Christmas in Bucharest Part 1: Lights
Christmas in Bucharest Part 2: Parties & Caroling
Christmas in Bucharest Part 3: Christmas Market
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Seminary teaching, English clubs, and Protests
Happy November!
October was a whirlwind month for us. Besides continuing to attend language classes twice per week and remaining highly involved with our Romanian church, we hosted some American friends and also began three new ministries that we will briefly tell you about:
1. Cameron began teaching Introduction to Evangelism at the Bucharest Baptist Seminary in early October. The class meets every Friday for two hours. He is really having a great time teaching! Already the 12 students have been out sharing their faith in the city, and the conversations in class have gone well so far. Cameron was a bit nervous about having to speak in all Romanian, but the students are very encouraging and seem to be responding very well to his teaching style.
2. On Thursday evenings, we are a part of leadership training meetings in partnership with another Christian organization. Our team's two semester interns, Chris and Cullen, lead segments of these meetings in English and we help out where needed and are there to build connections that will perhaps lead to further ministry contacts. Roughly 25 people attend this group.
3. On Sunday evenings, we are leading an English spiritual discussion group in our home. We have a meal together and then Cameron leads a discussion through a biblical story. Our prayer is that this will become a full-fledged Bible study and church plant in the future. There are only a handful of us at this point, but we are praying that the Lord will grow our number.
In addition, we also wanted to mention the nightclub tragedy and the subsequent anti-corruption protests that have occurred this week. Last Friday evening (Oct. 30), a Bucharest nightclub caught on fire due to some unauthorized pyrotechnics. The ensuing stampede of young Romanians toward the single exit left many dead and/or critically burned, and each day since the death toll tragically climbs higher (as of now it stands at 49 dead and at least 50 in critical condition). Beginning Monday evening, tens of thousands of Romanians have taken to the streets of Bucharest and other major cities each evening in peaceful protest of widespread governmental corruption. The last time this many people were united in protest was 26 years ago when Communism fell. Yet to reiterate, these protests are peaceful and we feel very safe. Not only do our friends and neighbors assure us that there is no suspicion of violence, but the president is also committed to communicating with non-elected representatives of the people. We will let you know if this changes, but please do not worry about our safety for now.
October was a whirlwind month for us. Besides continuing to attend language classes twice per week and remaining highly involved with our Romanian church, we hosted some American friends and also began three new ministries that we will briefly tell you about:
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| Visiting Rasnov citadel with Dusty |
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| In Cismigiu Park with Rob & Jacob |
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| Visiting Peles Castle with Rob, Jacob, Chris, & Cullen |
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| Cameron giving the first reading quiz |
2. On Thursday evenings, we are a part of leadership training meetings in partnership with another Christian organization. Our team's two semester interns, Chris and Cullen, lead segments of these meetings in English and we help out where needed and are there to build connections that will perhaps lead to further ministry contacts. Roughly 25 people attend this group.
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| Chris & Cullen leading an English game (photo from Liderii de Maine) |
3. On Sunday evenings, we are leading an English spiritual discussion group in our home. We have a meal together and then Cameron leads a discussion through a biblical story. Our prayer is that this will become a full-fledged Bible study and church plant in the future. There are only a handful of us at this point, but we are praying that the Lord will grow our number.
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| Our first spiritual English discussion group |
In addition, we also wanted to mention the nightclub tragedy and the subsequent anti-corruption protests that have occurred this week. Last Friday evening (Oct. 30), a Bucharest nightclub caught on fire due to some unauthorized pyrotechnics. The ensuing stampede of young Romanians toward the single exit left many dead and/or critically burned, and each day since the death toll tragically climbs higher (as of now it stands at 49 dead and at least 50 in critical condition). Beginning Monday evening, tens of thousands of Romanians have taken to the streets of Bucharest and other major cities each evening in peaceful protest of widespread governmental corruption. The last time this many people were united in protest was 26 years ago when Communism fell. Yet to reiterate, these protests are peaceful and we feel very safe. Not only do our friends and neighbors assure us that there is no suspicion of violence, but the president is also committed to communicating with non-elected representatives of the people. We will let you know if this changes, but please do not worry about our safety for now.
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| Thousands of Romanians protesting against corruption this week |
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Village Ministry Weekend
Last weekend, we had the privilege of driving up with two student interns, Chris & Cullen, to the northwest part of Romania to visit our colleague, Daniel Byrd. Daniel lives in a village and works with the Roma in several different villages.
