Paul & Tanya Gericke

“Opening Up” the words we’ve been waiting to hear for a long time around the world, are finally being used more authoritatively in Romania. Recently, the health minister said that Romania was on track with its vaccination program allowing the country to begin to re-open more fully come July 2021. Though we know the process will take time, we are encouraged to see the Romanian government working toward removing more and more restrictions. The main reason we are excited about this development is that it greatly impacts summer camps at Camp Falcon Rock. As of now, we are planning to run our own programs in July and then to have churches come to run their own programs at the camp in August! We have been encouraged to hear from many churches who want to send their kids and youth to Camp Falcon Rock this summer! With this, the team has been eagerly planning this year’s theme and activities. We can’t wait to see young people on the property of the camp again soon!

Throughout April we were able to continue with our weekly youth program in our village of Szentkiraly. Over the last season, youth group has been pretty restricted to only meeting at our house, but this last month we were able to get out twice with the youth and explore the world again! One night we took advantage of the local restaurants opening up and tried out a new one in the city of Zalau that serves burgers - a rare find in Romania, but a delicious experience! The second outing we had with the youth was heading up to Camp Falcon Rock to hangout with a youth group from Targu Mures. We got to know this youth group through our work with Youth For Christ Romania. Two staff a part of the YFC team have been developing a Hungarian mission in Targu Mures to reach the youth there. In 2019, the staff asked us to come help them run a youth event in order to help gain interest in their programs. We drove our youth to Targu Mures (3 hours away) and led a fun night of games, worship, testimonies and a message. We had been waiting for a long time to reconnect with this group so the teens were excited to hear that they were making the drive to Camp Falcon Rock to hangout with us. We had a great afternoon hanging out at the camp with them - but made sure to get back to the village before the government’s 8pm curfew!

Last week, we had the privilege of being part of one of the Hungarian Baptist Seminary graduates ordination/inauguration services for his new pastoral role. We got to know Tamas over the past 5 years of our English camp partnership with the Seminary and through having him volunteer with our summer camps. Paul was asked to take part in the morning service by being one of the pastors to ask Tamas a doctrinal question that he had to answer in front of his new church as well as Paul got to preach an encouraging word during the afternoon service. After two 3-hour services and a celebratory lunch, we were excited to see this young pastor be prayed over and anointed for his calling in his new church. It was such a blessing to see this young man grow and develop and now begin his new role. Four of the other seminary students we have come to know through our English program were also at the celebration. Paul and I cherished the image of seeing all of them now newly graduated and newly married, sitting in the congregation with their wives. It was so encouraging getting to chat with them and hear all that God is doing through them and their new pastoral roles in the Hungarian Baptist Conference. We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with the HBC seminary and to be part of the student’s lives.

On top of this wonderful celebration, Paul was privileged to be asked to preach at the Hungarian Baptist Convention's annual general meeting. This meeting consisted of all of the pastors from the entire convention as well as all of the elders/church leaders from their churches. The relationship between the NAB and the HBC continues to flourish as was seen in this humbling invitation. Paul shared an impactful message on Hebrews 11 about faith in the midst of crisis and encouraged the pastors to continue to pursue the "unseen" as the faithfully serve in their callings.

In other news, the Bergmans are set to arrive in Romania in just a couple of weeks! We have been blown away by the generosity shown to the Bergmans in the midst of the pandemic as they were able to reach their support goal and make their way over to us before summer camps, just as we had hoped. Right now, they are in Colorado at a missionary training centre receiving some good teaching to prepare them for the life-changing move they are embarking on. Would you be praying for them as they soak in all of the wisdom provided by this incredible program? Would you also join us in prayer for the shipping container currently making its way from Canada to Romania that is full of their stuff? Our hope is that it will arrive the third week of May if all goes according to the plans. 

Construction continues to be fruitful at the camp! We are set to finish the root cellar renovation in the next week. Have I mentioned how much I love this little home away from home? The timing of this project has been perfect as it will be done right when the Bergman family arrives allowing them to quarantine there. This also means it will be ready for summer camps providing an additional cabin to allow more campers to come!  On top of this fun little project, Tamas and Tunde’s house is under renovation as they are currently building an extension off their kitchen to make more space for a living room area. The construction crew is also working on converting a shipping container into a laundry facility (Gloria is beyond excited about this!), which should be done in time for summer camps. And work has begun again on the main lodge preparing the basement level for the second floor. This property continues to transform in exciting ways which is making more space for campers to experience the transforming work of Christ this summer! 

Would you join us in prayer for: 

-Pray for the shipping container currently travelling from Canada to Romania full of the Bergman family stuff as well as generously donated goodies for Camp Falcon Rock (set to arrive third week of May).

-Pray for safety on the construction site as the crew continues with work on the main lodge, and other projects on the go.

-Pray for our team as we begin to plan for summer camps and discern the theme and messages for the program this year.

-Praise God for the faithful provision of funds for the Bergmans and that they are able to transition to the field in the coming weeks!

Thank you for your continued partnership and for journeying with us! We love you all!

Tanya and Paul