Home Again

Sat. June 3 - We Are Back, Safe and Sound

Our team is now home again . . . the end of a journey half-way around the world and back . . . and one in which we saw God at work in so many practical and real ways! A huge thank you is extended to all who prayed for us while we were gone. Also to all with ISF and BCCC who raised funds for the several projects we engaged in while in Romania. God has indeed "blessed" the efforts of everyone to bless so many children, families and missionaries in Romania. To God be all the glory!

It's taken a couple of days to write our final blog as we have all re-engaged in our regular tasks . . . and struggled to overcome jet lag! We are on our way . . . and there are even some discussions going around about a possible next trip during spring break, 2007! We'll see. Our team hopes to meet soon to de-brief from our mission, and celebrate all that God was able to do. BCCC will likely host an evening in June for those who want to come, to view a movie documentary of our trip (once Duncan has it put together) and show other pictures and report on our time there. Watch the BCCC website for dates on this (www.bearcreekcc.org).

As we reflect on the success of this mission trip, a special word of appreciation is extended to Wendy Schweigert, President of the International Sound Foundation - Romanian Children's Assistance Project. The work of this group in Romania over the past 15 years, caring for children in state care in orphanages, children's homes, foster care or in other circumstances, opened the doors and provided the contacts without which this team mission would not have been possible. Among other things, each year ISF volunteers work in what is often rainy, cold weather for several days after the Christmas season, tree-chipping in Victoria, to raise funds for these children. We all got in on "the blessing end" of this as we shopped for food and clothing, then delivered it to the children. Wendy gave excellent leadership to our team project, both in forward planning, and in day-to-day direction. We are all very grateful. Thanks, Wendy!

Tuesday. May 30 - We Head Home!

Duncan and Ross were the first ones to be picked up by Andrei, at 3:00am! About two hours of sleep after packing would have to do us for the next 30 plus hours before our heads were to hit our own pillows back in Canada!

Our flight left at 6:15am, Bucharest to Amsterdam, where we had another 7 hour layover. Today, it was cool and rainy in Amsterdam, not nearly as pleasant as our first trip there. Amy and Duncan opted to remain at the Schiphol Airport and try to catch some sleep there. Dave, Wendy and Ross took the train to downtown Amsterdam, and attempted to visit the Anne Frank Museum and home. However, a long, slow-moving line, rain and cold, and a fear of not getting back in time for our return flight short-circuited that plan. We settled for apple pie and coffee in a quaint little cafe, before heading back for our KLM flight home.

The flight went well, with clear skies providing some spectacular views (for those with window seats) of the North Sea, Iceland, Greenland, the Arctic Ocean, the Barren Lands, Great Slave Lake, and finally the Vancouver area. We arrived precisely on time and after luggage and customs lines, were soon with our families and home once again!

Monday. May 29

Our last day in Bucharest was spent packing up our belongings, getting ready to go home, and making one last trip to the Carrefore Mall to shop for gifts for home. Yes, Ross, a "Christmas Eve shopper", managed to get what he needed (with much appreciated help from the team!). One last lunch at McDonald's, and we were back to Wendy's apartment to finish packing, cleaning, copying pictures for our Romania hosts, bookkeeping, etc. At 7pm Andrei picked us all up and took us to his home where he, his wife Lucy and son Fillip, treated us all to a delicious meal of BBQ'ed Romanian sausage, etc. We were literally "stuffed" with the delicious food they prepared for us. What an honour for our team to be given this invitation by our faithful, "go-the-second-mile" driver who had done so much for all of us. It was a great way to spend our last night in Romania. Also a late way, with the last of us getting home about 11:30 p.m.

