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Summer of 2008 July 20th Last weekend in Romania Thursday was our last full day of camp with the boys and girls. Mandy and David's had yet another powerful teaching time about Jesus and what life in Him is. Little by little, more and more kids were coming to know Him as their personal Savior. It was neat to see them impacted through the teaching times, and turning their lives over for Christ. The way the Lord used both Mandy and David to share His truth with others, was a witness to myself again that God does change lives. He is the giver of life that I never had before. It was a blessing to see kids make that decision to follow Christ. Thursday night we all gathered around the bonfire and listened to another powerful message from David. We also had an amazing time of worship that was lead by Pastor Reul and his wife Simmona. Gathering together one last time and worshiping Jesus with the kids was very special. The Holy Spirit was present in all our hearts that night and brought us all together to lift one another up in prayer. Friday morning we were able to hear more from the campers about their experience throughout the week. We also gave out prizes, pictures and cards to each of the kids so that they had things to take home with them. We also had to say our good-byes to Carmen, Christina and Sammy. The three of them were Romanian team leaders who really gave a lot of their energy, time, and love to the kids at camp. The kids really reacted to them and enjoyed having them there. It was a bittersweet time, as the kids gathered their things, signed each others Bibles, pictures and cards. We were able to walk with them down to the bus and send them off with hugs, smiles and love from the Lord. Many lives were impacted and lots of hearts changed for Christ. It was exciting to see those who accepted Him and it showed all of us leaders that Gods love is so powerful. We arrived back to the ministry house later that afternoon and spent the evening sharing about the week and unwinding from it all. It was Gabi's birthday and we were able to spend the evening with her and pray a special birthday blessing over her. She and her family are a huge part of this ministry, and they do a lot to keep it going. Saturday and Sunday have been days spent taking side trips as a team while we share our last few days together in Romania. Unwinding and preparing our hearts as much as we can to enter back into the States has been an important time to have together. We will each be processing this experience in a different way, but it's been great to have each others support, even now. We are packing up our bags, saying, "see you later" to many of our friends here in Romania. It's been hard, but we know that if we don't see each other again in this life, we definitly will meet again in HEAVEN. Thank you all so much for your interest in what we've been up to this past month. Thank you for all of your prayers as well. The Lord has done amazing work this year and we give Him all the thanks. We begin our journey home on Monday morning at 7:30 A.M. and will arrive in San Francisco that same evening around 8:00 P.M. Look forward to seeing a lot of you very soon! July 16 Camp Minis July 13-18 Greetings to all you readers! I'm excited and happy to be sharing with you all about our camp so far. We arrived late Sunday afternoon at Camp Minis, after 4 trips back and forth; loading and unloading all the supplies for the week. It was an exciting time to gather together as a team and pray for the week ahead of us. Ken lead us in a time of communion and it was a blessing to share the Lords supper together that evening. Many of us had different emotions in anticipation for the coming week. It was a special time to come together as the body of Christ and encourage one another through prayer. We were able to open up our hearts and share our feelings before God and ask Him to change each of us so that we would be pleasing to the Lord throughout the week. Monday morning came very quickly for us all. After a long night of listening to the rain fall, thunder roar, lightning strike, dogs barking and cows mooo-ing we were up and running around preparing for the kids to arrive. At about 10:00 A.M. that morning, we heard someone yell "They're here, the bus has arrived." As we all raced down to the bottom of the hill, many kids were getting off the bus with their bags in hand and smiles on their faces. It was at that moment that we all realized camp was finally beginning and thinking to ourselvesm, "WOW, what a week it's going to be!!" Upon arrival we divided the kids into four different teams: Green, Blue, Red, and Orange. Each team of approximatley 20 boys and girls has two Romanians and two Americans as Team Leaders. For the rest of the afternoon we spent time learning each others names through games and other team activities. During meal times we sit with our team color and are able to get to know one another better. The camp teachers, David and Mandy, both from America, have prepared messages for the campers each morning. It's been a very powerful time as Mandy has been sharing her faith with the girls. Each session has been followed by group discussion, which has touched on many different topics that we as women and girls have experienced. Mandy is a bright, bubbly young women who has a background of heartache, unwantedness, and