Family, Friends, and Team -
Our team is recovering well and adjusting back into the real world. We all made it home safely and without too much illness (apart from some stomach issues). I've spoken to most of the team (via facebook) and it sounds like people have been sleeping like crazy.... to make up for the multiple nights of only 4-5 hours.
For now, just a quick note to let you know about a "Show and Tell" format sharing time we'll have tomorrow night and to pass on the link of all 2000 team pics taken by our team camera (many different photographers).
The Romania Celebration dessert is tomorrow night, Tuesday, August 4 at 7pm in the Fireside Room at Blackhawk Church. We invite everyone (family, friends, supporters, walk-ins, Romanians, Antarticitas, and even well-behaved pets) to come to hear stories from everyone on our team, see pictures and videos from our trip, and hear about how to pray for and be involved in the future of our partnership. If we're lucky Malachi will dress up in his "Mingea Ninja" uniform for all to see how God chose to use him one night in the Romanian mountains. Or maybe he won't. We'll see.
As for the pictures - you can find them at:
Album #1
Album #2
They are the smaller version for now - though hard to tell. I'll upload full size when I have a better internet connection this week. There are tons of pictures on facebook as well.
Thanks again for everything you did to send us, sustain us, and receive us back. We could not have done this trip without the ample prayer and financial support you have offered up for us - and the love and support you have given us constantly.
Can't wait to see you and share more tomorrow night!
Until then - Lief for the team
ps. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIGLK5xEc5E&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Ffilipmunteanu.blogspot.com%2F&feature=player_embedded
Monday, August 3, 2009
Friday, July 31, 2009
Back on American soil
Landed 60 minutes ago. Should be on schedule for 5pm ETA at Blackhaw. All went well with customs and passport control. We even got all bags on the short connection! See you soon!
Paris, about to take off
up at 4am, only a few hours of sleep, if any. 50 min delay in flight meant landing in Paris at same time connecting takes off. Mad dash, they waited for us and guided us thru. Now on runway waiting to take off, 45 min late. Almost lost Luke (he went ahead to find the way, and did just that), but we're all here now. See you soon!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Shoutout To Sam Carlson
Shhh this is not legal, I have hijacked Lief's laptop and ran into a secluded room to give you the shoutout you have always wanted. I am upset that you didn't do your part and comment on the blog about how dateable I am. I saw a guy with a Wu Tang shirt two days ago and I gave him the hand sign and yelled WU TANG but he didn't appreciate it. I took a lot of pictures for you thought they are not artsy fartsy like you do them. I hear Lief coming and he wants his laptop back, I told him I was posting about Prague.
Brianna From Prague
Hey folks,
Brianna Here. I’m writing to you from maybe the most beautiful place in the world or at least the most beautiful place I have ever been. I can’t believe it is our last day here; it has been an awesome few days of reminiscing and figuring out what happened the past couple weeks. We have spent a lot of time in parks sharing the stories of the ways we saw God work through and in our team and the leadership team in Craiova. Last night we had dinner in an authentic Czech restaurant called U Flecku, apparently it is the second oldest brewery in the world. It was really cool, Lief even got the accordion player to accompany us in singing Happy Birthday to Nate. This morning we woke up to a wonderful breakfast of fresh croissants and nutella :) Then spent a few hours in a park again just talking about the things we have experienced and sharing with each other how God has changed each and every one of us in only two weeks. Right now we are sitting in a really cute café type place called Bohemia Bagel! As the music was playing quietly in the background Nate and Zack decided to sing along, and the waiter went into the back room and turned the volume up to drown out the sound of their singing. It was excellent. Well that’s all I got for now. I think every single one of us is looking back and missing our friends that we made in Craiova and at camp, but are looking forward to heading home and sleeping in our own beds. See you in a few days!