Sunday. May 28

Sunday morning we once more attended John and Cheryl's church in Curtea de Arges. Ross preached this morning on the requested passage in Luke 15 - the Prodigal Son, focusing on the love of "The Waiting Father". The pastor preached another message on the passage after Ross finished his, which had been translated into Romanian with the aid of a very capable interpreter. While listening to the preaching, Wendy took note of verses 12-15 in the previous chapter: "Then Jesus said to his host, 'When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.'" After the service ended, she took note of two orphan gals who often hitch-hike into town to worship in this church, and was introduced to them. With these words ringing in her heart, she felt compelled to extend an invitation to them to join us for lunch. They were delighted to do so, although somewhat shy. As we shared over lunch, we learned that they had been abandoned by their parents as infants and were now 31 years of age. They live in an orphanage in Tigveni, which is the village proper of which Momaia is a part. There are 400 residents in this orphanage, of which 75% have mental difficulties of some sort. This was news to all of us. As the wheels started turning, the questions arose: is this a future project for ISF? BCCC? EMCC? Only God knows for sure. As dinner came to a close, a small (in our terms) cash gift was given to each gal. We will not soon forget the tears of joy and wonderment that filled their eyes (and ours) as they received this unexpected blessing! God moves powerfully, in the simplest of things. We felt like we had perhaps dined with angels in our midst!

The afternoon saw us heading back to Bucharest, and then re-grouping at Levinia's for one more of her delicious dinners prepared for us. What a blessing she and Adam (and their parakeets) have been to us all!

May 27th

Saturday, May 27
What an incredible day this has been! All of our dreaming, planning, sharing, fundraising, travelling, shopping, shopping, more shopping, assembling, bagging and other details came together as we journeyed to Momaia to deliver the food for our BCCC/ISF "Grocery Giveaway". Thank you for giving and for praying. Your prayers were answered today in multiples!

First off, the day was a total success! Answers to prayer were many. We feared it would either be an extremely hot day, or that it might rain - either of which would have made this a very difficult project. The day dawned cool and slightly cloudy, with a few spits of rain. By the time we started deliveries the weather was perfect and ended up sunny and with just the right amount of warmth. We knew God had answered these prayers.

Next prayer: for safe travel and transportation of all the groceries. Once more, all was answered. We obtained the use of a second van for the afternoon, so that everything was delivered in one trip. There were no haphazards and all went well.

Third, and perhaps the biggest request: that the deliveries would not create chaos or rioting in the building. We worked alongside the lay pastor of the little Pentecostal church in Momaia, as well as the EMCC educational centre staff and the Zumbrunns. When the plan was finished, Pastor Guria had a list of every home in the village and the number of families in each, word had been sent out via the village grapevine (incredibly effective and quick) and families were told that everyone would receive the gift but they had to be at their homes when we came. That is exactly what happened. True we had a variety of kids and others tagging along (all very excited) but when we came to their homes they rushed ahead to be there for us. Deliveries went without a hitch - except for one moment when John accidentally backed his truck into a ditch to avoid hitting a couple of children, and got stuck. No problem. With enough men on the back end of the truck we were able to lift it right up onto the road, then push the front end back up as well. No problem!

One of the most remarkable answers to prayer, was in the sense of "peace" that settled over the valley. Our missionary, John, said he has never experienced such a quiet peaceful Saturday in the village ever! Normally there are 6 to 10 radios, etc. blaring, domestic fights going on that can be heard from one end of the village to the other, and then there is the cacaphony of pigs, chickens, sheep, horses and cows filling the background. But today, there truly was a sense of peace and quiet pervading throughout. We heard only two radios when we came to two homes. There were no arguments going on, the animals were quiet and one could feel the Spirit of God hovering over all! We knew God was present.

Each family received two bags of groceries. How delighted they were! We were met with warmth and smiles everywhere we went. It really seemed as if God had prepared their hearts for our coming. We felt the prayers of God's people, added to our own prayed before and after the delivery. What a day! There is a sense that the giving away of food was only a minor part of what God was accomplishing in this village today. We give Him all the praise.

