Getting Ready for Camp in Romania

Paul and I are here in Bucharest helping an organization called Stepping Forward--check out their website at www.steppingforward.ro

We spent some time touring the city as final preparations for Stepping Forward's inaugural camp were being made. We visited Peles Palace which was made as a summer home for King Carol--it is located in Sinaia. The castle is filled with exquisite woodwork. We enjoyed a picnic on the mountain top with the DeWeerd's and Mathers (the missionaries--read all about their incredible mission at their website listed above) and a team from Hershey, PA.

The following day we went to the orphanage for school age girls (around 50 girls at this orphanage). The girls were waiting for us with loads of almost overwhelming enthusiasm. They are so excited on the days that Stepping Forward comes to visit. The girls crave personal attention and contact--they are used to having to stand up for themselves. The Mather's and DeWeerd's are probaly some the only adults that can serve as friends more than as authority figures to the girls. The Hershey Team had brought pillows for each of the girls. The girls were so excited about that. We celebrated the birthdays for the month and gave out birthday gifts and served snacks.

We spent the afternoon at The People's Palace--the communist dictator Ceausescu leveled nearly 1/6 of the city and made homeless 70,000 people to make the 2nd largest building in the world. There is a great description of this masterpiece or aberration--depending how you look at it at: http://home.xnet.com/~jkelley/BucharestBugle.fldr/BuchBugle19-20.html .

Then it was off to camp. Paul and I went a few days early with Steve and his friend Steve to help build some platforms to set tents on and get the camp ready for the campers. Living Waters Camp is located over 3 hours north of Bucharest. As we drove their the proportions of horses and carts to cars continued to increase. When we reached the village it is near, the horses and carts outnumbered the cars.

The camp is primitive--but beautiful, located in the heart of the Romanian countryside. We had to drive through the river twice to reach the camp. There is no running water but an artesian spring is located about 1/2 mile away and provides great water. They have a generator that they use for operating the electric power tools. The one building on the site is the "Shout" house--a combination of outhouse and place to hang the camp shower. We cooked meals on the campfire and got ready to make this camp ready to welcome its first campers!