As I type this… It is currently a whopping -10 degrees fahrenheit outside… Crazy cold!
Welcome to month 6 of my World Race journey… ROMANIA!
As you already know (if you have been keeping up with my blogs), we were originally scheduled to head to Bulgaria for month 6, but our squad was re-routed to Romania for the month… and we are enjoying it very much!
Welcome to Seventh Spring Camp!
Seventh Spring Camp is located in a little village of about 260 people. The town is known as Sistarovat, which literally means Six Springs. It is located about an hour’s drive from Arad. If you are looking at a map, we are situated in the northwest of the country right down the road from the boarder of Hungary.
So far this month, due to weather and it being somewhere around 0 degrees fahrenheit most the time, we have not gotten to do a lot of ministry. The ministry that we have been able to do has been a blessing though and has looked completely different than what we though we would be doing this month. Thats ok though, because the Lord just had different plans for us.
We’re working and living at a Christian camp called the Seventh Spring, which is run by the non-profit organization Global Outreach Romania, who are supported by Global Outreach USA. During the summer they host camps for children and young people, either having a group come in to use the facilities while running their own programs, or hosting groups and running programs for them. Across five weeks they see over 800 young people come through the camp, having fun and hearing about the gospel of Christ. During the rest of the year the centre is used for hosting conferences and other groups for whatever purposes they might like.
There have been three World Race teams here previously, including one group from A Squad who launched with us back in September and had this as their first location. The time here is spent helping to maintain, improve and renovate the facilities. For previous groups this has included some building work, some gardening work and some external painting, all of which we are unable to do due to the current 2 feet or so of snow (and counting, lol) covering the ground. We will be helping out with some of the internal painting though, as well as taking care of cleaning carpets and other tasks that will help keep the quality of the interior of the centre in good condition. In the main building (a 4 story building) there was a pipe burst due to the weather, so the 3rd floor flooded, and we had the privilege of getting to clean all of that up. Also at the end of the month, there is actually a group of students coming here for a weekend conference and we are blessed to have the opportunity to serve them while they are here and invest in their lives. I’m particular excited because I previous did camp ministry for two summers and then a lot of other retreats and stuff in the fall and winter months.
One of the things that we need to constantly do is chop wood and load the furnace to keep both of the houses warm. The girls and the married couple on the other team are in one of the houses while the rest of the guys are all in the other house, so that’s two burners that need to be tended every few hours. We are cooking for ourselves too and so the responsibilities of various tasks and chores are being shared out as well. I am actually starting to really enjoy chopping wood and tending to the furnace. Its good time to think and pray. Funny sometimes how “normal life” things still are necessary on the World Race… Such as puttin’ up firewood… As we say where i’m from…
Our head contact is a Baptist church minister from Arad. His name is Romi, and he has helped out around the camp since it was started around a decade ago and who made sure it carried on efficiently after the American missionaries who founded it returned home. His church, as well as supporting the camp, runs an orphanage and has facilitated the fostering of a large number of children from their area, after the other two children’s homes they ran had to close because of the current economic climate.
Our contact on the ground here is a man named Mihai, who lives here throughout the year maintaining the facilities (including 4 furnaces that need constant attention) and hosting the conferences. He is an incredible man of God! He has been such a blessing to each of us and has went above and beyond to treat us so well… not to mention, he is a wonderful cook! We have all come to love Mihai very quickly and its been such a huge ministry for us getting to pour into him and do Bible studies together. He definitely has one of the biggest hearts I have ever seen.
That is a little information about the camp that we are spending the month at. I would really like the opportunity to come back here in the summer, or at least when there isn’t 2 feet of snow on the ground, haha, and see what this place looks like and what all goes on here.
The Lord has been so good and has been really teaching me and growing me in so many ways this month. I recently found the new Casting Crowns CD (which is incredible) and there is a song on it called, “The Well.” If you get a chance to check it out, do it… Its powerful. I have been listening to it A LOT and its been awesome considering we are at Seventh Spring Camp. It just reminds me how good God is and how He is our living water source… I’m excited to keep reading and learning this month and diving deeper into what the Lord has for me here… He is so good and constantly reminds me of that…
Anyways… Just wanted to let you know a little about our ministry this month and tell you what the Lord is doing here in Sistarovat… Thanks for your love and prayers!
Love y’all.