Tonight our team is gathered at the Zumbrunns for popcorn - and to de-brief. We are a tired, but very happy bunch of campers!! We'll soon be home (Tuesday, 4:15pm), but we are all so glad we came. Tomorrow we look forward to worshipping with Romanian believers in Curtea d'Arges, then heading on back to Bucharest.Keep us all in your prayers.

May 25 - 26

Friday May 26, 2006

Today was to start relatively early, however, a broken clutch cable on Andrei's Fiat van changed those plans. As resourceful as he is, he cell-phoned a relative who delivered the needed part to him. He fixed it on the spot and the first part of our group was on their way again. This meant that Ross, Duncan and Levinia were not picked up until 11 am, so our day was off to a later start. The first stop was the giant Metro store, then the Praktika (German "Home Depot"-type store). At Metro we shopped for our orphanage party: disposable plates, cups, utensils, chips, snack crackers, cheese, cold meat, cookies, three flavours of pop, oranges and bananas plus enough pasta and sauce and other items to provide two meals for them for another time. Ross felt privileged to use some of the funds raised by his church (BCCC) to help with the clothing and food for this orphanage, though the major part had been raised through the diligent efforts of the International Sound Foundation supporters. They have been doing this and supporting children in Romania for over 15 years now.

After finishing our grocery purchases and loading up the van, we made a shopping run to Praktika to "bless" John Zumbrunn with some new, quality-made and much-needed tools! He had previously expected to be able to buy good tools here, but the ones he had found were of inferior quality, making it very difficult for him to do needed repairs and other tasks. The group delighted in helping him acquire a number of basic tools as well as a couple of wish items. Once more, BCCC helped ISF and individuals with this venture. John was fighting back tears of joy as we finished this little blessing of him.

We arrived at the orphanage at 4 pm and had an incredibly delightful time! This was the highlight of our week so far! A different director was on duty and she was open to receiving us. We didn't know what to expect, but took it a step at a time. We first set up all the tables in the dining room and put the food on plates.Then the children and staff came in and began to enjoy! This was a meal that it appears they otherwise would not have had that day (supper) as they likely only get one, perhaps two meals a day. Our team poured pop for them all, and joined them as they ate. What a fun time we had connecting with these kids! With the meal over, the director informed us that we would be locating to another room for a show, whereupon they provided delightful entertainment for us: traditional dancing, singing, a cheer-leading number, breakdancing, acrobatics, and a ballet routine that left some of us deeply moved. These kids are so warm, friendly and happy despite the fact that they have so little! After the show we brought in all of our "stuff", got it organized, then began distributing it to each child so that they all were clothed with new things to fill up their new backpacks. It was organized chaos ... but oh, so much fun!! The guys played soccer and basketball with the children, using the new equipment we had given them. We gave out individual bags of chips and soft chewy candies, then just to make sure they were all flying high on sugar before we left - a Kit Kat chunky chocolate bar for each one!!

The kids and staff too, loved it all. Their music teacher especially appreciated the two little electronic keyboards that Duncan's grandfather (Opa) had donated for the trip. We all had a "blast" visiting with the children while they chatted away, hugging them and just sharing the joy of being there. It was hard to finally pull away at almost 8:30 pm. What a great day!

With a supper stop at McDonald's and a 2 + hour drive back to Bucharest, it was after 11:30 pm by the time the last of the team was back home, and for Andrei our driver, even later than that! Saturday we will start the long drive at 8 am to return to Curtea de Arges. We plan to arrive at the church at 11:30 am to load up all the groceries in our van, another van and the Zumbrunn's truck. In the afternoon we'll drive out to Momaia for the door-to-door grocery giveaway. This will be quite an experience, so keep praying for us. Thanks for all of your prayers so far. We have felt them in so many ways.

