Bible Study with the Guys

On Saturday mornings, I have been leading a Bible Study with teenage orphan boys at a foundation in northern Bucharest. There are 30 guys all -together. They are quite sharp for their age and ask profound questions about truth, morality, the early church, etc. Recently we looked at some of the Nooma videos by Rob Bell. Please pray for me as I interact with this group of boys and try to lead them to a deep relationship with Christ.

Still One Big Slushy Mess

It continues to snow, melt, snow, freeze....and well, you get the picture of this winter in Bucureşti. It is pretty hard to walk around and the streets look like the street above--unplowed, making for a lot of slidding. We are all eager for spring!

DECEAN - Mă Închin

Here is a song I have been listening to lately from one of my favorite groups and thought I would share. A quick translation: I worship in your presence, where the angels sing, where power flows, where the Holy Spirit is shown and brings hope...yes for us it brings hope

Seară de Tineret (Youth Meeting-Night)

We have been having an excellent turnout for our youth meetings at church this semester. We are currently studying the book of proverbs--breaking the book up by topics. We started at looking at the difference between wisdom and craziness and last Saturday discussed what makes a wise man. Some conclusions: 1) A wise man is one who fears the Lord 2) The wisdom and ways of the world are craziness--and those who seek craziness will only live a life of craziness 3) A wise man who seeks the Lord receives divine advice through the Holy Spirit and God's Word 4) A wise man runs as far away from evil and worldly pleasures as possible and 5) A wise man lets God drive the car--gives up himself, and surrenders to God's control. Deep stuff! After our youth meeting we play games (phase 10, rummikub, Settlers of Catan, Risk) until we have to catch the last train on the metro system at night. It has proven to be an excellent mode to further deepen relationships and integrate new youth into our church and family. Please pray for our youth group as we study the book of Proverbs, that we would all seek God's face and the wisdom that only HE can provide!

As Seen in RO

Here is a sample of what many of our roads in Romania will look like this spring after a rough winter, lots of salt, and simple ware and tare. The European Union is pressuring Romania to improve its roads and quickly. Much transport gets clogged down passsing through Romania because of poor roads and few autostradas.
Would not want to live here!

Anca & Ionel's Wedding

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!

Blanketed in Snow

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!

Louie Giglio - Laminin

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.

A Little Sprucing Up!

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.

Prayer Of The Children, David Archuleta

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.

Winter Retreat at Vatra Dornei

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.

La Multi Ani Tuturor (Happy New Year Everybody)

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.

A Blessed Time in Onești

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!

Craciun Fericit!

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.
May Jesus be the reason for our rejoicing!

In Parcul Titan near my apartment

Caroling Away!

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 :)

Christmas Program at Baicoi

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.

First Snowfall of the Season

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.

Christmas Choir Concert

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.

My Church: Bunavestire

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.

Băsescu re-elected Romanian President!

It's official: President Trăian Băsescu was re-elected to another 5-year term in a nail-biter election. The votes of Romanians abroad tilted the election in Băsescu's favor over his ultra-socialist rival Mircea Geoană (and heavily tied to former communist elites who dominated Romanian politics for much of Romania's history coming out of the revolution). When we went to bed, we heard that Geoană had won, but we awakened to the good news that Băsescu was re-elected.

Associated Press:

Votes cast by Romanians living abroad tilted the electoral balance in favour of the current president. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Băsescu obtained 115,831 of these votes, while his opponent, Mircea Geoană, garnered only 31,045 votes.According to final BEC data, the presence at voting stations in the second round of elections was of 58 percent. The difference between this result and the one presented Sunday evening, which announced a presence of 56.99 percent was explained for Business Standard by BEC’s spokesman, Marian Muhuleţ. “The Sunday evening results were estimates based on a sample. The final results are the ones verified at voting stations, and include the votes from abroad,” added Muhuleţ.

The coordinator of Geoană’s campaign, Viorel Hrebenciuc, said there is a possibility that the election will be “legally” contested, as irregularities were registered in several counties. The Social Democratic Party (PSD), the National Liberal Party (PNL), and the Democratic Union of Hungarians requested that BEC recount the votes cast by Romanians abroad, based suspicion of fraud. The Sunday evening exit-polls gave birth to a new concept: President for a day, as the results of polling institutes led Mircea Geoană to declare an “undoubted” victory, and President Traian Băsescu to say that obscure interests are lurking behind his victory.The PSD leader avoided the press yesterday, leaving the party’s Secretary General Liviu Dragnea to announce the strategy of the social-democrats. “We are convinced that Romanians elected Mircea Geoană as President of Romania, but Traian Băsescu’s state apparatus is trying, fraudulently, to make him the President of Romania for a second mandate,” said Dragnea. “I assure you that now, as in 2004, you can have full trust in what I am telling you: I won! I assure you that at 7 p.m. the fair surveys showed that I surpassed Mircea Geoană. My plea is that, from 9 p.m. until the count of votes is finalized, my voters remain peaceful and confident that the vote count cannot be fraudulent,” said Băsescu a few minutes before the results of the survey institutes were presented.

The heads of the survey institutes told Business Standard that the results posted Sunday were within the error margin of any exit poll. They also indicated that any such study offers a 95 percent accuracy of votes, with a maximum margin of +/-3 percent.