup, then salad, then the main course, then ice cream, then cake, and then after all that, another round of fresh meats off the grill with side dishes. It was delicious!

Oameni dragi (dear friends) the Floreas

Me with Cipri and Liliana

With Cipri's parents