Romania!

I am a little under two weeks away from leaving for the summer. For those who do not know, I will be leaving for Oradea, Romania on June 14th. Randy Bullock is a missionary there and I will be staying with him all summer working along side him. Our main focus this summer is five children's camps that teams from across the world will be helping lead.

A team from Ocala, Florida will be coming in the later part of June to help lead the first of our five camps. Last year, the team from Florida did a phenomenal job; teaching the students about faith, hope, and love. Sixteen children made decisions last summer and this team will be working with the same group of children to allow for further discipleship.

Following the Florida team, Randy, Ade, Chris Lovell (from Ocala, Florida), and I will be going to Odessa, Ukraine to continue to showing people there how to use clowning as a ministry tool. We will be going into a camp leading a 40 minute program, along with staying a few days in an orphanage. The trip last year was different, but a new and exciting opportunity to minister to the children of Odessa.

Two teams from my home church will be coming to help in the next two camps. The first team will be starting afresh in a new village out towards the central part of the country called Rau de Mori. I personally got to work with these children last summer when we took a handbell group to Rau de Mori and I am very excited to see how God is going to work in these children's lives.

The second team from Rich Fork will be leading a music camp in a village just outside of Oradea. This is the first time a camp like this has been tried. The goal is to put together a show including songs and skits. The songs will be in English and the skits will be in Romanian. This is going to be a fun camp and I know that He has everything under control.

And finally, a team from Bristol, England will be coming to lead a hospice camp. Last year, this camp was easily my favo(u)rite and I eagerly look forward to working with these hurting children once again. We will also have two more people coming for this camp. Annie-Grace Shaffer and Amy Ergle (both from Ocala, FL) will be coming on August 10th and staying for the camp and leaving with me on August 22nd.

The summer will be a busy one but I look forward to seeing how God will use all of the teams, and myself to bring glory to His name. Acts 1:8 says, "but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will by My witnesses in Jerusalem and all of Judea and Samaria and to the remotest part of the earth."

As my departure date draws closer, I ask that you pray with me that the hearts and minds of the Romanians will be opened to His message. But more importantly, pray that His will is completed in the lives of those we encounter. If His will is completed, and not one life was changed, praise Him. If His will is completed, and 90% of the people we encounter pray to follow Jesus, praise Him even more.

I will be doing my absolute best to keep everyone updated through my blog during the summer. There will be weeks where I will not have internet, so please check back regularly to find out how you can be involved with the people and children of Romania!