Your Love Never Fails -Chris Quilala / Jesus Culture....I love this song! Great way to start out the morning.
The fall season is up and running and our youth group has grown leaps and bounds. At our first couple of meetings we have had over 60 youth. This fall season our theme is "Authentic Christians or False Christians." We are looking at what it means to be the body of Christ in our community, how to apply the word of God in our daily lives and to be men and women who don't just talk about the Gospel, but LIVE the Gospel. Please pray for our efforts as we lead our flock to grow deeper and deeper in their relationships with Christ and with one another.
I have been blessed to share time with my dear parents in Romania this month. It was great spending time together and having an opportunity to talk. I truly feel that I have the best parents in the world!
We got to go spend time in Târgu Mureș and eat the wonderful food of Cristina Florea--a longtime friend. Just take a look at the plate above. I was drooling over the food it was SOOO good. 
Me with the Florea's (Cristina is next to me) including my friend Calin and his girlfriend Ioana
My parents at lunch with my Romanian parents, the Tamaș'
We invited some of my friends from Church over for dinner and game night!
Today was our first Sunday in our new location as a church at a movie theatre up the street from where we have held church services for 10 years. Our church, Bunavestire (The Good News) has decided that it's time to move to a bigger space since we have seen our church grow a lot over the year. The new theatre (Scala) is much bigger than our old location and already we filled up the main level (500 seats) and started to use the over-flow space in the balcony (another 300 seats). Praise the Lord! Our pastor has challenged us to go out from our comfort zones to be a prescence in society, our city, and spheres of influence. We are a church that wants to be an authentic, Christ-centered community. We have time for socializing built into the service and each Sunday night we meet in over 25 small groups throughout the city for Bible Study, prayer, and fellowship. We inaugurated our new space together with Adi Gliga, a prominent Romanian praise and worship singer. We pray and hope that soon we will be forced to find an even bigger location! Thanks for your prayers and support.
My good friend Alex will be leaving us to go do some of his master's studies in Dresden, Germany so we threw him a going-away party. I was the host and chef. We invited some of his closest friends and had a time of collective prayer for Alex. What I appreciate most about Alex is his willingness to serve (he has always helped us in our youth group with service projects, music, studies, etc.) and most of all his smile. Alex is one of those guys who just makes you smile, everytime he enters a room you just feel better. That, my friends, is a gift. Drum Bun Alex and God Bless, we'll be praying for you!
We gave Alex a t-shirt with some of his closest friends on it, so as not to forget us :)
My friend Simon is already a Viking fan, I think the horns are a good fit :)
More fun times with the youth!
In its day, Bucharest was known as "Little Paris" because of its rich character and Parisian atmosphere.
Towards the end of September, everyone in Bucureşti is returning from vacations and heading to work, school, etc. Hence, the traffic heats up. Here is a taste of what it is like. Going 13 kilometers can take 2 hours in the middle of the day. And no, I'm not exagerating.
Check out how we pave roads in Romania and it's no wonder why we complain!
Interesting!
I love how this zebra leads you right into the middle of a crossing street!
Anything to find a parking spot :)
Check out this interfon at a Bloc in the Ferentari neighborhood of Bucureşti
It's not easy washing windows when you live in a Bloc Take a look at how this Romanian family was able to fix up something on the grill. As I say, it's NEVER boring in Romania :)
Just got back from a blessed week up in the Apuseni mountains of Romania with our youth at church. Honestly, the week went much better than we thought it would. We had 45 in total and enjoyed time in God's Word, in prayer, in fellowship, music, drama, and a variety of activities and games. Our theme was "Zero Ego," looking at the fact that as humans we are extemely selfish people and how that selfishness affects our relationships with others, with our families, and most importantly, with God. Many of our games and activities helped to drive home our theme and make us more aware of what it means to be more altruist. It was a blessed week in an absoluletly gorgeous area of Romania. Every year God continues to amaze me at camps and this year was another blessed experience. Thank you for your prayers and support. God is doing amazing things in Romania, and HE is only getting started.
If there's water, that's where you will find Mihai :)
Me with my good friend Simon
My team for "The Amazing Race." I coordinated activities for camp and had our youth divide into four teams for a 7 hour race of challenges which included: milking a cow, building a durable chair out of wood from the forest with a hammer and four nails, women carrying water on their heads for an extended distance just as women do everyday in Africa, chopping wood, etc. It was an exhausting, but fun and hilarious experience, and a GREAT challenge to go alongside our theme. We learned we still have an awful long way to go to be unselfish people.
Each team participant in the Amazing Race had to complete a challenge of chopping wood, both with the chainsaw and with the hatchet. They also had to push a car for close to 1 kilometer as a group :)
We also got to visit several caves: Peştera Urşilor (the cave of the bears) and Peştera Scărişoara. I have to tell you that they are absolutely stunning! The bear cave left me speechless, I had never seen something so interesting in my life. All the more reason why Romania is simply amazing and our little slice of heaven! It really is the most beautiful country :)
