On Saturday I sang several songs at Anca & Ionel's wedding together with my church music director, Slavic. It went well! We pray that God will bless Anca and Ionel. Anca is a social assistant who works at a Bucharest foundation working with orphan children. Ionel works in evangelistic ministries to areas in Romania that are yet unreached with the Gospel. Congratulations Anca and Ionel!
It has been snowing continuously in Bucureşti since Monday, making quite the mess. Now, I like winter and snow, but in Romania I much prefer the snow when I am out in the countryside or in the mountains. In Bucureşti? I hate snow. It is such a mess. Just yesterday my best friend and I had to shovel the car out of 5 different parking spaces (in Bucureşti you shovel yourself out and bury the person next to you. And since we park on sidewalks, there is absolutely no room to put the snow, so people bury their neighbor or throw snow in the middle of the road). People are falling down on sidewalks because the city does not shovel snow. I cannot wait for spring!
This is part of a video that was shown in my church in Bucureşti on Sunday. Pretty incredibile! Please take a look. We truly are upheld, delivered, and saved at the cross.
The city of Bucureşti has been busy sprucing up the 10's of thousands of grey concrete bloc apartment buildings (built under the communist regime) that dominate the city's archetecture by giving them new coats of paint and resurfucing the exteriors. Believe me, it makes a world of difference and adds a little color to the grey jungle. Just check out the before and after shots.
I stumbled upon this variation of one of my favorite songs that I sang in choir when I was in high school. It is a beautiful song and this rendition by David Archuleta (American Idol runner-up) honestly put me to tears. Bravo David!!! It made me think of the many children around the world living on a prayer. I hope you enjoy it.
We had a great time on our winter retreat up at Vatra Dornei, skiing, sledding, playing games, and spending time in fellowship with the Lord and with one another. I led the lessons and small group discussion times on being authentic Christians and finding a place of service in the Church and in the community. We had 30 youth on this retreat. It was a blessed time and I enjoyed the opportunity to get to know some fresh faces a little better.
I hope all of you have a very blessed 2010. I celebrated New Year's Eve with about 50 youth from my church where we prayed, reflected on the blessings of 2009, sang songs, and played a lot of fun games. The other night we also went ice skating...here are some shots. We have a lot planned for 2010, so please continue to hold me and my youth ministry team in your prayers.
This Christmas I was blessed to spend time with my friend Simon and his family. On Christmas Eve we went caroling all day from house to house and on Christmas Day I gave the Christmas message. I had a great time with the Costisanu family and thank them so much for their hospitality and friendship. Merry Christmas everyone!
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around Bucuresti and Romania. The lights are on, the parks are full of carolers, treats, and the snow is falling daily. This Christmas I will be with my friend and his family in Onesti. I wish all of you a very blessed Christmas.
In Parcul Titan near my apartment
I have been busy caroling away with my church choir and youth group. On Sunday after church, we drove in the snow and slush to Pucioasa to sing carols at a special program at the cultural palace. They even made a special banner over the main street announcing our choir "Bunavestire din Bucuresti"! After the concert, we all went to a friend's family to sing carols at their door and they served us with pork, pickled peppers, and warm drinks. It is tradition in Romania to go from house to house caroling. Usually families will give you treats or a warm drink.
With our youth group, we visited several adult homes and went caroling in several blocs. We had a ton of fun. At the end of the long day, we treated ourselves to Pizza Hut and played duck, duck goose outside in the snow as we waited for tables. Us Romanians are never bored :)
Many Saturdays I have been helping out in an evangelistic outreach to kids in Baicoi, by teaching Bible lessons, making crafts, singing songs, creating dramas, and playing games. This past Saturday we put on a Christmas play for their parents. It was a great day and a real treat for the kids. We would have liked to have seen more parents attend, but it was still a blessed time.
On Tuesday morning we woke up to the first snowfall in Bucharest, and that means one big mess. Why? The city doesn't really plow snow. So streets remain full of slush, the city parking spots (already few and far between) decrease in half, and sidewalks don't get cleared until everything melts. Being from Minnesota, which probably has the most efficient snow plowing and removal system in the world, it's difficult to watch how utterly INefficient the city of Bucharest is, and unprepared for even a dusting of snow. It's actually quite ridiculous. If they would just for a couple hours say you can't park on one side of the street so it can be plowed, it would save a lot of headaches. But, this city is not known for it's organizational skills--that's for sure. Thus, you make sure you carry a shovel. You park your car, burry the car next to you, and so on. I just don't understand why no one (in a city where nearly two million people go by foot daily) bothers to shovel the sidewalk. Instead, it looks like little ski-tracks through the snow. And the streets? A lot of cars skidding, sliding, and very slow traffic. The curb? An unplowed mess of slush. The snow removal is really the best evidence of the utter ineptitude of city officials. On the Bucharest mayor's page a few years ago, it litterly said, "we don't plow snow--it's a waste of money." Yeah! Today I saw a few kids sledding down the middle of my four-lane bulevard near my bloc tied to a mercedes. Quite the sight. This IS Romania---as I say, never boring.
This past weekend we had our annual Christmas concert with our choir at church. After a lot of rehearsals and long nights, I think the effort was worth it. Many people said they were blessed by coming to the concerts. I hope to be able to post some of the songs soon.
Just a few photos of my church. We meet in a theatre in the center of Bucharest. It has been a challenge to move to a big theatre, but we have seen our church grow a lot over the past year--praise be to God. We pray that we would see even more new believers come and participate in a true, authentic Christian community.
Here is one of my favorite songs by the group Decean. The title is "Hands towards the sky."
Today we celebrated Romanian National Day with all the pomp and circumstance. Parades, tanks, music, free-food, fireworks, etc. La Multi Ani Romania (Happy Birthday Romania!).
This past weekend I spoke at at Brethren Church in Iasi, Romania (Northeast Romania near the Moldovan border). This is the group leading worship through music. I had a great time working with this group that I had also worked with this past summer in camp. I spoke on the topic of "Stop pretending and be yourself". The idea being that many teens are trying to be someone they are not in order to garner attention and popularity. I love working with this group who has such a passion for the Lord. Enjoy the singing.
Saturday morning, up and out the door by 6.30 in the morning in order to be at a small village about 1 1/2 hours north of Bucharest in Baicoi to help in a children's evangelistic outreach with friends. Even though we arrived one hour early to prepare games and crafts, the kids were already at the door of the church when we got there.
We sang songs, played games, memorized Bible verses, and held dramas.
Kids working on a Bible memorization activity
Some of the cards
I made the one with the moose! Isn't it nice? After youth group got done at close to 9 pm--I was off to board-game night with friends.
By the time Sunday evening came to a close, I was wiped out!