We arrived on Friday afternoon and immediately began preparing for Friday night Bible study. Jessica & Cullen sang a few songs, and Chris & Cullen both shared a short testimony.
On Saturday, we and some Roma youth all drove to another village for a children's program. The boys played soccer, and the girls jumped rope and played other games. Chris shared the story of Moses and the 10 Commandments.
Sunday morning, we went to a house church in the same village from Friday. Chris & Cullen both shared a short testimony again, and Cameron preached. It was a great time!
Check out this video about our weekend! :)
We arrived on Friday afternoon and immediately began preparing for Friday night Bible study. Jessica & Cullen sang a few songs, and Chris & Cullen both shared a short testimony.
On Saturday, we and some Roma youth all drove to another village for a children's program. The boys played soccer, and the girls jumped rope and played other games. Chris shared the story of Moses and the 10 Commandments.
Sunday morning, we went to a house church in the same village from Friday. Chris & Cullen both shared a short testimony again, and Cameron preached. It was a great time!
Check out this video about our weekend! :)
Scotland!
In the month of September, we had the awesome opportunity to travel to Scotland with Cameron's parents. For a week, we toured several sites, including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Loch Lomond, Loch Ness, the Isle of Skye, Inverness, and the Culloden Battlefield. We also took a steam engine train through the western Highlands. Here are a few pictures!
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| Glasgow Cathedral |
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| Loch Lomond |
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| Glen Coe |
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| Fish & Chips |
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| Jacobite steam engine train in the western Highlands (as seen in Harry Potter) |
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| Fairy Glen on the Isle of Skye |
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| Loch Ness |
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| We spotted Nessie! ;) |
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| Inverness |
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| Culloden Battlefield |
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| Highland Hairy Cows |
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| Edinburgh Castle |
Thursday, September 3, 2015
Music Camp
The camp was Wednesday, Aug. 26, through Sunday, Aug. 30, when the children would perform what they had learned in a Sunday morning church service at "Grace Church." Wednesday - Friday, the schedule was the following:
9-11 Whole group chorus
11-12 Theory/Orchestra
12-1 Bible study/Chorus
1-2 Lunch/games
2-4 Recorder/Orchestra/Boom Whackers
For most of the morning, I sat among the children to help sing so they would hear how the songs go and to help make sure they were paying attention and sitting up straight. I assisted with the games during lunchtime, which on Thursday & Friday were water games, because it was SO HOT outside. After lunch, I helped Susan with the Boom Whackers group. Boom Whackers are plastic tubes of different lengths that make different tones when you hit them against something, like a table. You play them kind of like you would play bells in a bell choir. They are also all different colors, according to the note they play. They look like this:
I wasn't able to attend the camp on Saturday or Sunday, due to other obligations, but I took a lot of pictures and made this video montage for Susan to put on the Jubilate website. Enjoy! :)
Saturday, July 18, 2015
Math Camp July 2015
For the past two weeks, I (Jessica) had the amazing opportunity to help with a "Math Camp" in Poiana Sibiului, Romania. Our friends Rich and Sue have hosted this camp for 8 years, with some math teachers from New York state. Last spring, when we visited Rich & Sue in Sibiu, Sue told me about this camp and offered to let me help out with it, since I was a high school math teacher for 5 years before we came to Romania. I've been looking forward to it ever since!
The camp was Mon-Fri from 10AM-12PM for two weeks. The first 15 minutes were singing and working on the theme Bible verse (Proverbs 18:10). Class instruction was from 10:15-11:45, then we came back together for more songs and closing. After camp, we had lunch cooked by a local Romanian woman then went back to Rich & Sue's to plan for the next day. In the evenings, we had dinner at Rich & Sue's and just relaxed and hung out. On the first Tuesday evening, the girls came over and made barrettes with ribbons, and on the second Tuesday, the boys came over and made rubber band guns. Of course, an epic rubber band battle ensued.
The students were primarily Baiesi, but there were also some Romanian and Roma students as well. The first 3 days, I helped with the class for grades 2-4. After that, I helped with the class for grades 6-8, because they had more students. I had been worried about if the kids would understand me, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that they didn't have any trouble at all! I was able to work with the kids in Romanian, with just occasional help from one of the translators.
