Student Volunteer Movement Conference

This past weekend our team participated in a conference called the "Student Volunteer Movement" that encouraged young Romanians to be more aware about reaching un-reached people groups throughout the world for Christ. My boss spoke on the Biblical foundation of missions and I shared about some of the barriers one faces both individually and socially to go into missions. The students were challenged to pray. They were challenged to pray for the lost, to pray for the missionaries working to reach the lost, and to pray for the Gospel to be available to those who have not yet heard. The students were also challenged to give. To give of their time and effort to reach the lost, to give towards missions, and to give of their time to learn more about missions. And finally, the students were challenged to go. To go share the Gospel with the lost, to go to the un-reached people groups, etc. Please pray that the youth of Romania will catch the vision to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Already we are seeing God raise up a missions movement within Romania, and Romanian students have more opportunities to go serve as missionaries throughout the unreached world today than they have ever had in the past. May we throw gasoline on the sparks, and see Romanians reaching the world for Christ!

Around the town

IKEA has covered bus stop kiosks all over Bucureşti and it looks like an "IKEA-inspired" closet. Recently, they had an entire living room sitting in a large plaza area in a public park to give away catologs. The Bucureşti IKEA is one of their top selling stores in the world. I like it because it is a great place to eat. A hot dog is only 20 cents, ice cream the same, and drinks are un-limited. You can't beat that!

Random City Shots

Translation: Keep it clean! Be civilized

Reflections of the City

La Mulţi ani Toni!

At our youth meeting last week, we welcomed back one of our fearsome leaders, Toni, who worked for four months over the summer in Alaska. As he walked in the door, we surprised him with cake, singing, and gifts. He was pleasantly surprised. Toni is a great co-leader of our youth group, a godly man of character and a pretty crazy guy in general. He enjoyed his time in Alaska, halibut fishing, hiking to glaciers, fly-fishing, off-roading with the four-wheeler, and even got to visit Texas and Louisianna before heading back to Romania. I was pretty jealous when I saw that he got to visit some alligator farms. Seeing as Toni and I (and other guys in our youth group) are always up for some advcnture, we are considering doing a male weekend complete with whitewater rafting, parachuting and bungee-jumping! Now THAT would be fun :)
We presented Toni with a signed photo-collage of our youth group adventures over the summer.

OC International Leadership Conference

My team and I have been busy hosting the OC International leadership conference, which was held in Romania this yeat. We had missionaries coming from all ends of the earth to meet for a week in Bran, Romania for a week of strategizing, prayer, vision-casting, and renewal. I helped with some of the logistics, such as housing, meals, transport, excursions, etc. I think everyone had a good week and fell in love with our beloved Romania (as they should!).

The mountains surrounding the conference center
We took them to visit this fortress called "Raşnov" built in the 1300's as a defense against the Turks.

The interior of the fortress features a well over 146 meters deep!

The entrance to the fortress. There is believed to be over 400 medieval fortresses throughout Romania.

Volleyball Mania!

In Romania, the youth are quite passionate about volleyball, which is just fine with me (it's my favorite sport). As such, we play competitive volleyball each week among college students and various youth groups. Through volleyball, we hav been able to meet a lot of non-Christian youth and build relationships. Currently I am exploring having a short-term team come to Romania as sports ambassadors, conducting volleyball camps, playing matches, and sharing testimonies. Among the youth generation, sports are proving more and more that they are a great outreach vehicle for youth. We love our volleyball!

Ten Things You Should Know about Romania

1. Transylvania is NOT another country, but the largest region of Romania, home to the legend of Bram Stoker's Dracula. In realty Dracula is known in Romania as Vlad Ţepeş, who ruled much of southern Romania in the 1400s. A top tourist attraction in Romania is Bran Castle, known as Dracula's castle.



2. In terms of U.S. foreign policy, Romania plays a significant role. Romania hosted the NATO conference last year, and is home to several U.S. military bases near the Black Sea. It is widely believed that Romania houses the secret prisons that the U.S. uses in the war on terrorism near the Kognalceanu airport. Romania continues to be one of America's strongest allies.
   


3. Romania is NOT a third world country, but a rapidly developing, dynamic, and changing society. In fact, it is more expensive to live in Bucharest, Romania than in Denver, Minneapolis, Seattle, Dallas, Chicago, etc. Why? Romania is a member of the European Union, and as such, has adopted EU policies and regulations. A 2-room (bedroom and living room) apartment (communist built concrete blocks) in central Bucharest is going for 1,500 euros a month!!!! Food prices are double if not triple that of prices in the States. If you are upset about gas prices in the U.S., please keep in mind that in Romania, like most of Europe, we are paying over $8 a gallon--and we don't have nearly the salaries of Americans. The Romanian economy is one of the fastest growing in Europe.



4. Romania's terrain is one of the most diverse in all of Europe. The Carpathian Mountains dominate the center. Moldoveanu Peak is the highest at 7,346 feet. Eastern Romania is home to the Black Sea and the Danube Delta, THE largest bird wetland area in the world. There are also more natural mineral water springs in Romania than in ANY other country, and numerous caves.



5. Bucharest is home to the second-largest building in the world (the U.S. Pentagon is the largest). Former communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu's "House of the People has over 1,000 rooms.