Brianna Here. I’m writing to you from maybe the most beautiful place in the world or at least the most beautiful place I have ever been. I can’t believe it is our last day here; it has been an awesome few days of reminiscing and figuring out what happened the past couple weeks. We have spent a lot of time in parks sharing the stories of the ways we saw God work through and in our team and the leadership team in Craiova. Last night we had dinner in an authentic Czech restaurant called U Flecku, apparently it is the second oldest brewery in the world. It was really cool, Lief even got the accordion player to accompany us in singing Happy Birthday to Nate. This morning we woke up to a wonderful breakfast of fresh croissants and nutella :) Then spent a few hours in a park again just talking about the things we have experienced and sharing with each other how God has changed each and every one of us in only two weeks. Right now we are sitting in a really cute café type place called Bohemia Bagel! As the music was playing quietly in the background Nate and Zack decided to sing along, and the waiter went into the back room and turned the volume up to drown out the sound of their singing. It was excellent. Well that’s all I got for now. I think every single one of us is looking back and missing our friends that we made in Craiova and at camp, but are looking forward to heading home and sleeping in our own beds. See you in a few days!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
In Prague -
Hey friends and fam -
We are now in Prague. Train was very nice, but a little early wake-up for deboarding. We found a place for luggage, a very nice and cheap place for breakfast (some czech omellettes), crossed Charles Bridge (with its many talented musicians) and climbed up Petrin tower for an overlook of Prague. We spent 2-3 hours in this park overlooking the river and city debriefing, a little alone time, and sharing with one another (this is such valuable time for us at this point). We are now "czeched" in to our apartments (3 overlooking the river right next to the famous "Dancing House") and have showered and are heading out to the Old City Square for some shopping and dinner and some more debrief together. Since we finally have internet acesss for the computer (not the phone), I'll now post a couple blogs already written a couple days ago while we were still nestled in the Transylvanian Alps with some of our favorite Craiovan people (we miss you guys so much - we have received your posts and are grateful to hear from you - and hear that camp follow-up in now underway - wish we were there for it!!!). Now for the blogs. I think we'll post a few more yet to be written posts from students too - within the next 6-7 hours. peace and love, Lief and the team (from the boys apartment on the 5th floor)
Hey everybody! It’s Charlie coming to you from Romania. Well, after six days of nonstop action at camp, we are finally enjoying the rest and reflection on our debrief time. Right now, we’re at a hotel that’s walking distance from the camp and spending the last hours we have with Daniel’s leadership team from Craiova. Camp was an amazing experience in so many ways. In the mornings we held our English classes, all of which sound like they went really well. Many of the campers made really positive comments about the classes, which is really exiting because most of us were unsure about how they would go. In the afternoons, we had free time and large group games, and on Friday we actually spent the afternoon walking several miles to a lake where we swam a little bit. In the evenings we read and heard the ‘Story of God’ and later discussed the stories in our small groups. The evening programs became deeper and deeper and the final night (Saturday) was simply amazing. Lief and Daniel shared the Gospel as the topic for the night, and Nate shared a personal experience and talked about how the topic of the night changed his life. Then, to end the night, I was part of a drama with six others that spoke no words yet sent a message (the story of God's love for humans and victory over evil) that seemed to be understood by the majority of those watching. Small groups followed, and then a big bonfire finished the night (which ended almost at dawn for some). Yesterday after saying goodbye to all the campers, we (our team and Daniel’s team) shared with each other the responses from the campers in our small group. Many of the non-Christian campers said they accepted Christ, and many others said they felt very close to making the step but hadn’t yet. So all in all, this camp was an unbelievable experience, and our team is looking forward to debriefing the next few days in Budapest and Prague. However, today is a sad day as we must say goodbye to Daniel’s leadership team whom we have come to know so well. I hope all is well back home, we miss you guys -Charlie
Hello friends and fam, it’s Maren!