On Saturday, we traveled into Sibiu and visited the Village Museum. It was really beautiful and lovely to walk around in. I bought some painted eggs from one of the vendors. We had lunch with some other missionaries in Romania, which was nice. Sunday we went to church in a neighboring village named Jina, where a Romanian man was ordained to be their new pastor. It was such a blessing to see how this man that had lived in America with his family for 24 years felt called back to his home country to be a pastor, and even a pastor of a Baisi church.
The team from New York was really great, and it was so fun getting to know them. I especially enjoyed walking around the village exploring with them. Two of them had been doing the camp for several years, so they showed us all around the village, including where some of the kids live.
I was amazed at how natural it felt to help the kids with math, even in Romanian. Once, I was checking a student's math problem, and I caught myself doing the problem in Romanian in my head! We covered a lot of topics on all grade levels, and since there were between 15-25 kids on any given day, we were able to provide a lot of individualized instruction. I helped teach simple addition/subtraction, double & triple-digit addition/subtraction with carrying/borrowing, algebraic expressions & equations, plotting points on the coordinate plane, midpoint formula, and more. We did a lot of worksheets. We played flashcard game competitions, competitions for time, beachball subtraction, used math cubes, played the "dot game," and more. The kids had a great time and learned a lot about math and about Jesus.
On the last day, two brothers from the older class gave me, the translator, and the American teacher each a chocolate candy bar to say thank you for helping them. It was so amazing to me that these kids weren't just looking to receive, but also to give to us to say thanks. Please pray for Craciunel as he goes to high school in Sibiu this year, after 8 years of coming to the math camp. He is an incredibly sweet and hard working young man.
And now for pictures:
The camp was Mon-Fri from 10AM-12PM for two weeks. The first 15 minutes were singing and working on the theme Bible verse (Proverbs 18:10). Class instruction was from 10:15-11:45, then we came back together for more songs and closing. After camp, we had lunch cooked by a local Romanian woman then went back to Rich & Sue's to plan for the next day. In the evenings, we had dinner at Rich & Sue's and just relaxed and hung out. On the first Tuesday evening, the girls came over and made barrettes with ribbons, and on the second Tuesday, the boys came over and made rubber band guns. Of course, an epic rubber band battle ensued.
The students were primarily Baiesi, but there were also some Romanian and Roma students as well. The first 3 days, I helped with the class for grades 2-4. After that, I helped with the class for grades 6-8, because they had more students. I had been worried about if the kids would understand me, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that they didn't have any trouble at all! I was able to work with the kids in Romanian, with just occasional help from one of the translators.
On Saturday, we traveled into Sibiu and visited the Village Museum. It was really beautiful and lovely to walk around in. I bought some painted eggs from one of the vendors. We had lunch with some other missionaries in Romania, which was nice. Sunday we went to church in a neighboring village named Jina, where a Romanian man was ordained to be their new pastor. It was such a blessing to see how this man that had lived in America with his family for 24 years felt called back to his home country to be a pastor, and even a pastor of a Baisi church.
The team from New York was really great, and it was so fun getting to know them. I especially enjoyed walking around the village exploring with them. Two of them had been doing the camp for several years, so they showed us all around the village, including where some of the kids live.
I was amazed at how natural it felt to help the kids with math, even in Romanian. Once, I was checking a student's math problem, and I caught myself doing the problem in Romanian in my head! We covered a lot of topics on all grade levels, and since there were between 15-25 kids on any given day, we were able to provide a lot of individualized instruction. I helped teach simple addition/subtraction, double & triple-digit addition/subtraction with carrying/borrowing, algebraic expressions & equations, plotting points on the coordinate plane, midpoint formula, and more. We did a lot of worksheets. We played flashcard game competitions, competitions for time, beachball subtraction, used math cubes, played the "dot game," and more. The kids had a great time and learned a lot about math and about Jesus.
On the last day, two brothers from the older class gave me, the translator, and the American teacher each a chocolate candy bar to say thank you for helping them. It was so amazing to me that these kids weren't just looking to receive, but also to give to us to say thanks. Please pray for Craciunel as he goes to high school in Sibiu this year, after 8 years of coming to the math camp. He is an incredibly sweet and hard working young man.
And now for pictures:
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Running the Bucharest Half Marathon...again
It is generally considered helpful to reflect on a race you've recently run, and since several people are interested in what it is like to run a half marathon in Bucharest, I (Cameron) thought I would say a few words about today's race. This was my second year running the Bucharest Half Marathon, and so below are three changes I made from last year's Half.
