Thanksgiving in Uzice

Some of our friends from Sombor came to visit us and helped us to put on a huge Thanksgiving dinner for our Serbian friends! It was an amazing night and they loved the food! Some of it was a bit strange for Serbians but they still liked it :) We shared about Thanksgiving as a time of coming together and thanking God for His goodness to us.

Spending time with kids at the orphanage

Singing "Baby Shark"- this was their favorite song! :)

Thursday nights we had two hours to spend with the kids at a local orphanage. We had a great time singing songs, playing games and doing creative projects. The kids were so sweet! Many of them have learning disabilities or other kinds of disabilities. It was so good to love them, encourage them and spend time with them in a fun and creative way.


Making friendship bracelets!


Musical chairs is always a big hit!

Concerts at Cafe in Uzice

Our team had a great opportunity to put on two concerts at a local cafe as an outreach event. While some of us played music the rest of the team talked with people who came to watch us play. Both nights were great!

Uzice, Serbia

Beautiful city of Uzice in the South of Serbia. This is the view from an old fortress right outside the city. We came here to pray for the city.

The city has about 60,000 people in it but it feels even smaller because it is so easy to meet people and get to know them. The people here are so open and friendly. Such big hearts!


This is the river that runs through the city. In this picture it is rainy but most of our days in Uzice were beautiful and sunny!


This is the "Orange House". This is the house that the YWAM missionaries here bought for teams to stay in. It is about 10 minutes drive from the center of Uzice. It is a beautiful home and has been a big blessing for our team.


This is some of our team waiting for the mysterious bus. I say mysterious because we never really knew when it would come!

Sombor, Serbia

Our first week in Sombor was so special! Our team ran an English Club and cafe ministry almost every night so we were able to build some great friendships with the people who came, many who had had no previous contact with the church. The cafe is in the bottom of the church building so it was ideal for introducing people to the church and to invite them for church a couple days before we left. There we were able to do a powerful drama called "Lifehouse" and to share a testimony, song and encouragement from the word. We also ran a kids club while the kids had a break from school. It was a busy first week but so encouraging. The best news came the day we left, that one of the guys we had been sharing with prayed to recieve the Lord in his life in a personal way. That was a huge encouragement for our team and for the church we were serving with. We made such good friends in Sombor that five of them came to visit us at the end of our trip in the south of Serbia! Thank you God for a great experience in Sombor!


Kids club at church in Sombor, Serbia



English Club and Conversation at church cafe


Our team, missionaries from the church and Serbian young people giving us a tearful goodbye as we head out for the South of Serbia.

Serbia outreach and lessons for life

Finally I am posting something about our outreach to Serbia! We are leaving in just three days but its never too late to post some pictures highlighting our time here. We have been amazed by the beauty of this country and the openness and friendliness of the people. We have met so many wonderful people and have enjoyed sharing our lives and faith with them and pray that the Lord will grow the seeds that have been planted in their hearts and that they will spring up to eternal life in Jesus. We have served in three different locations here in Serbia and also took a short trip to Bosnia to visit and pray at war memorials in Sarajevo and Srebrenica. Our trip has been full of challenges and blessings and as our outreach comes to a close I realize that the work has only begun and that so much more will come from our time here, not only in the lives of the people here but also in our hearts and lives as God has stretched and grown our team in many ways.

Personally God has shown me so much about humility, brokenness and the radical power of what Jesus chose to do in going to the cross. This world is so broken and fragmented, each person choosing what side he will be on and what he will fight for. In this area of the world, where for centuries there has been a cycle of killing and oppression, the only way out is through the humility and brokenness of the Cross. When the Jews were waiting for the Messiah to come they had hoped he would come with a sword to bring vindication for the Jews who were suffering under the oppression of the Roman Empire. But instead he came humbly as a suffering servant and telling us to love our enemies. He had every right to destroy His enemies but he choose to love them, to give his life for them, to forgive them- it is His broken body that brings real peace to the nations. His example is the only way to healing and new life...