These past few days have been bittersweet. It was rough saying goodbye to all our new friends yesterday when they got on the bus; there were so many tears. On the other hand, it was awesome to get to know so many Romanians. I felt like they inspired us and we inspired them in ways that we probably didn’t even realize. Some of the people that had a tough exterior were showing a softer side and I know that God had a hand in softening their hearts; it was truly touching. I also took place in the drama that Charlie mentioned and I know that it not only affected me and changed my life, but it also touched the hearts of a lot of the campers. Many of them said that they could see themselves in the situations that were portrayed throughout the drama and that they wanted to get to God. In a nutshell, camp was awesome. This is why it was so hard to leave that atmosphere. Last night, we had a little debrief with the Romanian leadership team. It was truly incredible to hear the different ways that God has made his presence known throughout the camp experience. We read through a couple camp evaluations and learned that some campers came to Christ- how amazing! Also, it was obvious that seeds were planted in most of the non Christian campers hearts which is also amazing. After many tears and stories were shared we ended the night with a couple intense games of catchphrase. This ended in a complaint from the owner of this resort telling us he was going to get “the boss” (Daniel and Lief) if we didn’t quiet down. Little did he know, Lief was probably the source of a lot of the noise! Oh well. Today is going to be difficult because we’re saying goodbye to the Romanians that we became closest with including Daniel. I can already feel the tears coming! Anyways, this trip is rapidly coming to an end and it’s sad. Luckily, we’ll be seeing all our family and friends soon!! Love you all and miss you. Your prayers have been greatly appreciated. Love, Maren
We are now in Prague. Train was very nice, but a little early wake-up for deboarding. We found a place for luggage, a very nice and cheap place for breakfast (some czech omellettes), crossed Charles Bridge (with its many talented musicians) and climbed up Petrin tower for an overlook of Prague. We spent 2-3 hours in this park overlooking the river and city debriefing, a little alone time, and sharing with one another (this is such valuable time for us at this point). We are now "czeched" in to our apartments (3 overlooking the river right next to the famous "Dancing House") and have showered and are heading out to the Old City Square for some shopping and dinner and some more debrief together. Since we finally have internet acesss for the computer (not the phone), I'll now post a couple blogs already written a couple days ago while we were still nestled in the Transylvanian Alps with some of our favorite Craiovan people (we miss you guys so much - we have received your posts and are grateful to hear from you - and hear that camp follow-up in now underway - wish we were there for it!!!). Now for the blogs. I think we'll post a few more yet to be written posts from students too - within the next 6-7 hours. peace and love, Lief and the team (from the boys apartment on the 5th floor)
Hey everybody! It’s Charlie coming to you from Romania. Well, after six days of nonstop action at camp, we are finally enjoying the rest and reflection on our debrief time. Right now, we’re at a hotel that’s walking distance from the camp and spending the last hours we have with Daniel’s leadership team from Craiova. Camp was an amazing experience in so many ways. In the mornings we held our English classes, all of which sound like they went really well. Many of the campers made really positive comments about the classes, which is really exiting because most of us were unsure about how they would go. In the afternoons, we had free time and large group games, and on Friday we actually spent the afternoon walking several miles to a lake where we swam a little bit. In the evenings we read and heard the ‘Story of God’ and later discussed the stories in our small groups. The evening programs became deeper and deeper and the final night (Saturday) was simply amazing. Lief and Daniel shared the Gospel as the topic for the night, and Nate shared a personal experience and talked about how the topic of the night changed his life. Then, to end the night, I was part of a drama with six others that spoke no words yet sent a message (the story of God's love for humans and victory over evil) that seemed to be understood by the majority of those watching. Small groups followed, and then a big bonfire finished the night (which ended almost at dawn for some). Yesterday after saying goodbye to all the campers, we (our team and Daniel’s team) shared with each other the responses from the campers in our small group. Many of the non-Christian campers said they accepted Christ, and many others said they felt very close to making the step but hadn’t yet. So all in all, this camp was an unbelievable experience, and our team is looking forward to debriefing the next few days in Budapest and Prague. However, today is a sad day as we must say goodbye to Daniel’s leadership team whom we have come to know so well. I hope all is well back home, we miss you guys -Charlie
Hello friends and fam, it’s Maren!
