Romania Day 1 - Becoming A Prisoner
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Almost all the youth who made the trip to Timisoara came by train,
some came from the northern mountains and others from the far south near
Bucharest. A few even came from the distant coast of the Black Sea. It
was great to see the familiar faces, but even more exciting to meet
the first timers.
As they trickled in, things seemed a little quiet, but we all knew
that was about to change. Soon they would meet Brother Gordan Tutani
from Zimbabwe. He has a knack of getting the young people to open up a
little.
Each young brother and sister entered their rooms to find their first
surprise of the weekend, a gift bag with some weekend essentials:
water, chips, candy bars and other goodies.
The hotel complex that would be host to almost every event at this year's camp
was very beautiful by anyone's standards. It must have looked
especially lovely to some that made the journey from some of the
poorest areas in all of Europe. One group tip-toed into their room,
for fear of stepping on the carpet.
After a brief rest it was time to get going. With Bibles in hand, we
gathered together for some singing and Bible study. Brother Gordan or
"Brother G" as he is known, didn't waste any time reminding the group
that they were young, and they should have plenty of energy. In only a
few minutes the Romanian group was singing Shona songs from Zimbabwe
as if they had known them their entire lives.
Once the group was nice and comfortable with each other, Brother G had
them open their Bibles. He called on a few of the young people to come
up with him and read about those in the Bible who had made themselves
prisoners to Christ. It would be the theme of the weekend - give up
your own thoughts and become a prisoner to Christ.
Next was supper, then came the bonfire. Brother G continued his Shona
songs until the group could move from one to another as gracefully as
Brother G himself.
We shared laughs, stories, and testimonies. It was certainly a day to
remember, but everyone was already looking forward to tomorrow.
