Summer Fun!

This summer we had several trips to the mountains. At the beginning of the summer we
spent a week with a dear friend we work with at her parents vacation house in the west of Romania.

Visiting the Romanian "Mount Rushmore" alongside the Danube River!! (It's really the face of Decebal, one of the early Romanian rulers)

A picnic alongside the Danube (that's Serbia across the river!)

Swimming in a naturally heated pool (heated by a hot spring)

In early July we spent a week camping with some friends and saw very beautiful areas of Romania!!

Inside the "Bear cave" in the north-west of Romania!

Blueberry picking!!

On the Trans-Fagarasan Road where there was snow at the top in July!!

Along the highest road in Romania (over 2,200 meters high)

2010 University Year ends & 20 Year celebration of OSCEB!

Each year we celebrate the seniors who graduated. They work hard and often face difficulties trying to "do the right thing" in an education system where many people get by, by cheating and often compromising their values! This year the economic climate is adding another difficulty to graduation. We heard recently that 3000 students finished the Engineering school and only 150 of them had jobs at graduation.


In May OSCEB celebrated 20 years of ministry to students! It was a wonderful evening with many former students coming out to celebrate God's work among students in Bucharest in the last 20 years!

We had a great time visiting graduates. Here Mike talks to Cristi, who we met in 1992 when he was working as a volunteer with OSCEB!

Seussical!!

BCA's first musical was proudly presented by the students on April 24. All the students worked so hard on this and they were able to present it once at a small theater in the city. The owner of the theater remarked after the performance that he had never seen anything like this musical and was very impressed by the hard work of all the students, the directors and everyone who worked behind the scenes to make it a successful.
Rebekah was a bird-girl and had a lot of dancing parts. Her best friend, Daniella, was Gertrude!

All the Whos down in Who-ville included Hannah!!

Andrew was the Grinch!

A few weekends later the students were invited to present three of their songs at an International Festival.

Ravi Zacharais Conference

A number of OSCER leaders were invited to a Conference featuring Ravi Zacharias. It was a very stimulating conference and offered us time to be together and think more about evangelism and apologetics.


We gathered one night for a late night snack of sausages, bread and soda. It was a time to relax and share a bit more of what we were learning, and get to know each other better.


Gabi and Ionut, two leaders from Pitesti. Gabi was Mike's roommate during the conference.


It was also possible for us to invite 5 staff from the, IFES, student movement in the Republic of Moldova to come to the conference. Just a few weeks before the conference a small group from Romania had been to the Republic of Moldova to help them with an evangelistic conference. It was amazing for the team to see how many nonbelievers came to the camp. It was very encouraging.

Great Sermon on the meaning of Gethsemane!!!

Here is a wonderful sermon by Pastor CJ Mahaney from Covenant Church called Gethsemane from March 7, 2010. The sermon is about 50 minutes long, but is well worth the time to listen to it. There are many different opinions of what Christ's work on the Cross means and many that we hear today are not Biblical. This sermon brought tears to our eyes as we were confronted once again with the anguish that Jesus endured in order to reconcile us to the Father. May the Holy Spirit illumine your minds and hearts as you listen to this.

http://www.covlife.org/modules/listen-online/3588470

Enjoy!

You can download the sermon here:
http://www.covlife.org/resources/3588470-Gethsemane

Retreat with Student from Brasov!!

12-14 March- The student group in Brasov organized their first local training camp. This means they planned all the events, food, speakers,etc. They invited a local pastor to come and speak on finding your calling and discovering your gifts. We had an incredible time together with great teaching and plenty of time to discuss things we were learning.

Loredana (staff from Bucuresti), Simona (Graduate who helped start group in Brasov) Oti (leader now in Brasov) & Ruxi (staff from Bucuresti)

Washing up after a great meal

Robert and Manu planning.

Friday when we arrived it snowed!

Each day ended with a few games of Catan. A new favorite among Romanian students.

Ploiesti Ski Camp

More fun on the slopes this winter in the second ski camp in Azuga, near Sinaia, north of Bucharest with students from Ploiesti! The weather was a bit warmer, but we still had snow on the slopes!

On Friday we all went out to the beginners slope to help those that had not been skiing before! Most people caught on after a few runs down the slope!!

The advanced and intermediate took off on the second day to the top of the mountain to try their hand at the whole mountain! Here we are at the top of the mountain, where it was snowing!

Taking time to enjoy the view on the slopes!

Andrei works his snowboard down the mountain!! Andrei has worked with the group in Ploiesti in the past and now serves on our national board.

Each day we had a worship time together in the morning before breakfast and then a short presentation after Breakfast. A pastor from Ploiesti led two sessions and presented clearly the gospel very clearly and with some good analogies!! On the last day Mike had a short presentation on the need to be involved in community and challenged the students to stay involved with the group or a church with similar values and to continue to seek God and He will make himself known.