CHRISTmas

Christmas is done! Sigh of relief! :) Don't get me wrong, I really DID have a good Christmas. Actually, all of that week was really nice. And it was ALSO nice to not be working at Walgreens during the Christmas season for the first time in seven (possibly eight??) years. But I must admit, everything Christmas-y reminded me of home, so I'm glad to be moving on.


I was especially thankful this year for the wonderful team God has given me here. I can't believe that just a year ago these people were pretty much strangers to me...and now they're my family. (Andrew and Leah Postema, ME, Tom and Gela Graef)

I spent Monday-Thursday of Christmas week at "the little cabin in the woods" (as we affectionately call it!) in the mountains with Andrew, Leah, Grace(10), Rose(9) and Wayne(6) Postema. They really have been SUCH a blessing to me. We did virtually NOTHING together for four day. Games, cookies, puzzles, books...a really great way to spend time with people you love. It was wonderful. I'm thankful for "family" here I can relax with.

We came back in time on Thursday to finish shopping, baking and cooking for our team Christmas celebration on Friday. We spent all day together eating, playing games, talking, and exchanging gifts. Another really nice day.


I spent the night at the Postema's home on Christmas Eve so that I could get up with them early Christmas morning to open presents. Of course, Christmas with kids is just so much fun! Sorry, grown-ups, but we're pretty boring! :) There's nothing quite like watching a little boy open a Lego tractor and yell, "YEESSSSS!!! That's what I've ALWAYS wanted!!!!" on Christmas morning. (And for the record, that "perfect" gift was from me. OH YEAH! Points for Aunt Kristie!) We had breakfast together (yes, IBCers, those ARE my mom's famous cinnamon rolls on the table) and played with all the fun new toys before I headed home.


I made it back in time to catch my family back home (including Grandma and Grandpa!) and open presents with them! It was really fun to still feel like I was there (almost). I even got to see the brown dog bother everyone, which really IS a Christmas tradition. I'm thankful to live in a time when this is possible. It makes a HUGE difference. It was a good day.

So the holidays are done! Well...sort of! Caleb arrives on Wednesday (WEDNESDAY!! THIS WEEK!! TWO DAYS!!!), so my fun continues! :) If you got my last prayer letter, you know that he'll be here for a retreat we're doing this weekend. Please pray for all of us as we jump start back into ministry. I'm excited not just for Caleb to BE here, but for him to get to be a part of ministry that I have come to love so much.

Happy New Year, my friends! God continues to show me each year that, regardless of what He brings, HE is faithful and HE is enough. Thank you to those of you who have been praying for me especially over these last weeks. Our God truly IS Immanuel. He is with us.

Thanksgiving

It MUST be Thanksgiving. I'm sitting in my kitchen as I write this, keeping an eye on the milk on my stove that is currently evaporating. Unfortunately, I'm now well aware of the fact that this takes several hours. A year ago, evaporated milk came in a can that took two seconds to pop open. Now, I avoid recipes that call for it because seriously, who has a few hours to just SIT in the kitchen?? But it IS Thanksgiving, and even in Romania we can't have Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie. And it seems you can't have pumpkin pie without evaporated milk. (Ironically, I don't even LIKE pumpkin pie and hadn't made it until this year...)

I've been thinking about things besides pumpkin pie, though. I have so much to be thankful for this year. God has blessed me. I don't say that flippantly. I mean it and think it often. Seriously, I think I could just put up a permanent Facebook status that says "Kristie Abernathy is blessed", and that would cover me for the rest of my life.

I was asked to give a testimony Sunday evening. I shared about how I'd been reflecting lately on how thankful I am that God is always the same, regardless of where I am or what changes around me. He's constant and unchanging. He's the same God in Romania as He is in the States. I'm thankful that "if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast" (Psalm 139: 9-10). That's not just a possibility in my life. That's the reality. His hand is still here. And regardless of where I go, what I do, or who comes and goes from my life, He is here and He's the same. Amen, right?

I came home that same night to an email saying that my cousin's adorable little 19 month old daughter had very suddenly gone to be with Jesus. It was one of those times when I KNEW that even though being home wouldn't mean I could do anything more, I wanted to be there. My heart is so sad for my cousins, aunt, uncle, grandparents...why do things like this happen?? How can this be for ANYONE'S good? But even that same night, a dear friend reminded me that the same God who was with me on "the far side of the sea" was with my family back home. And I had to practice what I had "preached".