Our prayer here in Serbia is that the real Jesus would be seen clearly. Not the Jesus that is associated with the killing of Muslims in Bosnia or the Jesus of an irrelevant and ancient faith of the past, but Jesus the Lamb that was slain for the salvation of the world. The humble, suffering and serving King who died to make peace between us and the Father and us and one another. Jesus prayed that we would be one even as He and the Father are one. It is still his heart. He died for this and I pray that this will become reality in our lives and in Serbia and the surrounding Balkan nations. May His healing come to the nations and to our hearts as we walk in His steps. God give us grace and mercy to make this a reality in our lives.

May we all see the real Jesus and see how He is the way to peace for every nation and every life.

Love Feast

Love feast is a special dinner we have in DTS to show our love and appreciation for the students and to celebrate God's goodness and love towards us. Its so fun to dress up and decorate the base to make it a special time for everyone. We shared funny stories and after dinner the students put on a funny comedy show, impersonating all of the staff! It was hilarious! They did a great job and even wrote a song about DTS. These students are awesome! We love them so much!

DTS outreach in Medgidia

After about three weeks of teaching we broke the DTS students up into two teams and sent them out to two different locations outside of Constanta. My team was sent to Medgidia, a city about an hour away from Constanta. We worked with a Pentecostal church there that is reaching out to different villages all over the area. We visited, shared with and prayed for families and widows, prayed for people in the hospital, did children's ministry and shared a testimony and preaching in the church. We also visited the tiniest church I have ever seen! Just big enough for about 12 seats. It was inspiring to be a part of the ministry there and to experience the small beginings of a village church. I really enjoyed spending the week with the students, getting to know them better and serving with them. They are great!

Back to DTS!

The first week of teaching with the DTS was on "Hearing the voice of God". Our good friend, and one of YWAM Romania's national leaders, Helga, was our teacher. This is my fourth DTS and it is actually the first time I have heard a whole week on the subject. I loved it! The students and staff all got to shre different experiences of when we first heard God's voice and at the end of the week we spent time praying for different students all together. Some people recieved words for each students, others got pictures of what they felt God was saying to them and others recieved scripture. It was a very encouraging time and a great way to put hearing God's voice into practice.

Here we have the whole school with some staff and Helga. A great first week of teaching!

Reaching out to Kids through Art

Rewind a little bit to before the DTS started...
In June Michelle Rogers Pritzl from the States, a high school art teacher with a passion to help children in need through art, came to work with us for two weeks. She had the kids at our day center and at another christian group home here in Constanta painting self portraits of themselves as grown ups with different professions, making bracelets, creating boxes out of paper mache and more. The kids loved the different activities and we hope to work with her again next year!





Michelle is in the left corner and here we are waiting for the bus with some of the kids from Project Romania Rescue. Great kids!

Making boxes at the Day Center

At the end of the two weeks with Michelle we had an art exhibition/celebration with the kids art at our Cafe. It was a great time and we were so proud of the kids! They each got to share about what they wanted to be when they grew up- hairdressers, flight attendents, firefighters and soccer players to name a few!

DTS Update August 2009

On July 14th we began our Discipleship Training School here at YWAM Constanta, Romania. We have 12 wonderful students from all over the world- Azerbaijan, Hong Kong, Moldova, Canada, Romania and the U.S. Our first week was all about getting to know the base, YWAM and each other. The second week we had a great teaching on Hearing God's Voice and in the third week it was all about different worldviews and the Kingdom of God! Last week we enjoyed experiencing the Father's loves through the topic of the Father heart of God. Awesome teaching and a great first month of the DTS!


Every week the students are able to join in our local ministries. Below you can see some pictures from a neighborhood kids club we have been doing every week at a local school next to a very poor neighborhood. The kids are so much fun and its awesome to see the DTS students reaching out to them and putting on a great kids club every week!





This coming week we will be on a week long outreach to some of the surrounding cities and villages, reaching out to turkish and gypsy families. We are excited to see what lies ahead and share this amazing LOVE that HE has put in our hearts!

