Nate and Noah to Romania

It seems that we’ve hit rock bottom on schedule posting, folks. Three months have now passed since the last update, which constitutes a grade-A newsletter writing sin. Be that as it may, we’re here now, and I am going to attempt to summarize what has been an active and electric few months by pulling together groupings of events as they’ve transpired – a highlight reel, if you will. So without further ado: March through June.

Visitors to Oradea

We’ve been blessed over the past months to have a large number of visitors to Salem, from pastors and their families to ministry teams and even longtime cornerstone leaders. Many of the visiting pastors facilitated wonderful seminars that were greatly enriching for us as a church family, and some even gave significant prophetic words for individuals and for Salem as a whole. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with each group who came through. Noah and I were especially delighted to see a few familiar faces in the more recent weeks, with David and Katie Kaylor making the trip over in May, followed by Roxy Iverson coming in the early weeks of this month. All three have been mentors to Noah and I over the last few years, and we relish every opportunity to see and spend time with them. All in all, the church has been greatly encouraged, refreshed, and blessed by those who have made their way to us!

Beyond pastoral visitations, we also enjoyed our annual visitation from the lovely folks over at Jesus Revolution! As they have for the past several years, the JR team put together some wonderful workshops and an excellent youth gathering that was deeply beneficial and equipping for our students in the area of evangelism and living a lifestyle of expressive faith. This year we also had the incredible opportunity to go into downtown Oradea and facilitate evangelistic street meetings. Our students spent the weeks leading up to this event learning a flash mob dance to kick off the meetings in which both testimonies and gospel preachings would be shared. Following these messages, we split off in pairs to pray and speak with the people who had stopped to listen or were passing by. It was especially exciting due to the fact that we received permission from the city to hold these meetings in Union Square where there was a weekend market taking place; so many people had the opportunity to hear the gospel and receive prayer! It was an incredible week, and we are always so thankful to have Jesus Revolution with us each spring!

Holiday-Heavy Spring

We got to do a good deal of celebrating over the past few months, most notably enjoying Easter, which is such a joyful time in Romania. I have always loved how deeply significant the observance of Easter is to the Romanian people, beginning with the Holy Week and then spanning a couple of days beyond Easter Sunday. We enjoyed a youth service on Maundy (Holy) Thursday, a night service at Salem for Good Friday, a midnight mass at a local Orthodox monastery (a personal favorite of Noah and I’s), and Easter Sunday service at Salem before enjoying the afternoon with some of our dear friends. No one knows how to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord quite like the Romanians!

We soon found ourselves enjoying another wonderful Romanian holiday – May 1st. As per tradition, us and many of the families of the church packed our cars with food and sports equipment and made our way to the Hurrelbrink’s camp in Laz to enjoy a day of barbequing, volleyball, and relaxing. David and Katie happened to be with us for this excellent day of community and enjoyment, and it added a little extra sparkle to an already incredibly fun day. Noah and I actually missed out on the May 1st festivities last year on account of our “exile” (our one-month return to the US in May 2025 as we had to await the processing of our immigration documents), so it was a joy to get back in on the fun this year!

Obviously, American Memorial Day is not recognized in Romania, yet I still had occasion to celebrate this year, because…

May’s Trip to the United States

This trip was a long time coming! I had not been back to the US since May of 2025 – a full year! The primary occasion for the visit was my wonderful little sister’s wedding… which was absolutely surreal. The mix of joy, pride, and ache at the thought of my baby sister taking on another name was quite the cocktail of feeling, but in the end, I could not be more happy for the newly minted married duo of Ellie and Barrett Teeny! It was so wonderful to get to celebrate there in person and to enjoy the moment with my family. It is hard to describe the incredible feeling of watching the youngest kid and lone sister of the family find her person… and add a new brother to the family in the process!

Following the family festivities, I also had a chance to make my way back to Oregon to visit my home church over at the Mannahouse Tigard and to enjoy some sweet time with some of my dearest friends. Together, we’ve held to the tradition of making a trip out to Cannon Beach for Memorial Day, and getting to spend that weekend away was such a wonderful and valuable opportunity to be together – one of those chances that is becoming fewer and further between as the years go on. Even the layovers were full of fun moments of reconnection, as I caught my youth pastors Brian and Mackenzie Holmes on the way in and some friends from a previous visiting team from Boston on the way out! It is such a fun and wonderful blessing to connect with friends all across the map!

Summer Prep

For several weeks now, preparations have been proceeding as the summer slate begins to open and camp season comes closer into view. Youth is reaching that long-days-to-warm-nights type of feeling, as the rate of volleyball being played and bonfires enjoyed is up exponentially. Earlier this year, we found a new location for this year’s summer camp, and we are in full prep mode for youth camp, kid’s camp, a Romani outreach camp, and several other summer activities. We even had our first camp fundraiser this last Sunday with our Oxygen Youth Bake Sale! School also ended for our students this past week, and so things really do feel like they are coming into that summer rhythm. We are so excited for everything that is in store over the next few months! My promise here and now is that no one will have to wait until the end of them to get the next look into what is taking place here!

Prayer Points

Thank you for your continued prayers, even as reports of things have remained relatively silent for the last little bit. There are always things going on here, and your prayers make a big difference in the lives of our youth students, in the community here, and for me personally. Here are some specific things you can be holding with me in prayer:

The demands of summer for students: With the beginning of summer comes exam season for 8th and 12th grade, along with university students. These exams determine the course of the next season for those who are taking them, so it is a time of immense pressure and stress. Additionally, with the new location, camp costs are higher this year, and more fundraising is required for students to make it to camp. Please pray for those students in the midst of exams as well as those trying to raise the money for camp, that the Lord would provide on both fronts in significant ways and that peace would be with them throughout these processes.

Obtaining a vehicle: Truthfully, this process has been tricker and more frustrating than it probably should be. On several occasions, I have had a car lined up for purchase, only for things to fall through at the last second. As summer comes, a car is all the more vital. Please pray that the process would come to fruition, that I would be able to find the right vehicle for day-to-day needs and that the sale would go through to completion.

Looking to the Future: More and more, it appears that the Lord is opening the door for this work to continue long-term. I am now in the process of extending my time here and doing what is necessary to set things up for the foreseeable future. With that comes many practical pieces, but also several emotional ones as I prepare to put roots down here. Pray that doors would continue to open for a longer stay and that the Lord would be bringing the peace, assurance, and vision for the next steps.

Life continues to be an adventure, and I am so thankful for all that the Lord has done and all He has in store. Thank you for continuing to support financially, in prayer, and even in your kind words – I couldn’t do this without you! May the Lord continue to prosper the work of His Kingdom and the workers of it, whether in the US, here in Romania, or throughout the world! What an adventure this life is with God!

Talk soon (I promise),

– Nathan