So I'm STILL really thankful that God is always the same. I'm thankful He's the same God on the other side of the sea with my family. I'm thankful that He'll be with them all tomorrow as they gather together for a Thanksgiving dinner that I know will be bittersweet. And I'm thankful that He'll be here with me as I miss them and wish SO MUCH that I was there. He's the same good God. (These words are written after a few intense days of wrestling with this. Thanks to those of you who knew and were praying.)

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends. What are YOU thankful for this year?

"Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever."

Happy Memories :)

Going through all these pictures brought back so many emotions and memories. I know you don't have those same feelings, but I hope it at least gives you a glimpse into our summer and lets you see the faces of those you've been praying for.

Mighty to Save

Blogs can be such a great tool. I enjoy writing. It helps me process and work through my thoughts and feelings. Words can be so powerful! At the end of the day, though, words (and pictures!) can only do so much! I wish that you could all come and see what a week of camp looks like here. I wish you could experience the frustrations of bad weather and problem campers. I wish you could feel the spiritual battles. I wish you could see the smiles on camper’s faces when they’re playing "Peter Pan" or making up their team’s cheer. I wish you could hear us singing the same songs you know, to the same God you serve, but in a different language. I wish you could cry with us at the end of the week when you see a camper you’ve prayed for by name FINALLY make a decision to accept Christ. I wish you could join us for an exhausted, but joyful reflection on God’s faithfulness after the week is over. I wish this so much! I know, though, that no matter how much I write it will never QUITE do justice to the camp experience or the great ways we saw our God work. I think this is why is has been abnormally hard for me to write about the last two weeks of camp. I’ve tried several times without success. But here we go! Here’s a glimpse of the FINAL two camps of the 2010 season!


Teen Camp

If you read my last post, you know that we anticipated that the first week would be tough for a variety of reasons. Those of us who were working with the kids had a completely different experience than those who were working with the teens. We were kind of on our own little island (our motto was "Aloha!"), so everything I know about what happened with the teens is secondhand. HOWEVER, God did some amazing, AMAZING things in the lives of those teens! To those of you who were praying with us, be encouraged that God certainly DID answer your prayers and did more than we could have imagined! He was clearly working in lives all week and by the last day over 35 of the teens testified publicly that they had accepted Christ that week! Hold on, hold on…read that sentence again!! Over 35 teens!! How AWESOME is that! PRAISE GOD with us! He is mighty to save!


Please PRAY with us for these teens. PRAY that they'll desire to be in church and that the church would reach out to them and welcome them into the body of Christ. PRAY for wisdom for the leaders to know how to follow up with them. PRAY that these new believers would see God's power in their lives as they begin to walk with Him and that they'd be encouraged and protected in their new relationship with Him. Incidentally, we’re headed back up to this church this weekend for a “reunion” meeting. We hope to be able to encourage them to continue in their new faith and to be willing to stand for Christ even when it costs something. PRAY with us that God will use this to jump-start the church’s fall ministries.

Kid’s Camp

The kid’s program that week was a stretching experience for me personally, as well as the program director I was assisting (Anca). She had never done this job before, I had never done this job before and so we felt often like we weren’t sure what we were supposed to be doing! Our job that week included (but was not limited to!): planning the schedule, setting up and leading activities, moving tables and benches, managing conflict, sleeping with campers, encouraging and praying for counselors, handing out chocolate AND drinking lots of Coke! :-) It was an overwhelming and exhausting week, but it meant we also relied heavily on our Heavenly Father and each other. A big blessing from that week was that Anca and I were able to work together and communicate VERY well. At the end of the week we thanked God for each other and for giving us unity of thought and spirit. I’m so thankful for her continuing friendship. This was a definite personal blessing from this summer.