Thurs. May 25, 2006

We had a good experience at the "gypsy" market in north Bucharest. It is located in an area of raized old buildings and is row upon row of stalls where vendors (mostly Koreans) sell everything possible (mostly made in China) at quite reasonable prices. We had a shopping list and ages for the 45 children of the orphanage in Ramnicu Sarat - from 4 years old to 21 years old. Incidentally, there were no armed guards with Uzis today and we had quite a safe experience! It took awhile, but when we were all done, we had purchased 45 backpacks, 45 pairs of flip-flop sandals, 45 t-shirts, 45 pairs of shorts/culottes, 45 gym suits, 45 sketch pads and pencil sets, and other assorted items. Since Ross had "fried" his Palm Pilot charger on the 250V current here :-( disabling the alarm and calculator function until he can re-charge it in Canada, he bought a new calculator/alarm clock with button touch time zones for all world areas. The price: $1.66 US! Not a bad buy! We all so very much have appreciated Wendy's organizational leadership each day, getting us all moving in the right direction at the right time, thinking ahead to the details of each day, and, as on this occasion, thinking through all that needed to be bought for 45 children and steering us all through the purchasing task!

With all of our purchases in hand, we made plans for an early delivery time on Friday. Meanwhile, Adam and Levinia, Ross and Duncan's hosts, had invited the entire team for supper. We had a delightful time eating, visiting, relaxing and enjoying their warm hospitality along with the "entertainment" provided by their three parakeets who regularly fly overhead - much to Amy's consternation!!

May 22-25, 2006

It has been awhile since we updated you with details of our activities. With limited computer / internet access and our very full schedule, it is difficult to do. However, with a few minutes available today we'll try to do "catch-up"!

Thurs. May 25, 2006

Now today we are off to a huge "gypsy" market to try to find some better deals on all the supplies we are hoping to buy for the orphanage. We've been told to leave our cameras at home, not carry anything we are not prepared to lose and stay alert. The market apparently is guarded by security personnel carrying Uzis! Should be an interesting day. We are going in the morning to try to avoid the heat of the day. The orphanage we'll be taking these things to is about two hours away from the city in Ramincu Sarat, so that may be our first project tomorrow.

Pray for us for this weekend. Saturday will be the delivery of the groceries in Momania - two bags to every family in their homes, scattered all over the hillsides and valleys. Pray that it is not excessively hot, and for no rain! Both would be most difficult. Pray for a van to help us get all the supplies out there. Pray for so many things - that this will all go well. Sunday morning Ross will be preaching in the church in Curtea de Arges.

Thank you all for your support, prayers and grocery giveaway gifts to bless these people. We are sowing seeds that God will bring to fruition. We'll try to update you again as soon as possible.

Wed. May 24,2006

Today Rocky and Melanie Olfert left Romania as planned, to fly on to Italy, Germany and France for the rest of their planned 2-1/2 week vacation. We really miss them, as our team had already bonded as a great working group. Meanwhile, John and Cheryl had arrived from Curtea de Arges at our invitation to spend the next three days with us and to take a break from their intense language studies and mission work there and in Momaia. This wonderful couple are actually here as "volunteers" from Red Deer, Alberta, having raised their own support, and at their own expense. God has given them such a heart for this work, and that combined with the wisdom of a lifetime of experiences, are making them very effective.

The rest of Wednesday turned out to be a "sabbath rest" for John and Cheryl, which we intended as an encouragement for them - and was a blessing for us all. Walking around the park and streets in the area of Wendy's apartment, shopping (the gals!), buying bread and breakfast for the next morning ( the guys), supper out that evening, devotions and prayer together as a team - a good day.

Tues. May 23, 2006

The next morning, the team from Bucharest came to Pitesti and picked us up for a trip into the mountains. This day was "Levinia's treat" for the team! The scenery was beautiful - from rolling hills to peaks in the distance of the Transylvania Alps, not unlike the Canadian Rockies. We stopped for a long visit at Bran Castle, the former summer home of King Ferdinand and Queen Maria - and legendary location of Count Dracula! We had a young Christian guide who gave the full description of the castle, separating truth from myth. It was a most interesting experience.

