It has been declared:

1. We miss Pau LeFeber (he went home on Tuesday)! Hope your time at home with the family has been wonderful!

2. We are on the runway at London Heathrow. Yes, I'm turning off the electronic device now. :(

USA - HERE WE COME!

Last Blog Post from Europe (London, this time!)

Jessica and Megan Watts here, blogging aboard the plane to London. We’ve had an amazing time debriefing in Budapest, Hungary for the past two days. We got in on Wednesday morning and headed straight to the Maverick Hostel. It was a beautiful building and our team had its own floor! It fit our team perfectly, with the girl’s room having 12 beds- one for each of us! From the hostel, we walked a short distance to a restaurant for a much-needed Hungarian brunch- after 15 hours, we all wanted food, real food. We devoured omelets, croissants, brioches, toast, fruit, and sausage… rather quickly. As Josh Bunting said, “This was the best meal of my entire life!”

We then took the tram to an old Basilica where we took a tour of the inside and then climbed 450 steps to the top of the dome. It was a breathtaking view of the city- including the river, rolling hills, and gorgeous buildings. After walking (or taking the elevator) back down, we stopped for gelARTo… yes, gelato art! We had different flavors all shaped into a beautiful rose on the cone. Not to mention, it was delicious!

Next, we headed to an old castle for quiet time. We took a trolley cart almost vertically up the mountain and then headed to find a comfortable spot to journal, think, or for some- nap. After a nice walk, with a few detours, down the mountain, we headed across the bridge to begin our elegant dinner cruise along the Danube River. We got to experience an array of different foods, a setting sun behind the city and a string quartet that sang “Happy Birthday” to our own TAYLOR MCGRATH!

Then we got to climb up to the top of a amazing lookout in Budapest, called the Citadel! Even though we were tired and it was a little colder, and there were a lot of stairs- we got to the top and were amazed to see the city at night. Then we got into a circle to debrief as a team and talk about what we had experienced at camp and in Craiova. We huddled together and really got deep into the conversation.

The next morning, we woke up to breakfast being cooked by Josh and myself (Jessica).We had eggs, cereal, yogurt, and… BREAD! Along with fresh fruit and juice J

Then we headed out to a small island for more team and alone time. We all got the chance to write to notes to each other and begin talking about coming home. We then got the chance to spend some time journaling by the river or fountain.

For the next two hours, we got the opportunity to spend some time in small groups eating lunch and shopping for gifts. This gave us all the opportunity to get the food we had been craving- some had burgers, other Italian, some enjoyed a slice of pizza and others enjoyed sandwiches at the juice bar. After spending time together, we headed to the Thermal Baths for relaxation. It was a unique experience to sit in a menthol sauna, see Lief act out his Koala impression, and be pushed in circles by the whirlpool.

Not too far from the baths, was an old castle, where we ate dinner like kings and queens. We enjoyed chicken or beef with a delicious sauce over it and mixed with spaetzal (not to be confused with schnitzel).

We had our final debrief session where we finished writing notes to each other and then discussed our feelings about coming home and what it will be like. We got some alone time to think things through and journal and then closed in prayer. We ended with the whole team breaking into the song “Lean on Me” one last time.

We can’t wait to see your smiling faces when we arrive home this evening. We have so many stories to share, but don’t bombard us too much as it will probably feel like 3a.m. to us! We love and miss you like crazy! See you soon.

Logging off one last time from (London Heathrow International Airport!),
Jessica FloRida and Meg aWatt

Bloggin from the train!

On the train, been 7 hours & have 8 left! The hardest part about this train: the departure. We expected it to be hard, but not the way we experienced. Leaving Craiova at 11:40am this morning was hard, we waved goodbye to so many teary faces. We were then so fortunate to be joined on our Craiova - Bucharest leg by: Vali, Lavi, Razvan Tony, Stefi (Chisa), Stefi (Dobre), & Laviniu. They talked & played cards with us, riding the 3-4hr (one-way) with us just to be with us a little longer. Well, we were more rushed than anticipated loading our luggage (28 large bags) into our sleeper wagon once in Bucharest rail station. While we were about halfway loaded (& only a handful of ppl on board), the conductor started blowing his whistle & rushing us on. As soon as every last piece of luggage & student on board, the train started to move. For most of us, goodbyes to some of our closest friends were through the windows of an accelerating train.

Still, with everyone & every bag on board, our train has been taking a winding path through the Carpathians of Romania, west towards Hungary, where were expected to cross the border at 6am. We've spent most of the time in our 4 sleeping cabins (each with 6 beds), talking, giggling, and spontaneous, uncontrollable reminiscing about camp, Craiova, and the relationships each one of us has been so richly blessed to experience.