abuse. She dedicated her life to Christ during her first year of college, and the Lord is using her to share His love with the kids at camp. She distributed journals for each of the girls so that they can reflect and express their thoughts, prayers, questions and comments. We've had a handful of girls give their life to Christ already and we anticipate that this is laying the groundwork for many others to follow. There are a number of girls that already know the Lord and are continuing to grow in Him and understand who He wants them to become. I know that the boys too, are having a great time coming together and opening up with each other about their struggles and questions. Praise God for the many boys who have dedicated their lives to Christ during David's teaching time. The Lord is using David in an amazing way to shower the kids with His love and truth. Angela is in charge of the Recreational Games and Team Activities. The kids are enjoying each day as they participate in team bonding games, initiative games that teach teamwork, as well as hiking. She has brought her creativity and experience as a Recreation Leader at home and the kids are truly responding. Her energy and passion for the Lord is shining through her in many ways. Sandy is leading our craft time. She has two projects that the kids are able to work on. One is a mini photo album that they put together and decorate so that they can take it home with them along with a photo of their team and the entire camp crew. She is also teaching them to make lanyards which both the girls and boys are enjoying very much. They continue to work on them during their free time. We thank Sandy for her gifting in this area. She is a mother figure to lots of children and is able to share Gods love with them as they create their own crafts. A Pastor from Timisoara and his wife and their two children arrived yesterday, and have brought their gifts and musical talents in leading Worship. It was the one thing that we were definitly missing from camp. It's wonderful to worship the Lord together with the kids and see their excitment as we sang our hearts out and raised our hands up to Him. Worship time will now be a nightly component of the camp experience. The Lord has done amazing things already in many kids lives and we continue to pray that His love captures each of them during these next few days. We have one more full day of camp, and a half day on Friday. Please continue to keep us all in your prayers as the Lord does His work through each of us here. Thank you for reading and stay posted for another update on Friday when we return to the Ministry House!
July 12
WOW! My apologies, I have
forgotten to include Ken in our last update. He arrived with the team on
Tuesday as well, and has been busy working on the many side projects that
Dennis (his brother) has put aside for him. It's neat to see them work along
side one another serving the Lord as biological brothers, but also brothers
in Christ. It's been 10 years since they've seen each other, and what a
blessing it is for them to be together in Romania.
July 8 The team is all together now... Tuesday was a day of excitment and lots of joy! Dennis, Mary, Angela, Beni and I (Robin) were able to greet Carmen and Cristina at the train station in Timisoara. They traveled 9 hours from northern Romania to join us again this summer. They both were here last year for 2 weeks at a time, and it's a blessing to have them back again to share the love of the Lord that they have in their hearts. After another shopping trip to the Metro, we were able to greet the rest of the American team members that will be involved here for the next two weeks. Carol, Judy, Rusty, Jon & Sandy, Ken, Justin, Mandy, David, Ben and Kyle have all arrived safely to Romania; some for the very first time. Twenty-three of the forty-three bags that were checked didn't arrive with them on Tuesday, which was a big bummer. After a meal together at McDonald's and one more stop at the Metro, we arrived back in Bozovici about midnight. Dana arrived at the ministry house as well on Tuesday. She is from Toplet, which is town just about an hour and a half from Bozovici. She was part of the team last year, and it's great to have her back. We are all very excited to finally be together to serve along side one another for our amazing Lord Jesus Christ. We want to bring glory to His name and share Him with others who may not know Him personally. Wednesday was a day of adjustment and recouping for the new team members that arrived. Many were able to walk around the village and see the surrounding beauty of the Almaj Valley. Some were able to spend time with one another or alone in the peaceful garden, and I was able to rest through an upset stomach. The fellowship together during our morning devotions has been very special and the Lord is knitting us together just the way He wants to. We are being spoiled by Rusty, who is cooking amazing food and keeping our stomachs full for each day. Thursday we were able to break up into small groups and bless people in the name of Jesus here in Bozovici as well as Sopotu-vechi. Lots of groups had the opportunity to pray for individuals, children and families. A few people have wanted to give us something in return for praying with them, because many are used to having to do that for prayers. It's been a blessing to us to simply just say "We pray