We journeyed on over sometimes very rough roads, and stopped for lunch in a high mountain area. It was here that a significant conversation took place that may have provided Duncan with some direction for the next stage of his life! After lunch our journey continued on to Sinaia and the Peles Castle which Ross had been most looking forward to seeing. However, we arrived at 5 p.m. - only to discover that this was the closing time! Oh well! We were able to make the long walk up to the castle and at least take some pictures from the outside. We also caught a glimpse of the monastery in Sinaia, another major tourist attraction, and of the orphanage where the International Sound Foundation was involved with relief assistance for over 8 years. Andrei, our wonderful Romanian driver whose van is transporting us all over the country, made a brief stop to say hi to his mother - and to introduce all of us to her.

We arrived back in Bucharest about 8:30 pm for supper at Levinia's and Adam's. This is the couple whose home Duncan and Ross are staying at while in Bucharest. Today's activities had been Levinia's "treat" for our team - something that she wanted so much to do for us all. At the end of our meal we had a team meeting to discuss our next project - and make a significant change in our schedule. Although we had planned to make the 10 hour round-trip visit to the leper colony in Tichelesti, the state of the second orphanage we had gone to last Thursday had greatly disturbed some members of our team. For Ross and Wendy, it was reminiscent of orphanages first visited in 1990-91! One of the key guidelines for this mission trip has been "flexibility". After discussion, the group consensus was that we should contact this orphanage and those overseeing it, and see if we could bring further aid to it. With that decision, our plans for the next two days were altered!

Monday, May 22, 2006

On Monday half of our team returned to Bucharest for sightseeing and appointments there, while Duncan, Amy and Ross stayed in Curtea de Arges with the Zumbrunns. John had a busy morning with spraying fruit trees in Momaia that have been planted by the educational centre, washing the car of a missionary friend who had loaned it for their use while temporarily out of the country, visiting with a Romanian colleague and his mother, and other activities. We left late morning for Pitesti, about an hour away, walked around the main commercial area for a bit, had lunch (and ice cream sundaes there!), then left part of our group to shop for things for folks back home. It was a sunny, hot day. We had hoped to borrow a van for today's main project but it was not available to us in the end, so this meant making two full trips with John and Cheryl's Dacia (Romanian brand) truck to and from the Metro store in Pitesti. Today we bought flour, sugar, pasta, tomato sauce, cookies and soap to complete the making up of our two bags of groceries per family. Buying for 150 families, meant two truck loads. When we got back to Curtea de Arges with the first load we could not get anyone with a key to the church, so John and Ross had to carry that whole load into the basement of their apartment to store temporarily. Later, after unloading the second load in the basement of the community church they attend, we had to re-load the first load out of the basement and take it to the church. It was a long, hot day! We finally ate supper about 10 pm that night!

May 17 - 21

Sun. May 21, 2006

This morning we met at John and Cheryl's for breakfast and sharing, then went to church (9:30-11:15 am) here in Curtea de Arges. It was a beautiful service. Ross gave greetings and introduced our group, then Dave Murray shared his testimony and preached a great message with the help of a translator. During the open prayer time (for which all stand) Wendy led in a beautiful prayer for the church, our mission, and our Romanian translator (Levinia) and driver (Andrei). We went out for lunch then back to an apartment to pack up candy bags to give to the children in Momaia this afternoon. We also managed to do a tour of a monastery on this special day of celebration in which a former Romanian king is remembered.

We loaded up the van and headed for Momaia as rain started to fall. We were well on our way when John, who had gone on out earlier, called and advised us to turn back. He had already moved his truck to higher ground, got soaked, and later told us that the water in the stream one has to ford, was about a foot deep from the rainfall. Consequently we cancelled our afternoon at Momaia and returned to CD'A. We met at an apartment for devotions together. This turned into an intense time of ministry where there was sharing, repentance and healing for some of our team members. God really broke through during these powerful, freeing and exhilarating moments! We also had special prayer for John and Cheryl.

