Nate and Noah to Romania

Happy 2026!

What a blessing it is to be beginning a new year here in Oradea and to be looking forward to all the stories yet to be told, joys and victories yet to be celebrated, and moments with God yet to unfold! I hope that this year begins for you with fresh hope, joy, and vision!

It has been a little while since the last update! With that being the case, I thought it appropriate to go over the highlights of December and January up to this point via a video update! As always, there will also be a brief summary along with photos below!

It was a fitting end to what has been a wild 2025, and 2026 begins with much hope and vision for where the Lord is leading on a personal level as well as in the youth and church world!

You can’t separate Christmas and December, and as we’ve come to see in our time here, Romania goes all out for Christmas! I absolutely love the festive excitement around the Christmas Market in the center of the city, the lights that line the streets, and all of the little joys and traditions that dot the calendar in December! It was wonderful to enjoy these times with friends and with the youth! On the youth side, we enjoyed outings to the center, our annual youth Christmas party, and of course, the Christmas Day service all together as a church family! On the day of Christmas, following the service at SALEM, Noah and I had the joy of once again spending the holiday week with the Hurrelbrinks in Sebis, which was a pleasure and an honor for us! I couldn’t be more thankful to spend December and the holidays in such a wonderful place with such amazing people, especially in a time where homesickness can be a challenge. We can say for certain that we were never alone at any point this holiday season, and that was a profound blessing!

Ringing in the new year is another place where Romanians go all out. We had such an amazing time partying, quite literally, all night long. I don’t know how many more years my body will be physically capable of pulling all-nighters, but I’ll relish in moments like these while I have the chance! To get to look forward to and celebrate a new beginning with our students was such a wonderful moment, and one that I will carry with me throughout this year.

Once we got a little ways into the month, we had our first significant (non-holiday) event of the year, this time without students, as our youth team spent a few days to drive out to Poland for our first Youth Team Retreat. It was a wonderful time of bonding, prayer, and preparing for this year. I am so thankful for these faithful leaders and friends!

It was hard to recognize that we had arrived back home from the mountains of Poland, given the fact that both places were under several inches of snow! Noah and I quickly had to transition out of retreat mode into work mode, shoveling the parking lot and sidewalks around the church to ensure they were ready for school the next day. We also got busy filling the furnace with wood to keep the church warm. God must have known that I had recently felt some homesickness for Montana and generously provided Montana-esque snowfall and temperatures! I have appreciated this winter time very much, but I would admittedly be happy to get a break from shoveling for a while.

As we already begin to approach February, I would love if you would be praying with me for a few specific things going into this year!

The search for a used car: As you may have seen, in the month of December, all $12,000 were raised to cover the cost of a new used car! I am so thankful for everyone’s generosity, and if you partnered with me in this financial project or at any point throughout the year, thank you so, so much! That being said, the next step is finding the right vehicle to sustain everyday life and the ministry going forward! Pray that the Lord would lead me to the right vehicle to fulfill these purposes!

Vison and momentum in youth: The Lord has already begun to spell out the direction for Oxygen Youth in this year as we prepare to equip and send our students to be disciplers and kingdom workers in the city of Oradea. We have several events in February, including a youth seminar and winter retreat that are meant to help build momentum and prepare our students to take on the challenge this year. Please pray that the coming month would serve as a launching point not just into the rest of this year, but into the rest of these student’s lives!

Big-picture for my time in Romania: The end of 2025 marks the halfway point of my two-year ministry commitment in Oradea. Naturally, questions about the future and next steps begin to come into view. The Lord already seems to have given some indication about the future, and I am presently exploring the possibility of extending my time here. Pray that over the course of this year, the Lord would make His will clear for 2027 and beyond regarding where He wants me to be.

I am looking forward to all that is to come this year, and I am thankful for your involvement in it! There are certainly more wonderful days and stories ahead!

Much love, and Happy New Year,

– Nathan