One thing is for certain: this group LOVES the people we've been with these past two weeks. We've seen God work through their stories to show us His love. We've been challenged by them - we're different now because of the... because of Him.

I think that's what made the departure so hard. We're not saying goodbye to just anybody over here. We're saying goodbye to people God specifically chose to be used to change us. That's HUGE! It's why we say: WE LOVE YOU ROMANIA!

In addition, I must say I also am extremely & exceedingly excited about LONG overnight train rides in sleeper cars. This is exactly what our team needed tonight. Can't wait to see what debriefing the beautiful parks of Budapest will bring. More on that in 24hrs!

signing off with lots of love from my bunk in wagon 828, cabin 7,
Lief

Buna Ziua from Bucuresti Railway Station!

Greetings from Kristen in Bucharest, Romania. We are transferring from one train to another -- from our time in Craiova to debrief in Budapest, Hungary.

Let me just start by saying: our students are amazing. I have been amazed at their eagerness to approach students on the fringes; find translators to engage the students who don’t speak English well; effectively convey love to our new friends; remain flexible when plans change or we have unexpected down time.

On Monday night we had an awesome camp reunion. What a fun conclusion to our time in Romania! We met at the park to play games and ride in row boats (poor "Megawatt" got quite wet). Afterwards, we went to the church for a dance party with our favorite camp songs (“Magic” and “Made to Love”). A major highlight was sharing stories about camp. People expressed how they felt incredibly loved by God. Others shared how close they felt about their small group and how thankful they were that everyone opened up about their lives. It was powerful to hear how different people saw God working – especially in the lives of many students who were raised in an Orthodox setting and grew to be curious about Jesus Christ while at camp.

Lief summarized our feelings well. He described how the Romanians make our team feel incredibly loved. Americans are quicker to say, “I love you,” but we've noticed that Romanians are often quicker to act it out and share their love.

This is why it is difficult for our team to leave our Romanian friends. As we departed Craiova a few hours ago, I was making sure everyone from our American team was accounted for at the train station. I quickly was confused. After two weeks with these people, we have become one big family. I have practically forgotten the labels or divisions between American and Romanian; together we are one group, one church. (When we worship together, we catch a beautiful glimpse of heaven and the different languages.)

We are taking an overnight train from Bucharest to Budapest (finally I’ve learned the difference) for about 15 hours. We are SOOOO ready for the 6-person sleeping cabins! This should be our first night of extended sleep in a long time! In Budapest, we will reflect on our trip – thinking about ways we have changed or want to change as a result, preparing for re-entry to the United States.

Reminder: You are invited to our Show & Tell on Monday night (August 15) at 7 pm at Blackhawk to hear stories and see pictures! We can’t wait to share our experience with you.

Baptism Pictures!

Baptism

Cassidy, Megan Radke, Michaela again!

After very little sleep, (about 4 hours if you were lucky!) we met at church to attend the sermon. We participated in worship and communion (real wine, different then Bhawk) and Hunter and Emily shared their experiences at camp and how it has changed them.

After church, most of the congregation drove to the Jiu River for the baptisms. We heard everyone's testimony and listened to friends speak on behalf of those being baptized. From our team, we had:
Catie Smiley
Kristen Emerson
Jimmy Bero
Megan Watts
Megan Radke
Aubrey Fisher
and three Romanians were baptized. The stories were powerful and told of how God has been working in the lives of our teammates and the lives of Romanians.
There were three neat things about the baptism: 1. It was in a RIVER. 2. All the believers who were getting baptized wore white to represent the new life they were expecting. 3. After each person was baptized, all the people sing "Rejoice in the Lord always and Again I say Rejoice! X2 Rejoice! Rejoice! And again I say Rejoice!" (Except they were singing in Romanian and David led us in English). I really enjoyed this because the whole community was there supporting their brothers and sisters in Christ.

After the Baptisms, we went to Parc Romanecu and hung out with our Romanian friends, which was a blast of course. We threw around the frisbe, napped, ate ice cream, and enjoyed each moment we have left with each other. Michaela experienced her first good bye and is not looking forward to what Tuesday is going to bring (As is the rest of the team). We are heading off to our host families for an early bed time (hooray!)

So they are ushering us out of the church, Noapte buna!

Dance the night away...

Hey Wisconsinites,

This is Cassidy, Michaela, and Megan Radke! We are exhausted as we write this blog because we were up dancing and eating until 3:30 in the morning yesterday (this morning??) We had a blast and learned so much about Romanian culture.

