Backpacking Trip

Last week we kicked off our summer camps here in Romania! The much anticipated and sought after mountain backpacking trip was the first to start. Four guys came in from the states to help us with the fourteen young men we took with us. We had some problems again getting another translator so Rebecca got to come too. Having us as a married couple there was a really good thing because the boys don't get to experience good marriage relationships that often. Ghita, our part time staff member who works with the transition graduates came to for translation help.

We started off in Busteni, in the Carpathian Mountains. We took the telecabina up the mountain to save time and then embarked from the top.

There are many neat rock formations at the peak like this one that is called the sphynx.

We stopped at the cross to have lunch and our first devotional. The weather was beautiful and clear, I saw things that I didn't see last year because it was so foggy then. We talked about salvation and Brandon, one of the team members, gave out carved crosses that he and his girlfriend Sarah made. It was the perfect spot to share the gospel.

We walked down the mountain and stayed at the mountain rescue station again. They were very generous and let us use all of their facilities and even their cellar to store all of our food.

We went on day hikes and did activities from there. We had devotions after every meal and the boys usually had lots of questions and were very interactive. We had some great discussions.

We visited a big cave and explored around in there. We checked out some areas that were off the beaten path and saw some beautiful things.

There is a monastery inside the cave and the priest let us all in for free. It is called Pestera Ialomitei and is a great cave to explore.

We also hiked to some new areas this year. We checked out Valea Horoabei, a trail that runs along a river with constant waterfalls. It was so beautiful. At the top there was a canyon with areas that we had to climb straight up ropes or steel cables or up rock walls. It was a lot of fun and a new experience to climb up the canyon.

Does it get any better than a waterfall?

The second to last night a rain storm came up and the last day was rainy. The temperature dropped like a rock, we were staying in a valley and we could see it snowing on the peak. We still went out though and had some breaks from the rain where we could enjoy the scenery.

We explored another cave/mine and went all the way to the end this time. It was fun to explore and we found some quartz crystals. We turned our lanterns out and it was complete darkness. We used it as an illustration of the darkness that surrounds us in this world and how we can be lights.

We went to Lake Bolboci and some of the boys went swimming. We then went in search of another cave, basically straight up the mountain. The cave was closed off but we got a great view of the lake.

This trip was a great opportunity for us to pour into the lives of these boys. We used examples from our lives and gave testimonies to reinforce what we were saying about God and salvation. We also taught about how to live a faithful life and how to have a relationship with God. Our prayer is that these lessons will take root in the boys' lives and that they will let God work in their lives. Would you pray with us for this? Thank you for your prayer support for this trip and for these boys!

Reno Team

The Reno team came right as school year was ending for the kids. So we were able to do different things with the kids. Every afternoon we had story and craft time with three apartments of younger kids. In the evening we had a time for the older kids focusing on preparing resumes and interview skills.

Having fun during craft time

Showing off their Spider Man drawing

We got to work with many kids that we don't normally get to work with because of their school times and because we usually only spend two days at this location.

We also had a party with all three of the youth groups. We met in the park and had a minute to win it final competition. Every week all the groups had been competing in these games in addition to our time of study.

All of the kids had a fun time and we enjoyed working with the Reno team.

Biola And Baptisms

Last week we finished up our time with the Biola team. We really enjoyed ministering with them, and hearing their music was very uplifting. The brass pieces that they played reminded us of the "Horns of Power" that used to play at our church at home.

They put on a concert for the kids and everyone enjoyed it. Music is a universal language that everyone can appreciate.

We got to catch up with some of the kids that we don't see very often...

...and we all had lots of fun running around and playing.

Here we are with the entire team, we are looking forward to their return in the future.

We had the tremendous joy of witnessing four of our kids get baptized on Sunday. We have been seeing so much fruit this year and this baptism was a confirmation from God that He is moving here. We looked on as proud parents to these kids and are really looking forward to continuing to help them grow in their walks with God.

They each gave their testimony before they were baptized.

The service was very nice with lots of special music and it lasted around three hours.

Each one of these young people have made big changes in their lives and now have taken a big step, especially special because they are in a place that views repentance as a bad thing. In this culture "repenters" are really looked down on because they have turned away from the "true faith" of Orthodoxy. Apparently Acts 2:38 is ignored here, it says: Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. " Repentance means to turn away from your sins and follow God so it is hard to understand why it is viewed so negatively. Thankfully God has given them the desire to grow in their relationships with him dispite any resistance they may face.