First, a half marathon is 13.1 miles/21 km. There are many training plans that are fairly easy to find on the Internet, which is what I did, and they tend to last anywhere from 12-15 weeks (mine was 13, which I found quite fitting for a 13 mile race). The best thing to do, in my opinion, is to find a plan where you run three or four days during the week and the weekend long runs don't jump too quickly from week to week. Then find a race you want to run and count back 12-15 weeks from the race date to see when you should start the plan. Although training plans usually peak at a 10-mile long run, I picked a plan this year that peaked at 12 miles. It is true what they say that if you can run 10 miles, then your adrenaline will push you the rest of the way, but last year I was not a pretty sight crossing that finish line and I knew I needed more. I felt way better physically at the end of this year's Half.
Second, I changed my strategy going into the Bucharest Half this year. I realized that there is actually no shame in walking 30 seconds or a minute when you get tired, and so I began incorporating short walk breaks into my long runs every couple of miles. I don't know why, but last year I had bought into the purist belief that any walking I did on the course was somehow failure. There are lots of well-known running coaches who advocate incorporating walking, and I honestly found that it makes my 10+ mile runs much stronger and even a bit faster. Luckily, the water/gatorade stations were situated at roughly 5 km/3 miles apart, and so I decided to walk while drinking/eating (one station also had apple slices).
Third, I knew what to expect for race day. I remembered from last year that no one really cares (like they do in bigger races) if you line up according to your bib number or not. I remembered that, like it or not, some non-runners will dart through the course because it is quicker than walking to a designated crosswalk. But best of all was that I remembered the different turns and segments of the course.
Jessica said that when I passed where she was standing (somewhere between the 14 and 15 km marks, I think), I was actually on pace to finish around 2:10. Unfortunately, I had to walk a few more times and hit the port-a-potty, so that slowed me down near the end. Nevertheless, I still pushed to a sprint at the end and, as I said above, felt so much better physically than I did at the end of last year's race. My final time was 2:18 (two hours and 18 min), meaning that I beat my time from last year by five minutes!
First, a half marathon is 13.1 miles/21 km. There are many training plans that are fairly easy to find on the Internet, which is what I did, and they tend to last anywhere from 12-15 weeks (mine was 13, which I found quite fitting for a 13 mile race). The best thing to do, in my opinion, is to find a plan where you run three or four days during the week and the weekend long runs don't jump too quickly from week to week. Then find a race you want to run and count back 12-15 weeks from the race date to see when you should start the plan. Although training plans usually peak at a 10-mile long run, I picked a plan this year that peaked at 12 miles. It is true what they say that if you can run 10 miles, then your adrenaline will push you the rest of the way, but last year I was not a pretty sight crossing that finish line and I knew I needed more. I felt way better physically at the end of this year's Half.
Second, I changed my strategy going into the Bucharest Half this year. I realized that there is actually no shame in walking 30 seconds or a minute when you get tired, and so I began incorporating short walk breaks into my long runs every couple of miles. I don't know why, but last year I had bought into the purist belief that any walking I did on the course was somehow failure. There are lots of well-known running coaches who advocate incorporating walking, and I honestly found that it makes my 10+ mile runs much stronger and even a bit faster. Luckily, the water/gatorade stations were situated at roughly 5 km/3 miles apart, and so I decided to walk while drinking/eating (one station also had apple slices).
Third, I knew what to expect for race day. I remembered from last year that no one really cares (like they do in bigger races) if you line up according to your bib number or not. I remembered that, like it or not, some non-runners will dart through the course because it is quicker than walking to a designated crosswalk. But best of all was that I remembered the different turns and segments of the course.
Jessica said that when I passed where she was standing (somewhere between the 14 and 15 km marks, I think), I was actually on pace to finish around 2:10. Unfortunately, I had to walk a few more times and hit the port-a-potty, so that slowed me down near the end. Nevertheless, I still pushed to a sprint at the end and, as I said above, felt so much better physically than I did at the end of last year's race. My final time was 2:18 (two hours and 18 min), meaning that I beat my time from last year by five minutes!
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| Standing in front of the enormous Parliament Palace (the main government building in Romania) |
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| From the finish line |
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| Glad to be done |
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| Thankful for my beautiful wife, who waited for me from start to finish |
A short video we made of the parks that we run in and from the half-marathon today!
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