Our day started with cleaning the church for the wedding and the excitement started to build as we got dressed up. The girls even had to take over the boys bathroom for extra mirror space. The ceremony was similar to what we would expect at home, but we noticed that perhaps it was less formal.

However right after the ceremony we went to the reception at a hotel down the street and we realized that while we were dressed for the ceremony, we were underdressed for the reception. The guests had changed into very fancy clothes before the reception. When we had been seated, we translated the menu and realized we were in for a treat after the camp food. There were six courses in total which included samples of many kinds of food. Overall, it was an enormous amount of food and Lief couldn't even imagine finishing it all. The first course came at around 7pm and the cake was cut at 3 in the morning. In between each course we would dance for about an hour and a half to a mix of American music and traditional Romanian folk music. We learned lots of new dances and got a work out.

We had so much fun hanging out with the Romanians, eating, and dancing. We all agree this is how weddings in the States should be.

CAMP Pics

Baby Hunny napping on the way to camp

Catie and Jenna repping the same shirt

Suns out guns out

Kayta with Stefi and Bianca

Lief's new haircut

Emily and Paul jamming during worship

Matt, Brendon, Micheala, and Rasvi during mustache night

Cassidy and Betty...awwww

Sister love

Hunny and his uni-brow

The white diamonds (a small group) doing air-band for a pic scavenger hunt

SPORTS TEAM!! WHAT WHAT!!

The most of the camp rocking the matching shirts

Paul strumming for Jesus

Megarad being awesome

Face-swipe: the newest trend

Erik you're culturally inappropriate

ROOMIES!

CAMP Pics

Lief showing off the six pack

Megan the Romanian whisperer

Jenna you're so cute

Tickle Tolly! fav past time

Hey Girl Hey!

McBlog... Straight from McDonalds!

Hey it’s Aubs, Taylor and Jessica here at McDonalds in Craiova, enjoying some non-camp food yummm. It is 2 pm and we are finally awake after our long journey home. We were supposed to leave camp on Thursday at noon, but the bus drivers thought we weren’t leaving until Friday, so we had six more hours at camp! We left around 6 pm and arrived around 5 am this morning… an 11 hour bus ride!

Despite all the traveling excitement we had a blast at camp! Each morning, our team of Americans met at 7:30 am to plan for the day, talk about God sightings, and pray. After that we woke up our campers, had breakfast, and a quick morning session of worship. After that, we split off into our English classes: each class was run by two or three Americans, and had one translator and about ten students. This was followed by a time of small group challenges held by the sports team (shout out to mine and Tay Tays boys!) Then came lunch, and free time afterwards. The afternoons consisted of large group games (sports team wooo) or a special event like hiking or water games. After dinner we had nighttime sessions that were held by our awesome emcees Jessica and Kayta! We would play pull-up games and embarrass ourselves, have a meaningful time of worship lead by the band known as Magnum Octopus, and listen to one of the leaders speak about different topics relating to the theme of Magnum Opus. After session, we split into our small groups (cabin groups) for a meaningful discussion about the talk as we ate tea and biscuits (cookies).

Camp was an amazing experience for all of us, we built so many amazing relationships with the Romanians as well as our American team! We are so excited that we got to share about God’s love and learn new things about our faith in the process of doing so. One of the reasons camp was so meaningful was because we were unplugged from the rest of the world. We were surrounded by beautiful mountains, and had no way of connecting outside the camp… the world could have ended and we wouldn’t have heard about it J but it didn’t, so we’re all good.

We will share more personal stories on camp in blogs to come!

As for the rest of the week we have some exciting events planned for us J We will be guests at a traditional Romanian wedding tomorrow followed by a reception and night of dancing. On Sunday, we will be attending church, and we have the opportunity to witness the church’s annual baptism at the river. On Monday night we will be having a camp reunion with all the campers!!!!!! The only sad part is that we will have to say goodbye L to most of them that night because we leave the next day for our debrief in Budapest! And we are excited to share Taylor’s birthday with her on the 10^th yay!

LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL BACK AT HOME. MORE STORIES TO COME!

Buna blog watchers! Tambalu! (Buna means hi.)

Written from camp on July 31st...