6. Contrary to popular belief, Romanian is a Latin language (very similar to Italian). Because the countries surrounding Romania largely speak Slavic languages, Romania is known as a Latin Island in a Sea of Slavs. Romanian is also the most spoken language among Microsoft after English. Apparently, Bill Gates got tired of Romanians hacking into his company that he just decide to hire them, instead of fighting them.



7. One of the major reasons that there are so many orphan children in Romania (estimated to be over 100,000) is that Ceauşescu made it state law for women to have at least four children in an effort to increase the population. Ravaged by economic poverty, many children were placed in inhumane state orphanages, some with WWII like conditions. Currently, international adoptions are closed as Romania adheres to EU demands to investigate corruption in its children and family services department and fights child trafficking.


8. Romanians are very athletic and sports are very important in Romanian culture. The average Romanian probably exercises twice as much as the average American (I have read this in studies). Famous Romanian athletes include Nadia Comăneci, Ilie Năstase, Gheorghe Hagi, and Adrian Mutu.
   


9. Only 2 percent of Romania's population is evangelical Christian. And yet, Romania has the third-highest number of evangelical Christians in Europe. What does that tell you about the spiritual state of Europe today?



10. According to recent statistics about the populace of Romania, young people between the ages of 10-29 make up nearly two-thirds of the population. Studies have shown that most people who receive Christ do so by the age of 19. Hence, the future spiritual state of Romania lies in the hands of is youth.

Gotta Love It!

Just your normal city park bench :)

24 hours in Bucharest

Friends and conversation on the terrace
Steps to the underground world, otherwise known as the Bucharest Metro (Subway)

Quiet solitude

Mass transport

Daily shopping at the local piaţa

Just hangin with the guys over "tabla"

moving the masses

If it's saturday, it's wedding day Night vision

And what would a day in Bucharest be without waiting...waiting for the tram, waiting for the light to turn green, waiting for a friend, waiting in line, waiting for hope, waiting for answers, waiting for reforms, waiting for a Saviour....yes, waiting

Foişorul de Foc: the Fire Tower

The Old Fire Watch Tower is not far from my apartment. It was built in 1715.... amazing. It was the place where fires were watched for in the city way back when. Today, it is a landmark and a great directional point for that neighborhood.

Overseen in Bucureşti

Morning rush-hour at the Dristos metro (subway) stop
Translation: "If you stop and park in front of my gate, your tire will be flattened! Dude!"

Translation: "We don't have tickets for ITB and we don't know where to buy them either"

Bucureşti, România: the fancy car capital of europe

The above quote is meant to be sarcastic. I just saw on EuroNews that Bucharest, Romania has more cars worth over 100,000 euros registered in the city than in any other city in Europe! Wow! I can't say that I am really that surprised. I have seen more Lamborghini's, Ferrari's, BMWs, Porsche's, etc. in Romania in ONE day than I have ever seen in the States--and I'm not exaggerating. There are some wealthy people in Romania making a lot of money off of the average Romanian worker. In Romania there is an even wider discrepancy between the rich and the poor than in most countries. The wealthy are VERY wealthy, and the poor the polar opposite. As a guy, I have to say it is quite the testosterone rush to get to check out so many cars that all guys dream of driving, but then reality sets in. What in the world does someone need a car like that for? And think of all the wonderful causes that money could go towards in Romania, where needs are just screaming out at you. In Romania, appearance is everything. The elites want to show off their fancy cars and exploit their wealth for all eyes to see. Even people in the middle and lower economic classes put a lot of effort into how they dress--again in Romanian culture, appearance is important. So if you want to see the coolest, most expensive cars in the world, head to Romania. Lets pray that people would stop putting their status on material wealth and start searching instead for the Kingdom of Heaven!

Spotlight on Constanţa

This is another one of my favorite places to visit in Romania. Why? I love the water and the Black Sea. Constanţa (pronunciation in Romanian: /kon'stan.ʦa) is the oldest city in Romania. Constanţa has the biggest harbour on the Black Sea and the fourth largest in Europe, having the potential in the next few years to become the second largest in Europe after Rotterdam.

A number of inscriptions found in the town and its vicinity show that Constanţa lies where once Tomis stood. Tomis (also called Tomi) was a Greek colony in the province of Scythia Minor on the Black Sea's shore, founded around 500 BC for commercial exchanges with local Daco-Getic populations.

Tomis was later renamed to Constantiana in honour of Constantia, the half-sister of Constantine the Great (274-337). The city lay at the seaward end of the Great Wall of Trajan, and has evidently been surrounded by fortifications of its own.

The third largest city in Romania, Constanţa is now an important cultural and economic center, worth exploring for its archaeological treasures and the atmosphere of the old town center. Its historical monuments, ancient ruins, grand Casino, museums and shops, and proximity to beach resorts make it the focal point of Black Sea coast tourism. Open-air restaurants, nightclubs and cabarets offer a wide variety of entertainment. While in the area, you can visit traditional villages, vineyards, ancient monuments and the Danube Delta, a bird-lover's paradise.
Constanţa is more than just the entry point to the Black Sea coast. It is a place with a long and interesting past, attested by its many Roman vestiges, historic buildings, facades and mosques that color the Old City Center.

The city is also the center of Islam in Romania, as depicted by this mosque

The ship yards

Fountains in the center

The city is known for its bright pink busses

And its famed casino