Nate and Noah to Romania

`

Breaking News: Summer is hot.

Not that the idea of heat in summer should be at all surprising, but Romania isn’t necessarily a place you’d imagine being all that toasty. That being said, this past month has been quite a surprise to us, as the daily temperature has recently averaged close to 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit for the American folk), with daily temperatures often surpassing those of the Middle Eastern/European nation of Turkey. Let there be no doubt about it: summer has come with gusto, and we’re here for it.

Below, we have a recorded a video going over the events of the past month as well as looking forward to what is to come in the next month. So whether you’re an avid reader or a consumer of highly produced, top-budget short films, we have you covered. Let’s dive in!

Just as notable as the summer heat are the many activities and events that these sunny months bring along with them. To close out the month of June, not one, but two consecutive kid’s camps rang in the first weeks of the newly christened summer vacation for the youngsters. It was so much fun getting to see the response of the preteens, and a week later the elementary kids, as they leaned into the theme of the camp and took up their roles as Ambassadors of the Kingdom of God! We have been so impressed by the heart of these young students, and we can see that the Lord is raising up for Himself a generation of kids who are going to make a tremendous impact! We’re so excited to continue to watch the Lord’s plans and purposes unfold in their lives!

Following those first camps, there has been a bit of a chance to get back to normal(ish) life again. We’ve certainly been making the most of the sunny days as much as possible, and the summer has paved the way for some amazing days of fun with our students and friends. With the youth, we’ve enjoyed outings to the local park, soccer games at some local turf fields, and plenty of volleyball games in the churchyard. We’ve also had some moments to go outside of Oradea to enjoy time with friends. One weekend we were able to spend in the Romanian countryside in the beautiful village of Lazuri, enjoying hikes with rivers, caves, and beautiful hills and rock formations. On another weekend, we made a trip down to Timisoara to celebrate our friend Diana’s graduation. We’ve been so thankful for such amazing moments with so many amazing people!

Additionally, this summer has been full of lots of preparation and planning for the middle/end stretch of the summer in July and August. As far as camps go, we will be taking a group of four students to meet up with another group of eight from Sebis on the way to the Jesus Revolution Summer Outreach Camp in Prague. THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY! Thanks to money that came in support of this effort, we were able to reduce the cost of the camp dramatically in order to allow our students to attend. This is such a huge blessing! You can continue to pray for this experience, as we will depart this upcoming Wednesday the 24th and return home on Sunday, August 4th. Just two weeks later, we will be hosting our own Oxygen Youth camp over the second-to-last week of August. We are so excited for what God has planned for our students in both of these camps, and a lot of hard work and planning has gone into both. We can’t wait to tell the stories!

On top of planning the camps, we are also right in the middle of transitioning the youth ministry into “Breakout Season.” So far we have had three youth meetings in this format, and it has gotten off to a promising start! We are excited to make a space for students to go deeper in their faith together, and we believe we are beginning to see the first movements in that direction in this new season of Oxygen Youth! Additionally, we have added two individuals, Marcus and Iulian, to our team as Team Captains to help facilitate these groups on the boy’s side as Iulia and Katy continue to lead the girls. We seriously have an amazing team, and we are so thankful that they have stepped up and answered the call to serve the next generation! We are so so proud of each of them!

Finally, Noah and I are in the midst of making personal preparations for the return home. Obviously a return to the United States has a lot of moving parts to it, and we are currently working on making plans and organizing the trip home as well as the first weeks we will be spending on US soil in a year. On top of our personal considerations, Noah and I are also working closely with the Mannahouse Global team to each prepare a presentation to the Eldership of Mannahouse in which we will make a proposal for our return to Romania. These presentations will be happening the day after our arrival, and we are anxious for the opportunity to present the work of the past year and look to what we believe God is laying out for the future. It is wild for us to think that there is only a little under a month and a half until we return to the states. It has been an incredible journey thus far, and we believe the best is still yet to come!

Prayer Points

Success and fruit in the upcoming camps: We are so excited for the upcoming camps, both with Jesus Revolution and with our own students. Please pray with us that the Holy Spirit would be deeply impacting our students and our team in the midst of these camps. Pray that our students would take on a deeper level of dependency on the Lord and a greater trust in His love and power in their lives! Additionally, pray for the logistics and practicalities as we prepare to do everything required to be involved with and facilitate these camps.

Wisdom, strength, and grace for the next month and a half: For Noah and I, we certainly feel the weight of everything that is required to close out the final stretch of this season well and transition into a return home. Keep us in your prayers, asking for the wisdom to conclude these final weeks well, strength to take on each task with excellence as they come, and the grace to prioritize the most important things while enjoying and appreciating each moment from now until our departure.

Impactful time with students and our team: One of the hardest things for us to think about in leaving is having to part with a group that has become so dear to both of our hearts. We know that the Lord will protect and sustain them, but we are going to miss them dearly! Pray that God would truly bless these final weeks with our students and with our team, that our time would be impactful and that we would soak in every moment!

It is wild for us to think that we’ve come this far! One thing is for sure, we certainly couldn’t have done it without your continuous prayers! Noah and I both feel continually blessed to think of the amazing people who have come alongside us throughout this process, both in the US and here in Romania! To all of you, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts! We’re so thankful to get to do this life together as one Body and one Spirit!

Love from Romania,

Nate and Noah