We didn’t have any KIDS accept Christ as Savior this week, but we DID see a definite change in the attitudes of some of the kids as the week went on (especially in these two girls in the picture). We know God WAS working on them. Please pray that the seeds that were planted in their hearts will be watered and grow. We were discouraged to see limited visible fruit, but DO trust that we serve a God who continues to work even after camp ends…thank goodness! :-)


Final Teen Camp

Our final week of camp should have been easy. That’s how it looked on paper! We only had 28 campers coming, we were ONLY doing a teen camp, and we actually had more help than we had the previous week! But for whatever reason it just WASN’T. It was a spiritually intense week and we were very aware of Satan trying to distract and disrupt. We had one camper who had to be sent home for discipline reasons (this is a good story…ask me about it!), and another boy was hurt badly enough that (after going to the hospital) he had to go home, too. There also seemed to be a spiritual apathy among the older boys in particular that we were battling all week. But I am SO thankful for the lessons that God had already taught us that summer, because seeing all this didn’t discourage us. It made us pray HARDER. And we prayed in FAITH because we had already seen that our God is capable of doing amazing things. And guess what? He did…AGAIN!! I can’t tell you how AMAZING it has been this summer to see God answer specific prayers over and over and see Him CLEARLY work in camper’s lives again and again! MAN! AWESOME!! So by the end of the week there were ANOTHER six salvation decisions (including the two girls in this picture!) and other decisions, as well, to live a committed Christian life. Remember those boys who were so apathetic? The pastor of the church where a few of them attend called OUR pastor and asked what had happened at camp…because the following Sunday they were sitting in the FRONT row of the church, LISTENING, and (are you ready for this??) TAKING NOTES!! How GREAT is our God??? Please PRAY that these kids will continue to love God and His Word even when the “camp” feeling wears off.


So please, those of you who were praying with us, spend some time THANKING God for what He has done. We certainly have. What a blessing and privilege to get to see Him work and change lives. I hope you’re blessed and encouraged by the way God used your prayers! We felt them and needed them! He heard and used them! What a powerful God we serve!! He is indeed mighty to save!

On The Road Again! (YAY!)

How funny that four weeks ago I was counting the days (and hours!) until I could leave camp and come home to Bucharest. NOW, however, I'm counting the days (and yes, hours!) until I can LEAVE Bucharest and return to camp! We're down to something like 21 hours and I CAN'T WAIT!! Let's get this show on the road!! :-) (I think it is probably a good sign that I feel this way!)

Our next camp begins on Monday! As excited as I am, I don't have an delusions about it being easy, which is why I'm writing this post. We need your prayers! Next week's camp has the potential to be the best AND the hardest camp we've had all summer. Let me explain.

*This will be the biggest camp we've had all summer! 95 campers plus 30 staff equals a totally full camp which is AWESOME!!! In fact some people will have to stay in tents! We are just THAT full! This really is AWESOME, but it also makes things more crazy! PRAY for the logistics of all of this.

*90% of the campers coming are unbelievers. Did you get that?!?! 90%!!!!! Think of the potential there! This is totally different from the way all our other camps have been, and so it means re-thinking how we do things. It also means Satan will want to keep these kids from hearing and understanding God's Word. Please PRAY for protection from spiritual warfare. PRAY that these kids and teens will come to know TRUTH this week and that it'll change their lives (and the lives of their families!) forever! PRAY also that God uses this to build up and strengthen the youth group at this church. They need encouragement. How awesome would it be to see ALL of the teens from camp become part of this body of believers?!? That's how I'm praying...and trusting God to do more than I could ask or imagine! We serve a God who is capable of all of this and more!

*This is a church we've never worked with before. Again, this is really exciting and they're already talking about having more camps with us next year! But it also means we're working with counselors and staff who aren't used to the way that we do things. And it IS different from the way most camps work in Romania. Example: the whole idea of being WITH your campers all day and even sleeping in the same room with them is totally foreign to what they've always done. This means there is potential for problems and conflicts. Please PRAY that our counselors would GET IT, see results, and be encouraged by the way that God uses them in the lives of their campers. PRAY that WE would see how to encourage them. PRAY that God would use this week in the lives of the counselors and that they would love their campers.

*We're running two camps simultaneously! We'll have one camp for kids and one camp for teens. We're super excited about this, but it DOES mean spreading our staff a little thin and again, the logistics are always interesting and complicated! :-) PRAY that God would bless BOTH camps and that we'll have the people that we need to be able to run both camps WELL!!

*On a personal level, those of you who know me will smile when I say that I am SUPER EXCITED to be a part of the kid's camp!! YESSSS!! I've enjoyed ALL the camps, but I'm so glad to be able to hang out with kids again! As I've prepared mentally, spiritually and emotionally for this camp, the Lord keeps bring me back to Philippians 2. I ask that you would pray this passage specifically for me. PRAY that I won't be selfish. PRAY that I'll look out for the interest of others. PRAY that I would have the attitude of Christ. PRAY that I'll be willing to be made "nothing" and be humble. It is easy to ACT this way, but pray that I would truly have this attitude and spirit as I do whatever is needed.

