Farewell Craiova!

Hi!

Lief here. A quick note before we head out the door. It is now 8:30pm. We will leave in 30 minutes to go to church for dinner and to pack the busses. At 11pm we will meet all of the campers & leaders (97!) in the city center to load 1 large bus and 3 mini busses and head through the night to our camp - near Oradea, Romania (in the Northwest). Apparently it is up very high in the Transylvanian Alps and the temperature with be much cooler. Please pray, however, that we will have sunshine and no rain as our meeting area is outdoors and the dining hall is covered, but still outside. :)

Today we spent most of the day preparing to leave, making some final English class lesson plans, and in prayer and worship with the Romanian leadership team. We also had a chance to go to the "Gypsy Market" (quite an experience) and some of us visited Ethos Open Hands Floorball ministry. This is a ministry to street kids to get them playing indoor hockey and afterwards talking about God together. This, like HPD, is another ministry students from our HS ministry chose to designate Advent Conspiracy money to. It was really cool to see this ministry in action - it seems to have a huge impact on those who are part of it. I'll write more about when I get a chance - or tell more when I get home.

Our team is energized and excited for camp - the news about how many people are now coming and how many are not currently part of the youth ministry community (nearly 30 of 58 campers!) has really driven home the importance of what we came here to do. For so many campers, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and they will have opportunity to experience a God that pursues them, accepts them, and loves them just as they are. This indeed is good news, anywhere - but especially good news in a country where abandonment is rampant (whether orphan or not).

To echo Brenda - I am so proud of our students. They certainly have been living examples of Christ's love. I could write specific examples for the next few hours and this post would go on forever - but I can hear Daniel coming down the stairs and now we will load up the car and head to church (a little late) with our luggage - in order to have dinner (Craiovan Craze Pizza! Back by popular demand) and in time to load the bus to camp!

Again - no idea how much, if at all we will be able to post blogs at camp. Either way, we will still write them - even if we have to post them all on Tuesday, July 28 - our first day in Budapest (and my bday!).

We love you all - your support of our team has been incredible. Your messages and words, your prayers and backing have made this so much easier for us - God has used you in advance (even through this blog) to bring our team joy and encouragement. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Multsemesc Foarte Mult!

Until next time -

grace and peace,

Lief for the Romania Team
(as we leave beautiful Craiova en route to Transylvania)