Teacher for A Day

Another fun experience I had this fall was substitute teaching for a friend. She is an English teacher at a local private school and she had to miss a few days so the school let me come in her place. It was a great experience and I fell in love with the kids pretty quick :) Most of the kids are from other nations or have one parent that is Romanian and the other from another nation, such as Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Turkey, South Korea, America, Holland... very international! The school is run by Lebanese directors and so there is a lot of Arab influence. Most children learn Arabic as well as Romanian and English. It is great to see the positive impact that my friend is making with the kids and to realize what a special ministry being a teacher is.

This is a pretty cheesy picture, but its me trying to be as teacher-y as possible :)

Strange things one may run into in Constanta

I happened upon this interesting discovery close to Christmas so I am assuming it is part of someone's holiday preparations, but why it was left out on the street like this, I just don't know. Yum... ;)

Believe it or Not!

Yes, folks- you may be shocked to hear but this photo documents my very first-ever Big Mac experience! Yum...Mc Donalds is waaay better in Romania :)

Church Ministry to Turkish Preschoolers

Last fall I had the very great pleasure of visiting a ministry that my church here in Constanta has been running for Turkish children. They are running a preschool and offer homework help and other social services for many children from around Constanta who otherwise would not have such opportunities. The teacher there Adriana does a wonderful job and has seen much fruit in the lives of her students over the past 15 years that she has been working in this area. It was an inspiration and a blessings to join in for the few days I was there- and man, the kids are adorable! :)

New Staff at YWAM Constanta

A few months ago YWAM Constanta was blessed to have a new couple join us as staff, Mela and Calin Pescaru. They were actually staff in my DTS in Cluj back in 2006 and its great to have them with us now in Constanta. At our base we have a tradition of surrounding new staff and "praying them in"- asking for God to lead and bless their time serving with us in Constanta. We are excited to see what plans God has for Mela and Calin in the coming years!

Randomness in Romania

WOO for bowling at the new mall in Constanta- yeah I get out...once in a while! Good staff bonding time :)

Classic scene one can find walking through the parks of Romania :) I love these guys!

YES! Korean food in Romania! Its a miracle! Thank you Kyoung Soon!
Kyoung soon was visiting us on her outreach with her CDTS from YWAM Chatel- man I loved that team! Miss you guys!

Sometimes we get exciting loads of donations to sort through . Actually this load was given to us by another ministry in Cluj, Romania and we received lots of clothes for the kids at our Day Center and more! God provides- clothes and fun :)

Rune our base director lets the donations take him back to the 80's...looking good Rune!

Yeah YWAM Constanta :)

This is our ad for YWAM's Go-Manual- a directory of all YWAM bases in the world. We are doing our best to get the word out on our upcoming DTS in July. Tell your friends and come join us!

Let's Get Practical!

Here's just a peek into what practical duties are like at YWAM Constanta. I am so thankful for such awesome people to work with. They have such serving and loving hearts! Thank you team, you are the best!

Kids Club in the Old City

The Kids Club that we have been helping out with for the past two summers is going strong! This is the first fall that it has continued to run and it will stay going through the year. It is lead by a wonderful lady named Lorraine who is a missionary from England and another missionary from Nigeria named Matthew. The club is a part of church plant among the Turkish families of the Old City. I was blessed to be a part of the fun this fall! The club has moved into the home of a lady who is also hosting the church plant Bible studies once a week. Its so encouraging to see things happening in the Old City as it has been an area of prayer-focus and involvement for our base for some years now. God is faithful! Please pray for this church plant and for those who are serving to make it possible!

Jazz Night at the Cafe

Having our new staff Martin Axelsson around has been so fun! Since he got here we've been working on different music nights in the cafe and in October we had our first ever, Jazz night. A friend from church, Silviu Doroftei, joined us on electric guitar and we covered songs from Billie Holliday, Nora Jones and Michael Buble...okay maybe it wasn't strictly jazz- but jazz-esque if you will! It was an exciting night- with a bit of ruckus from some neighborhood kids, but all in all a fun night and singing those songs was like a dream come true for me! I hope we do it again soon :)

Jolie's Photo Exhibition at the Cafe

We had a special night at the cafe for Jolie and her friend Linda to share more of their photography. Jolie had brought with her photos she had recently taken in China as part of her photography school with YWAM. Linda had pictures from a mission trip to Africa- all beautiful and inspiring. We also displayed pictures of Romania Jolie had taken and she showed a slide show of photos from her time in China. It was a great night full of inspiration and a clear heart for the nations. Once again, thank you Jolie!