So that's how you can (PLEASE!!) pray for us over the next week. I hope you can sense my excitement in these words! :-)

We DO have another week of camp after that. Actually, this time next week we'll be on the road, headed to our next location! I've been so focused on getting ready for this camp with the kids that I honestly don't know a whole lot of details about our FINAL camp...but please PRAY for us, for our counselors and for the campers that God will be bringing us. PRAY that (as my Mom always says!) we will finish WELL! PRAY that God's Word would be understood as Ken Rudolph and Cheryl Fawcett speak. PRAY that we''ll love the campers and be amazed as we see what God does in their lives.

If you read my last prayer letter, you know that God has taught me much about the power of prayer this summer. Not only does God hear our prayers, He CARES and He answers! That's why I'm writing this post. I honestly believe that when YOU pray for us here in Romania, thousands of miles away, God hears and He answers YOUR prayers. Isn't that amazing!?! So please PRAY! We need it! And think of how awesome it will be to hear in a few weeks how God specifically and directly answered your prayers!

Three Weeks Down...

I've been home for three weeks now, and will leave again NEXT WEEK (YESSSS!!!) for more camp! But before I move ahead and forget , I want to make sure to take time to THANK God for the first few weeks of camp and reflect on the ways He answered prayer. So join me in praising Him!

Week One: Filadelfia Teens
This week almost didn't happen because a few days (yes, days) before camp started, we noticed a problem in the contract we had signed for the camp we were renting. Those were very tense days, full of negotiations and prayer, but God answered beyond what we could have imagined, and we had camp as planned! Thank you, Lord!

This was an emotionally and spiritually intense week. God did some great things in the lives of the campers, but it was an exhausting battle! Several campers were saved! The biggest challenge they left with, though, was to know, read, and study their Bibles. We've heard that since this group has returned home, they've ASKED their leaders to start Bible studies back up, even though it is the middle of the summer! Praise God for His continuing work!

Week Two: Holy Trinity Teens/Pre-Teens
For those of you who read my prayer letter, you know that this week was kind of an experiment for us. We tried (for the first time) running two different camps at the same time. Going INTO this week, (up until Sunday afternoon!) we really debated about whether or not this was best, but it seemed like something God was leading us to try. He really did BLESS this week and it was so neat to see the pre-teens open up and come alive in their own program.

Satan seemed to be especially opposed to the pre-teen camp. The morning the kids all arrived, the assistant program director for the pre-teens woke up, brushed her teeth, and realized that her tooth had (randomly!) come out! She had to be rushed to the closest dentist (and hour and a half away!) and camp had to begin without her. Just a couple days later, the program director for the teens became very sick with a high fever and was unable to lead the program for the next couple of days. Think this is just random? I sure don't.

I tell you these things because it was such a wake up call for me! I know in my head that "we wrestle not against flesh and blood", but it was just SO EVIDENT all week that there was a spiritual battle going on. When you see all this going on around you, what can you do except go to your Father in prayer and ask for His protection?? He was good, He answered our prayers, and He DID do awesome things in the lives of the campers this week, despite Satan's efforts to stop His work.

Week Three: Young Adults
After being the camp nurse the week before and taking care of sick people (yeah, that's a whole other story!), I became sick as we headed into this week. Thankfully, young adults don't need as much supervision and so I was able to rest more than the previous weeks. I was also able (along with one of my Romanian teammates) to spend good, concentrated time in prayer. How awesome to be able to see up close and personal that God hears AND answers our prayers! It really was amazing to see...it gave me goosebumps!

A couple more quick answers to prayer:
I made FRIENDS this summer! With the counselors, with the campers, with the staff. This is no small thing! I can walk into church now and actually KNOW people! Thanks, Lord!

My language abilities have improved. I understand more of what's going on around me, which is a nice feeling!


So those are the three weeks. There's so much more I could say, but this IS a public blog and some stories are better left untold! :-) This time next week we'll be headed north for our last two weeks of camp! I'm pretty excited! :-) Please, keep praying for us! Your prayers are important and God DOES hear and answer!!

To Be Continued...

Camp was awesome! Or rather, CAMPS were awesome. And our God is awesome. More to come, but for now, this will give you an idea of what our weeks were like!