These past few days have been bittersweet. It was rough saying goodbye to all our new friends yesterday when they got on the bus; there were so many tears. On the other hand, it was awesome to get to know so many Romanians. I felt like they inspired us and we inspired them in ways that we probably didn’t even realize. Some of the people that had a tough exterior were showing a softer side and I know that God had a hand in softening their hearts; it was truly touching. I also took place in the drama that Charlie mentioned and I know that it not only affected me and changed my life, but it also touched the hearts of a lot of the campers. Many of them said that they could see themselves in the situations that were portrayed throughout the drama and that they wanted to get to God. In a nutshell, camp was awesome. This is why it was so hard to leave that atmosphere. Last night, we had a little debrief with the Romanian leadership team. It was truly incredible to hear the different ways that God has made his presence known throughout the camp experience. We read through a couple camp evaluations and learned that some campers came to Christ- how amazing! Also, it was obvious that seeds were planted in most of the non Christian campers hearts which is also amazing. After many tears and stories were shared we ended the night with a couple intense games of catchphrase. This ended in a complaint from the owner of this resort telling us he was going to get “the boss” (Daniel and Lief) if we didn’t quiet down. Little did he know, Lief was probably the source of a lot of the noise! Oh well. Today is going to be difficult because we’re saying goodbye to the Romanians that we became closest with including Daniel. I can already feel the tears coming! Anyways, this trip is rapidly coming to an end and it’s sad. Luckily, we’ll be seeing all our family and friends soon!! Love you all and miss you. Your prayers have been greatly appreciated. Love, Maren
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Out of mtns, been to Budapest, on overnight train to Prague!
Well, how unlikely is it that the first chance we had to post after camp is via a short note from my cell phone on the overnight train from Budapest to Prague?!! Well it is so! With a dead computer and no internet during our 20 hour jaunt in beautiful Budapest, we've struggled to keep you updated.
You can expect to hear in the days ahead some amazing stories from our last night and day of camp. So much happened in our final 24
hours! We look forward to sharing details. Our one day with Daniel's leaders was fruitful and needed and was so good for each of our teams (now one). Saying goodbye (to campers Sunday and leaders Monday) was incredibly hard for all. So many good connections, relationships built, and lives changed....
Our one day in Budapest was great, but fast. We debriefed at the Citadel overlooking the cityscape and river. Tried a different (than last year) and sweet hot spring - Budapest known for these.... and had a traditional Hungarian dinner on a docked boat on the Danube (it was so good!). Then we booked it to the train station. Within a couple hours, everyones asleep (but me),and we'll be to Praha by 7:30am (12:30am in Madison).
All is good, everyone safe and present, and looking forward to more debrief and reentry in the days ahead.
We miss our Romanian friends so much, and are feeling a bit imcomplete without them- but we like each other enough, we're managing alright. We also miss home and look forward to being with fam and friends within a few days. We love you!
Off to catch a few zzzz's before we get to the border of Czech and they wake us up for passports!
Noapte Buna! (more to come!)
Lief (for the team)
You can expect to hear in the days ahead some amazing stories from our last night and day of camp. So much happened in our final 24
hours! We look forward to sharing details. Our one day with Daniel's leaders was fruitful and needed and was so good for each of our teams (now one). Saying goodbye (to campers Sunday and leaders Monday) was incredibly hard for all. So many good connections, relationships built, and lives changed....
Our one day in Budapest was great, but fast. We debriefed at the Citadel overlooking the cityscape and river. Tried a different (than last year) and sweet hot spring - Budapest known for these.... and had a traditional Hungarian dinner on a docked boat on the Danube (it was so good!). Then we booked it to the train station. Within a couple hours, everyones asleep (but me),and we'll be to Praha by 7:30am (12:30am in Madison).
All is good, everyone safe and present, and looking forward to more debrief and reentry in the days ahead.
We miss our Romanian friends so much, and are feeling a bit imcomplete without them- but we like each other enough, we're managing alright. We also miss home and look forward to being with fam and friends within a few days. We love you!
Off to catch a few zzzz's before we get to the border of Czech and they wake us up for passports!
Noapte Buna! (more to come!)
Lief (for the team)
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