At 7 pm, Dave, Wendy, Rocky, Melanie, Levinia and Andrei headed back to Bucharest, while the rest of us went out for a very relaxing supper at a local sidewalk restaurant. We were doing this while the morning service was on back at Bear Creek church and were thinking of our youth there in the midst of their Inta Jesus weekend! (Romanian time is 9 hours ahead of Pacific Daylight time).

Sat. May 20, 2006

Today was a great day. We shopped at the Metro store in Pitesti and got enough to fill up the available space in Andrei's van and John & Cheryl Zumbrunn's (our EMCC volunteer missionaries) truck, for they met us there. From Pitesti we drove back to Curtea De Arges and unloaded the groceries at the church here that they attend. It was built by an Evangelical Free church in Texas, but is really a community church. It is an amazingly modern, beautiful building and even has a ceiling-mounted projector controlled by a laptop in the sound room at the back! After checking in at the places we are staying in here and having lunch, we drove out to the small village of Momaia.

What a scene awaited us! At least 200-250 people mobbed us at our van! Ross took over 100 pictures of the children and villagers (which he will have developed and give to them later). Wendy, Amy, Melanie, John and Cheryl had some great crafts for the younger kids at the EMCC Ministry Centre while Dave and Rocky had a terrific time playing volleyball and soccer with the older kids. Ross continued to take pictures, and our resident movie-maker, Duncan, recorded the events on video. It was an amazing, hot and sunny, exciting (and tiring!) afternoon.

We drove the bumpy, winding road back to Curtea De Arges to have supper and re-group, then we were back out to the village to show the two-hour Jesus video. It was projected onto the outside back wall of the Centre and about 130 people watched from the grassy hillside. The video ended about 11 pm and we called it a day back in CD'A at midnight. How grateful we were for the ministry opportunities and the responses! Praise God!

Friday May 19, 2006

Today we were out early, stopping first at Metro - like Costco, only with even more stuff if that is possible! We filled the van with food for the children's centres (formerly called orphanages) that we visited today, plus other food to take to Momaia. One of these centres ISF has been working in for several years, and due to their contacts with government leaders, they were able to obtain permission for us to visit three of them on this trip. It was a long drive to the centres. What an emotional time it was for Ross when he saw a little boy who was the spitting image of his son, now 19, whom he met at an orphanage in Braila, Romania in July 1990 and subsequently adopted. The difference was that this particular child is in foster care along with his brother and he is receiving excellent care. His brother came with him and thier foster Mom to the centre specifically to show Andrei his report card. What pride he had in presenting this to Andrei who has maintained a friendship with him over the years as he has driven for Wendy and other ISF personnel!

The first orphanage we went to, the Seven Dwarves Centre (named for little statues in the yard of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves) is one that ISF has worked in for several years, providing the children with clothing, food and other needed items. Approximately 20 children are cared for here in a very bright, well-equipped and well maintained centre. It was one little girl's birthday, so the party we set up for was perfect! How much fun we had feeding them, visiting them, and leaving behind a good supply of food for future meals.

Next was a stopat the Materna Centre, set up for single mothers who are wanting to keep and raise their children but who need some assistance in doing so. This centre also has been an ISF project for some time.

From here we journeyed on to a new orphanage, not visited before, but which we were given permission to go to due to ISF's long-term contacts and work with orphanages in the Buzau region. The director here gave as a cool reception and only allowed us in after promises not to take any pictures. In spite of this, we had some good visits with the kids, left them all some clothes through the generosity of ISF, and food for some future meals. Rocky, Dave & Duncan also made some great connections through the donation of soccer balls to the older kids. The 45 children in this orphanage ranged in ages from 4 to 21.

We stopped at McDonalds for supper on the way home and most had the Big Mac combo! Tasted just like the ones at home! We returned to Wendy's apartment at 8 pm and visited until 10. Duncan and Ross then left for the apartment of some Romanian friends where they stayed most of the time in Romania. Ross had stayed with this same couple when in Romania with ISF in 1993.