These young people need lots of prayer, would you join us in praying for them? There were some problems when their director found out about their baptisms, he didn't want to let them go. He then barred them and all the other kids under his control from seeing us. We prayed a lot about this and God worked in amazing ways, finally changing his heart completely this week to the point where he is excited to have us working with his kids. Only God could do that! Please continue to pray for a good relationship with him and that God will use us and these kids to make a huge difference here for God's kingdom.

Our friends Cristi and Amy came to the baptism too, it was nice to see them since we have been away from Church for a while being with teams.

God has been working mightily lately. Both couples that are working on coming here full time have set their arrival dates for around the beginning of September. We are so excited. Please pray that our fall schedule will work out so that we will have time to spend with them. Please continue to pray for our summer camps which start next week! Pray for strength for us and the other staff and the people coming for shorter trips. Pray that the kids will be open and that lives will be touched for Jesus. Thanks so much for your partnership in prayer and support!

Biola Team

This past week we have been working with a team of college students from Biola University in California. It is a music school and they are all in the band. We had part of the team come and stay with us in our apartment and work with us in Rosiori.

The canola fields are really beautiful. Soon the sunflowers will bloom which will be a pleasure.

We started off by having some carnivals for the kids, we had different stations including bean bag toss, bowling, face painting, musical chairs, balloon pop, bobbing for apples and wet sponge throwing at someones face.

The kids of course had a fun time, we enjoyed hearing their laughter.

We also had a party for the youth, with competitive games for each group that we formed. It was a great time and many young people came, even more than those who normally come to our youth group. It was a good way to connect with more people who we normally don't get to work with.

The rest of the week we had music classes for the kids which they absolutely loved. We also did crafts as part of these classes.

The kids wanted to try out every instrument, especially the percussion!

We had some other classes too, the cooking class decorated cupcakes. In our English classes we played Bingo.

We are having a great time working with the Biola team. Even though we were living together in very close quarters we had a lot of fun. We went on walks in the evening, ate ice cream and Saorma together, and watched UHF, Weird Al's movie. We laughed together a lot but most importantly we had a great time working with the kids together. We had lots of significant times with the older kids. We are really excited because four of them are getting baptized this Sunday, please pray for them, for strength and for God to use them to impact the people around them. Please continue to pray for God to use our ministry to have an impact on the kids here.

'A Trip to the Symphony,' or 'The Garden is Growing'

Last weekend we were in between teams so we took some time to have fun and relax a little. We went to a symphony orchestra concert in Bucharest. They played some great music from a Romanian composer and also some Beethoven, it was very fun.

This outing was also one last thing we could do with our intern Dori who left later in the week. A new intern from Germany, Carolyn had just arrived earlier that week. After the concert we went out to eat at a place called Chocolate, how can you go wrong with a name like that? It was delicious, we had a smoked salmon sandwich and for dessert tiramisu and chocolate mousse.

We also had one last tea party with Dori, she made some wonderful basil-feta scones.

Later that night we went out to eat at a Lebanese restaurant, courtesy of the Canadian team's generosity. We enjoyed a wide spread of different things, similar to tapas style. We don't go out to eat much so this was a special weekend for us.

Our garden is really taking off too. This is a tomato plant, we have 18 in all.

This is a green pepper plant, there are 18 of them too.

These are cucumber plants, we have a few rows of them.

We have lots of beans too. The only thing that isn't fun about gardening is weeding, I could really do without that!

The transition house boys have come up and are staying with us again, this time they are insulating the house. Most Romanian homes are constructed with concrete and bricks with no insulation whatsoever, so they are very expensive to heat in the winter. This insulation should cut down on the heating bills considerably.

Everything is blooming here, and we do love flowers.

Things are going very well with the kids too. They are getting summer fever, asking us every time we see them about camp and what we'll be doing. Speaking of that, we will be having many different camps this summer. I will lead a backpacking trip in the mountains again. I am working on the scheduling, food, and devotions with Rebecca's help. I will also be leading four other boys camps that will be based on the backpacking trip. Rebecca will go to one girls camp while I am in the mountains and then after that she will help me with the boys camps. That is nice because we'll be together more. We'll also have a couple weeks of day camps for the younger kids who aren't coming to the other camps.

It is going to be an exciting summer. Please pray for the summer ministry and for the kids to be open to accepting Christ. Please also pray for us as we enter a very busy time starting this week. We need to rely on God for strength and wisdom and guidance, and we ask you to pray for us. Please also pray for the rest of the staff and all the other people who are coming to help us, for safe travels and a blessed time. Thanks for partnering with us in prayer, it means a lot and we know that God will honor our requests!