Photography and Dreams Come True

Jolie and Linda at the Kids Photo Exhibition at New Wine Cafe

Also in October my good friend Jolie Watts and her friend Linda Stahl came to visit and serve in Constanta through photography. I first met Jolie in 2004 when I was leading a short-term mission team from Simpson University working with YWAM and Jolie was a student in the DTS that was being held at the base here in Constanta. She is also from Oregon so since 2004 we've been meeting up and hanging out whenever I've been in the States. After completing YWAM's photography school in Kona, Hawaii Jolie decided to come back to Romania to fulfill one of her dreams of serving the street kids in Constanta that she had worked with during her DTS. And what a blessing she was! She raised money to buy disposable cameras for each child at the Day Center and taught them the basics of photography before sending them home to photograph people and things at home that were important to them.

Once we got the pictures back each child presented their pictures to the group and then on the last day of the week we had a photo exposition of each child's favorite photo and a celebration in the coffee house. The photos the kids took were great. Mostly of little brother and sisters, cousins and parents. Some of fancy cars in the neighborhood and others of pets- but all creative and unique from each child's perspective and ability. A local photographer also got involved by printing the pictures at discount and offering lessons for the children showing the post potential. Amazing eh?! Jolie also took gorgeous portraits of the kids and of the families as well. She has a gift and she is using it to bless others! Thank you Jolie for blessings us!

Jolie teaches the Day Center kids about taking pictures

Exciting! Everyone receives their own disposable camera!

Sharing photos with the rest of the Day Center kids

Jolie the proud teacher and her students ;)

Photo Exhibition and fun at New Wine Cafe

The local photographer joined us for the event as well as staff and friends

And of course we had to sing! Andreea, friend & volunteer to the left, Martin- staff, and me

Day Center Kids Go to Mc Donalds

October was a crazy month at the Day Center. After rushing to get papers filled for the Day Center's legal approvals, the passing of our educator's husband, and meeting with the kids for a couple of days at our base while the Day Center was being repainted and repaired, we needed a break! The kids also had a week off from the Day Center during the repairs and to encourage them to continue to do their homework while they were at home they were offered a reward of going to Mc Donalds for their usual daily meal. A very exciting treat for a kid!

Well it ended up that not everyone did their homework, but Nuti ("Nutsi") our social worker had an idea and told the kids that each one who had earned the right to go to Mc Donalds could take another child with him, but would be responsible for helping him get his homework done the next week. Each child chose another until almost everyone would be going to Mc Donalds- except Ferdi...who had not been behaving very well and everyone knew it. "Should we leave Ferdi here kids?" Nuti asked the kids. Their immediate reaction was not very positive but after a few seconds they were all in agreement- YES, Ferdi would come to Mc Donalds too! And that is how all the kids ended up going to Mc Donalds. I have to say it was a example of grace and the best part was seeing the kids extend it to one another.

And needless to say, we had a great time!

October 2008 Freedom Project Comes to Romania

Freedom Project Shares it's Passion to End Human Trafficking

Last October we were honored to be visited by Ro Potter and Ange Miracle, members of The Freedom Project, a non-profit organization committed to raising awareness on the of human trafficking. In a few short days they made presentations for our YWAM staff, church, Day Center kids, street people, students at the cafe, and for 100 high school students at one of the best public high schools in Constanta. Their message was openly received and we are excited by the possibility of local action being taken to fight human trafficking in Romania and Eastern Europe. Not only were we blessed by their presentations but Ro and Ange were a lot of fun to have around and we look forward to the possibility of working together with them in the future.

Check it out: www.freedomprojectinternational.org

Challenging students at New Wine Cafe to get involved

Intercession with YWAM staff for issues surrounding the topic of Human Trafficking

Sharing with a class of English students at a local High School in Constanta

About 100 students came together in this auditorium to hear about human trafficking