On Saturday we leave at 8 am, go to the bank to change more money and stop in Pitesti to start shopping for our grocery give-away. Then we will drive the rest of the way to Curtea d'Arges (about 2 hours from Bucharest). We will have a Sports Day for the children about 3 pm then show the "Jesus" video. The missionaries there have bagged "tons" of popcorn for everyone to enjoy while they watch the video.

Our team is all doing well and having a great time. Thanks for your prayers!

Thurs.May 18, 2006

We had hoped to tour the President's Palace (10,000 rooms - the 2nd largest building in the world, next to the U.S. Pentagon) in Bucharest, built in the eighties by the corrupt dictator Ceaucescu, but it was closed for a conference, so we just drove around it. We did a lot of shopping for food for those staying at Wendy's apartment plus some for our trip. We changed money at the bank and all slept for awhile in the afternoon at Wendy's apartment since we were all wiped!

Wed. May 17, 2006 - Our Arrival and First day in Romania

We arrived safely in Bucharest at about 1:00 am local time. One car did not show up due to a mix-up on when we were coming so everyone and everything piled into Andrei's van for delivery to the places we were staying in. We were all tired and konked out at about 2! We had enjoyed Amsterdam during our seven-hour wait period there. The canal boat tour of the old city was great! The evening of our first day in Bucharest we had a nice dinner out at an historic restaurant in the centre of Bucharest - Hanna Manul.

When & Where We Will Be

May 16th - Leave for Vancouver Airport @ 3:30 pm , Flight leaves 6:55 pm.
May 17th - Arrive Amsterdam @ 1:20 pm; Tour Amsterdam; Leave Amsterdam @8:30 pm.
May 18th - Arrive at Bucharest base home at 12:15 am; Tour Parliment Building 1 pm; Dinner @ Hanna Manul Resturant.
May 19th - Shop for Orphanges; Visit Orphanges in Ramnicu Sarat.
May 20th - Curtea De Arges Sports Day Camp; Jesus Film in Momaia Villiage; Overnight there.
May 21st - Church in Curtea De Arges; Olferts, Dave and Wendy back To Bucharest; Duncan, Amy and Ross remain in Curtea de Arges/Momaia.
May 22nd - Ross, Duncan & Amy travel to Bucharest; Ross & Co to shop in Pitesti, Dave, Wendy, Melanie & Rocky to visit Nasta's
May 23rd - Lavina's Day to surprise Team(?); Duncan, Amy and Ross go back to Bucharest in early am.
May 24th - Rocky and Melanie leave today; John & Cheryl overnight with us. Shop for Tichilesti. Some fun in Bucharest
May 25th - Tichilesti. John & Cheryl overnight with us.
May 26th - Shop for Groceries; Give away in Pitesti. Prepare hampsers for grocery give away at Eve Free Church
May 27th - Momaian Grocery Give-Away distribution.
May 28th - Church in Momaia; Wrap-up ministry there; Back To Bucharest May 29th - Bucharest - preparation for return home.
May 30th - Leave for home @ 6:15 am via Amsterdam; Arrive Vancouver 4:15pm (PDT).

Description of Our Mission

To Romania With Love May 16-30, 2006
This is a life-changing opportunity for ministry in the Eastern European country of Romania. The project is a cooperative mission team ministry experience sponsored by Bear Creek Community Church of Surrey, British Columbia, a World Partners Canada (EMCC) mission agency and the International Sound Foundation's Romanian Children's Medical Assistance Fund. We will be a team of seven people engaged in a two-week venture.

This is the WPC/EMCC Ministry Centre in Momaia, Romania, the village where we will be spending much of our time in ministry.

For more info on Bear Creek Community Church, go to www.bearcreekcc.org
For more info on World Partners Canada and EMCC - the Evangelical Missionary Church of Canada, go to www.emcc.ca