First full day at camp is coming to an end, and we would like to update yall on our adventures! Yesterday (Saturday), we arrived safely but late in the rain. We had a pretty chill afternoon (metaphorically and literally); we slept, ate, and had our night session in the cold. At camp, we have a very old Hungarian cook, and let’s just say all of the campers, Romanians and Americans, have had an interesting time adjusting to the cuisine. Besides the cold and cuisine, camp has been great! Today was our first large games day! The sun broke out for a while during our games, and it was a pleasant surprise. The games were fantastic and (AHEM TESS) Energy is one of the most fun games we have ever played!!!!!!! Also, we feel that we are connecting to the Romanian campers well during the whole day and especially small group. It is easy to see how God is moving and working through the first few days of camp. The questions that they are asking in response to our nightly sessions are a great start to figuring out who they really are as God’s greatest work. During our worship time, we sing a few songs where the Romanians can sing in their language while we sing in ours. These are very powerful moments in which we can see how big and mighty our Lord is. What I (Michaela) love about the Romanian culture is that they are so much quicker to show affection and start a deep relationship with another person than our culture.

A few quick shoutouts:

The Big MT to the fam: Miss you guys hope everything is well at home. Camp is great so far.

Fanman: Shoutout to sinks, for keeping my hands bacteria free.

Hunter “vanator”: Hey Mom and Kenz! Tell the rst of the Koeshall clan I say hi! Tambalu!

Blogging from my phone...

No (unreliable) internet service & spotty cell service mean posting blogs will be a challenge while at camp. I'm trying to send this one via email (using cellular data plan). We'll continue to try to connect & send updates throughout the week, please continue to post comments so we can read them as we do connect for brief periods.

We arrived at camp around 2pm (5-6 hrs late), took 2hr nap, then got up & started preparing for 1st BIG night!

Though it was raining & cold upon arrival, & we've had challenges with both our clean water & electricity supply due to the irregularity of the camps generator schedule (don't worry, though more complicated, we have access to both), our team has stepped up & all campers were full of energy for our first session tonight! It was so exciting to see our students set the pace as leaders & be used to make what could have been a crummy/wet/cold first day into a meaningful & significant exhilarating start.

Between dancing & singing, worship, funny games led by our emcees Kayta & Jessica, the introduction of camp theme (magnum opus - greatest work; we are God's masterpiece), & digging deeper in small groups (candlelit discussion on topic complete with biscuits/cookies, & berry tea), camp has begun with a bang!

We continue to pray for the sun to come out - so we can move out mtg place from the covered dining room to the sweet outdoor stage, the relationships between leaders & campers to significantly deepen, & especially for Emily & Aubs to wakeup full strength tomorrow as they were both feeling under the weather earlier today.

We appreciate your continued prayers & support. God is moving here - He redeems despite, & even through all of the challenges & hurdles in our way, He continues to show us He's going to get His work done, and allow us to be a part of it. We are so excited as we prayerfully and actively wait to see what He's going to do next.

Until next time we get a touch of cell coverage- signing off from Ic Ponor in the Apusen range of the Carpathian Mtns (aka to some as the Trasylvanian Alps). Hard to believe we're here.

Much love,
Lief for the team

Traffic Deadlock on Way to Camp

It's 3:30am & we're STILL in middle of Romania. Left Craiova @10pm, but been at dead stop for bridge construction or something (???!?!?), moving short distance every 20-30 min with no end in sight. We've been here over 2 hrs now... starting to worry we wont make it to camp until Saturday afternoon. Hoping picks up soon. Even so, team still happy, patient, & many still up getting to know campers. Energy for camp is high, & God continues to work despite the dissapointing stall on the road. Appreciate your prayers....

ERIK DIED.. (...of embarrassment after being called schnookums so many times).

Haha! Got you back Mom!

Love, Erik

Almost Time for Camp!!

Buna ziua (good day) it's Aubrey and Matt here,

Today is the day we leave for camp and we are all soooooooo pumped! As mentioned in an earlier blog, 12 more campers were added last night at the coffee house so our grand total for the camp is around 84 people (including us) which is fantastic!

We leave tonight around 10 pm... about our usual dinner time hah. Instead of taking a train, we will be taking two buses on the nine hour trip up the mountain so we will arrive around 8 am on Saturday to camp.

