The Begninng of the Journey

So this is our blog, Talissa and I. We thought this might make it easier for anyone who wanted to know what was going on in Romania, not to mention we feel totally cool having our own blog.

Here is an excerpt from our support letter that will explain a little bit about what we will be doing there this summer:

For the past two summers Talissa and I have spent a total of five weeks in Romania working at evangelistic English camps. These camps are a week of intense sports, games, and small group time. As the week progresses friendships quickly grow and develop, and the small group times become more intimate and gospel oriented. The groups provide a safe place for the campers to discuss what they have heard during the sessions and for the leaders to prod them towards Christ. After camp we follow up with the campers for a couple of days in their city. This has been by far the best part of the trips for both of us. We get a chance to see the kids in their own environment and meet their families and basically just “do life” with them. This summer, Talissa and I will be spending six weeks in Satu Mare, Romania working with the youth that we met at the camps. We are so thrilled to have the opportunity to be going back yet again. We will be doing a lot of what we have done before: hanging out with the girls and loving them towards Christ. We have recently learned that the girls,both Christian and non-Christian do not meet together. We are so excited to be able to help fulfill this need. We hope that we can bring the girls together and help get the ball rolling for the female youth leaders so that when we leave they will be able to continue meeting and growing. We will be flying out from O'Hare on June 22, and we'll have a short layover in Dublin before flying to Budapest, Hungary from whence we will be driven to Satu Mare. On July 31 we will reverse our route to return home to the U.S. We covet your prayers both before and during our trip. Talissa and I both feel that we are leaping into the unknown but we trust that through your prayers, and our prayers, and most of all God's help that we will survive this trip and possibly even do some good to the people of Satu Mare.

I hope that explains things well enough. We'll be updating regularly, we hope :) to keep everyone back home in the loop.

As of right now we have some prayer requests:

-Travel: We are flying alone, aahh! And Talissa struggles with long bus rides and lack of airflow.
-The youth leaders in Satu Mare: There are few of them and they are very young. Pray for their courage and strength and endurance.
-The youth: Pray for their hearts to change. They have to give up so much to follow Christ, pray that they will be willing to make the sacrifice!
-Us: Pray that God will prepare us spiritually and physically for this journey, and that Taliss and I will draw close and stay close. We will need each other desperately on this trip and we are sure that Satan will be on the attack. Pray for our relationship with each other and with Christ!

Thanks for reading! We'll update soon!