for you because there's a God who loves you, no matter if you have nothing to give." Friday we drove out to a very remote village called Sopotu-nou and were able to distribute 25 food packages to many men, women, and children. Two women invited us all up to her home to see how they live. One was making loaves of bread and shared them with us all while we were there. It's amazing to see the life styles of many people here and all that they do in one day. We plan on passing out food packages to Garbovat and Prilipet village as well as visiting Casa Dorca Orphanage later on today or sometime Saturday. On Sunday we will be going to church somewhere in the valley and having an early dinner at a Romanian family's home here in Bozovici. Sunday afternoon we are heading out to Camp Minis and getting prepared for the kids to arrive on Monday morning. There are many exciting things to come this next week, and we give all the thanks to the Lord. Thank you all for reading this update and browsing through the photos. We would appreciate you joining us in prayer for each teenager that will be a part of the camp next week. We pray for softened hearts, open minds and ears, and a transformation to take place in their lives to come to know Jesus personally. Gods peace to you all! Robin Jonkers
July 7th- 2 Weeks Behind Us, and 2 More to Come... The Lord has been faithful to us these last two weeks, but especially this past week. We have gathered 68 applications from the different villages here in the Almaj Valley for the Summer Camp July 14-18. Our goal is 85 teenagers and we believe that we will collect 17 more this week. On Saturday the three of us girls were able to put together 25 food packages, which included: corn, rice, flour, sugar, oil, toothbrushes, hats, socks and a Bible. What an amazing experience we had in Dalboset. That is just one village out of the many here in the Valley that we plan on blessing. Once the team arrives we have enough supplies to put together 175 more. We all got to experience Gods divine appointments that he always seems to open up. Each of the families, widows, and single people that we were able to share a food package with, was very thankful and accepted it with great need. We had the opportunity to sit and pray for 2 people. One of them was a very poor single man, probably in his late 40's early 50's. He lives a life of loneliness, and has no family at all. We were blessed by blessing him and having the chance to pray with him. The other woman we saw sitting on a bench by herself by the stream. She had a Bible in her lap and was in tears when we got out to see her. She remembered Dennis from Church one year, and never thought she'd see him again. She kept saying that seeing him made her day. She has a large growth on the side of her cheek which has been there since the end of Revolution in the 80's. We had the chance to sit and visit with her for a while. She poured out her heart to us and wanted us to pray that the Lord would come and take her away. She's uncomfortable with her growth, and sad that her family doesn't ever come to visit her. What a blessing it was to be God’s arms of comfort for her. She holds a special place in each of our hearts now. On Sunday we were able to be a part of a Church in Timisoara that was started a few years ago with the vision of ministering to the street people. It was a wonderful service, with a special time of worship. Even though it was in Romanian, we could sense that the Holy Spirit was present in the room. 3 1/2 hours of our afternoon was spent at the Metro (Costco) shopping for food and other supplies from 3 different grocery lists. We purchased more supplies for the 200 food packages, food for the team for the last two weeks, and enough food to feed 110 people who will be at camp. The four of us loaded and unloaded 6 flatbed shopping carts and made it back safely to the house with enough light to organize it at the house. Monday
was spent cleaning and getting ready for the team to arrive Tuesday
afternoon. Once they all get here their will be 19 of us at the house until
we go up to Minis for camp. No more leisurely showers, quick easy cooking
and clean up...we are being invaded by a lot more people! We have enjoyed
the time getting to know each other, but we look forward to getting
to know everyone else who will be a part of the team here in Bozovici for
the rest of July. Safe travels guys, and we'll be in Timisoara to greet each
one of you. July 1 Into the second week... The days are passing by very quickly, but we've been fortunate enough in having them filled with new adventures, as well as taking care of the details for camp and the food packages that we'll be distributing when the rest of the team arrives next Tuesday! Just this past Saturday, Dennis took Angela, Mary and I (Robin) out for the day in hopes of doing some hiking at one of the National Parks Northeast of Bozovici. It took us about 3 hours to drive, but the scenery and countryside that we were able to see along the way was incredibly beautiful. Romania is such a pretty country. Lots of green rolling hills, puzzled together with the crop fields of corn, barley and grass. Lots of hay huts scattered throughout the land. Once we arrived into the park we realized there were no specific trails to hike, so we ended up following a paved road back up into the mountain. We found a peaceful place along a stream to have lunch and then walked up the road a bit to have our devotion. The day was lots of fun and we enjoyed our time together and seeing more of Romania. Charlie and Gabi's son Beni was baptized on Sunday afternoon along with his cousin Ana. We were blessed to be a part of that and enjoyed a Romanian meal afterwards with their family. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday have been busy days for the four of us. We've spent time focusing on the details and organizational things that are on our list of things to do before the team arrives. We have been busy going around to the different villages to pass out applications to the teenagers that we hope to have at camp. If it weren't for the Romanian kids that know English, we would not have been able to pass out the flyers. They have been a huge help to us and it's been a lot of fun to spend time with them. Our goal is about 85 kids and we hope and pray that we get that number, but it's in Gods hands and we trust in Him to provide the kids. Tuesday night after dinner, Dennis suggested that we go up to the Czech Village and watch the sunset and enjoy the beautiful view from up there. We all hopped into the van and drove up there. If you are from Northern California and have driven Coleman Valley Road out to the beach before, you can imagine what the view is like from the top of this village here. On a clear day you can see for miles and miles, or course not an ocean but the continuous green rolling hills covered with tall trees. We came across about 10 hikers from the Czech Republic, and they have been backpacking for about 600+ miles around Romania. It was neat to stop and talk with them for a bit and hear about where and what they are doing. They were very surprised to come across us Americans up there. Things are slowly coming together, and we are getting excited for the rest of the team to arrive! Thank you all for reading and stayed tuned for the next update.
June 27 Update from Dennis, Angela, Mary and Robin After traveling from San Franscisco to London, then to Vienna and finally into Timisoara the four of us (Dennis, Angela, Mary and Robin) have arrived safely in Romania and it's great to be back! We had a small difficulty getting through customs at first, along with one supply bag missing. We were greeted by Charlie at the airport and picked up his son Benny on our way through Timisoara. With a stop at McDonalds for dinner and shopping at the Metro (which is like Costco) we are stocked up on groceries and other supplies that we'll be needing until the rest of the American team joins us on July 8. We had a good first night's rest, followed by a day of organizing and cleaning of the ministry house as we all recuperated as best we could. We were able to take a drive over to Casa Dorca Orphanage to see some of the kids that live there. Seeing them again and knowing that we will have many chances this month to continue the friendships with them, whether it be through playing soccer or when we go around to the different villages to pass out food packages to the poor families. It's very exciting to us all to think ahead of what is to come and how the Lord is going to use each of us for His glory and honor. The Lord has been faithful in knitting the four of us together and opening up doors of opportunities to learn more about one another in a deep meaningful way. Our devotional times in the morning have been great. Lots of emotions, but that is bringing us together and helping each of us grow in our own walks with the Lord. We had the chance to drive out to the camp facility where we'll be July 14-18 putting on a camp for the Junior High and High School age youth. We have lots of preparing to do in the mean time, but it was nice to go out there and imagine different things and make sure we have the space to do all what we would like to do. Angela has been busy putting together a list of the games and other fun activities to do with the kids during that week. She has brought over lots of rope, inner tubes, helmets, balls, as well as her ingenuity to put it all together. It will be lots of fun! The three of us girls have been trying to be as creative as we can when it comes to the meal times. We were able to share a new food dish with Charlie. We made him guacamole, and he was so cute when he tried it. He didn't spit it out, so we think he liked it. Just this past Spring, Charlie and his wife Gabi worked so hard in the garden here planting many different crops such as tomatoes, cucumber, onions, carrots, corn, radish, potatoes, zucchini, beans, and strawberries. They planted it specifically for the team to use, but right now we have zucchini coming out of our ears so we have been giving them out to different people that pass by the house. We are in charge of maintaining the garden and giving it plenty of water to keep the crops producing. It's been very hot ever since we arrived, but as I'm writing this I am listening to loud thunder and drops of rain fall. It's nice to have the rain because it has cooled things down a lot and waters the garden for us. You can enjoy seeing a few photos of the garden as well as where we will be having camp. Thank you all for reading and we will keep posting updates as the days go by. God's blessings to you all and thank you for your prayers! Love Dennis, Angela, Mary and Robin
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