A couple culture shocks so far here in Romania:
- no flushing toilet paper
- CRAZY taxi drivers
- late night water melon meals
- kisses on the cheek are very common called poops!
- stray dogs all around the city
- very few public bathrooms & they cost money
- ping pong tables at the park
- kiss fm plays Rhianna and Ludacris (aka josh)
- no zip lock baggies
- peanuts for breakfast
- they start school at age 7 or 8

Also just a heads up, we may not have internet at the camp these next six days so although we will continue to blog, they won't get posted until next Friday!! Continue to leave us comments and please continue your prayers :)

Nowwww, a few shout-outs... or a lot of them:

Kristen to Jon and John- I now realize that it's truly impossible to get every receipt!
Michaela to Donna Johnke- I hope you weren't too lonely this week, I miss you a ton! I can't wait to tell you about my super sweet host mom. I love you!
Lief to Emi and the beautiful, growing, little child- I love both of you more than you could ever imagine! I hope you're eating out and staying healthy. I can't wait to hug you (Emi) and feel your little feet kick (Baby). Also, can we make chocolate chip cookies on August 12?!?!?!?!
Megan R. to Mom- Thanks for all the comments, miss and love you!
Megan R. to Chris- I miss you! I watched the zombie videos, hilarious! Nice work :)
Erik to My Homies- Shout out to my homes living on the streets
Kayta to Mommy and Papa- I love you!
Jenna to Grandma and Grandpa- Happy Anniversary!!!
Joshua to Family- I hope Sammy is behaving!
Megan W. to Momma, Daddy, Sissy and Wuppa- Miss and Love YOU!!!!
Catie to Mom, Dad and Megan- I love you!! and Hi to my second family, the Pliners!!
Jessica to Nate- I miss you!!! I'm journaling like crazy and have so many stories for you! I love you :)
Jessica to Mom, Dad and Harley- (okay, I guess Lexi too) I miss you- have fun on the Gulf... Let's go to Costa Rica when I get back!

Jessica to Mr. C and KAV- Have fun doing the kick-a-thon and the police night out demo! You guys are all awesome! Can't wait to see you when I get back!
Jessica to Caitlyn- No idea if you're actually reading this like you said you would, but if you are, I miss you! Hope you're having fun with all the munchkins!

Mom to April, Audra, Anne and Daniel- LIFE IS GOOD!
Dad to AAA and D and B- It is raining here... there?
Cassidy to Mom and Dad- Miss you! How is cowboys training going? I'm staying at Claudia's house. Do you remember her from when she visited Wisconsin?
Cassidy to Tess- Love all your comments, thanks. I miss you (and big pink). I can't wait to tell you all about it. All the Romanians love your letters!
Cassidy to Malachi- Wish you were here. It's not the same without you. The Romanians Love your notes and bracelets.
Hunter to Tess- JBBD says hi. I'll make sure I grab an autograph for you.
Hunter to Makenzie- Miss you dude. Wish you were here. Everyone says hi and that they miss you. Hug the kids for me.
Jimmy SO to John and Vicki- I love you and miss you.
Jimmy SO to Isaac Portz- Hope you are keeping Angie under control. (This is also an SO to Angie. Miss you!)
Taylor to Mom and Dad- Love and Miss you guys!
Taylor to Collie Man- I miss you soooo much. I'm sending you a hug and a kiss over the internet...
Taylor to Payton- You're awkward but I love you!
Taylor to Kelsey- Hey
Taylor to Katy- I miss energy drinks... That's what's up.
Taylor to Kati and Tess- Mystery spice is everywhere!
Hannah to Jansen- Happy birthday little brother!
Hannah to Sawyer- Have fun in Hawaii!! ... mom and dad you don't get a shout out because you are going to Hawaii without me ;)
The Big MT to my peeps - aka my mom and sis, how is everything at home? Is bailey doing ok? I hope so, love u guys

The Big MT to Grandma H- Heads up

The Big MT to Dad - Thanks for the update on the cubs and bears keep me posted on anything else

The Big MT to Grandma and Grandma Tolly - Thanks for your prayers tell Kyle I say hi and to read this

Aubs to ma and dad- I missss you lots and lots and i loveeeee you.

Aubs to Dev and Chris- I CANNOT wait for the wedding, I promise I will get your something borrowed and blue :) miss you both lots, have fun at ballroom without me!

Aubs to Ben- I'm in Romania if you were wondering... love you.

Aubs to Luhsel- I meeeeees you, dance pretty and tell my pommies good luck!

More pics from our pre-camp time in Craiova

Happy to be in Romania!

Nighttime in Romania!

Hanging out before the Coffeeshop Concert!

Catie making people "Smiley" like usual!

Pat and Larry know everyone!

Michaela getting off the bus!

Games in the Park!

Ultimate Frisbee in the Park!

Ladies playing "World Cup" - a version of soccer.

Paul showing off his soccer skills to the Romanians!

More Games in the Park!

Pat and Elena stop for a quick picture at the coffeehouse!

Goofing off during free time!

Taylor showing off one of her many faces!

Josh and Irina are all smiles!

Just thought we would update you on all the fun we're having here! We will post another blog shortly explaining what's up for us in the upcoming days. Love and Miss you all!