More Romania Photos Posted

IMG_9075, originally uploaded by oamcsinger.

Ralph Stathem's large collection of photos have been posted and can be found here.

A Nutter Look at OAMC's Romania Trip

, originally uploaded by a nutter photo.

OAMC member Denny Nutter is sharing for viewing his collection of photos from Romania.

"A day by day photo diary of Oregon Adventist Men's Chorus trip to Romania - March 12-26, 2009 - thru the eyes and camera lens of Chorus member, Denny Nutter."

You can find them here.

A view of life on the road in Romania

IMG_7367 Sharpening Pencilsx, originally uploaded by oamcsinger.

Pictured: Louise Craig, center, author of this blog posting, sharpens pencils with Zach Parks and Estee Pummel.


By Louise Craig
Written Sunday, morning, April 19, 2009
In Iasi, Romania, Orthodox Easter Sunday

This morning is the convergence of two rare events -- we have an extra half hour before we have to board the bus AND this room has Internet access.

If I haven't already told you, you can read a blog about our trip at www.oamc.org (you may have to type this address into the address line as my Internet service does weird things to links). Some of the chorus have a little more time to find Internet access.

Just a quick review of our days - breakfast at 7, load the luggage at 8 (quite a feat for nearly 200 people, making sure all of music instruments and supplies and the tech equipment are on the right bus), leave at 8:30-ish (very ish-ish), arrive at next destination in time for lunch between noon and 1:30.

The admin and tech teams have to be in the concert hall by 2:30 to set up for 3:30 rehearsal. Concerts start at 6. If we're lucky, supper at 9 for most of the chorus. We have to put everything away before getting supper.

The big hotel didn't have enough rooms for everyone, so the admin and tech teams are staying at the Little Texas pensiune and restaurant (that's res-TAW-rauwnt to you). The rooms are quite nice AND THERE IS IN-ROOM INTERNET ACCESS. It is 7 a.m. Sunday morning. Since we're not near the hotel, we have to be on board the bus by 8:30 so the bus can get to the hotel for 9:30 departure today. They get an extra hour this morning.

I wouldn't exchange this accommodation for the extra time. We dragged in about 11:30 last night. I worked on the program for tonight, with the door open to this adorable balcony. We're right next to an Orthodox church. On a nearby hill sits another Orthodox church -- they're everywhere. They celebrate Easter today, starting with a midnight service. About 12:30, the bells all over began to peal. I got stereo of loud ringing, with faint echoes from all over the city. Then I heard the chanting and singing. I stopped typing and sat on the terrace soaking it all in. It was worth the short night. I can catch some z's on the four-hour bus ride coming up.

One of the reasons we were so late is that supper was served at a restaurant owned by the parents of Alin Apostol. He's been one of the main reasons we're here. He was in the U.S. for his education, where he became acquainted with the Oregon Adventist Men's Chorus. It's been his dream to build something like that here. Iasi (yawsh) is his hometown. A good part of the crowd last night was related or somehow acquainted with him. You can imagine the reception he got when he took to the podium to conduct a couple of numbers.

At dinner last night, Dave and Mary Jo Cannard shared one of the reasons they came to Romania. When they were members at Tabernacle Church in Portland, they had John Wesselin as pastor. John came to Romania for a mission project and became acquainted with a young, promising Romanian boy. When he returned to Portland, he told his church about this young man and asked their help in bringing him to the U.S. for schooling. Dave and Mary Jo were among those who financially supported the boy through his time in the U.S.. A couple of nights ago, they heard Alin tell his story of meeting John Wesselin, how John worked it out for him to get to the US to study, and Dave and Mary Jo realized that this was the boy they had helped sponsor.

Along with the excitement, there have been some tears. Janet Williams’ father died unexpectedly a week ago Friday. Another team member's brother died two days ago. His death was not unexpected, but that hurts nonetheless. One member is struggling with terminal cancer, which has spread to his bones – a very painful disease. But he determined that nothing would keep him from making this trip. I'm amazed at his attitude. Some younger, healthier people have complained about the pace and lack of down time, but he just soaks it all in. These three people are an inspiration. They are doing more to encourage others than those who ought to have more to share.

We've had full houses with people standing around the outside aisles. No fire marshall, OSHA, or safety inspections here! Extension cords and wires run amok. We understand the second concert we added in Bucharesti is filling well. Wish I could say I have seen scads of new birds, but fast-moving vehicles and little free time have greatly curtailed my birding. NOTE TO LISA VAIL: I did have an accidental exposure to your favorite birding taunt. Tried to avoid it, but there you go!

The pace is so brutal, some of the young Romanian guys are dropping out (18- to 20-year-olds). We elderly keep on truckin'. I'm so tired, I keep losing things with the constant living out of a suitcase. I lost one of the two skirts I brought along. We were told we had to wear skirts at the concerts, but we notice that some of the Romanian women wear slacks so that relieves the pressure a bit. Last night I couldn't find my nightgown. I remembered then that I had gotten it wet and hung it to dry while I went to breakfast. It's probably in a trash can in Bacau now. There will be no shopping today. It's Orthodox Easter.

Vio Rasco, a Romanian who pastors in Hillsboro, OR, was asked by one of the Americans if the Romanians could pick us out of a crowd if we were walking down a street. He said absolutely. He said our carriage and demeanor would make us stand out. He tried to think of ways to describe it – Americans are more relaxed, readily smile at strangers in the street, and look strangers in the eye. Romanians absolutely avoid interaction with strangers – a holdover from Communism and the fear of trusting anyone. One of Alin's dreams was that the American men would model for the Romanian men a more open and accepting nature. Based on what I have seen this past week, we are succeeding. One of the men even commented last night that he appreciated the way our men greeted strangers.

To those of you who are praying us, thank you – and please continue praying. The Romanians have been waiting for the Americans to land since 1944. We thought Edi Ciobanu told us that in jest, but last night, one Romanian said this night would have made his father the happiest person on earth – the Americans finally came. He had tears in his eyes. So many more stories to share, so little time. My journaling has gone down the tubes. I'm relying on others for pictures, which I have already promised to shamelessly plagiarize. Driving here is not as crazy as Africa or India, but it is still hair-raising. We play chicken constantly, but we're so much bigger than we usually win. So thank you for the prayers!

It's past time for me to have packed and dragged my bags to the bus, so la revedere until the next chance encounter with the World Wide Web!


P.S. (Received Monday, May 4, 2009)

I had the opportunity to talk with the director of the seminary at Cernica last week. He kept thanking us for the excellent work we had done in Romania. I told him that if we had helped the church in Romania in any way, we would be pleased. He said, very solemnly, You have helped the church in Romania in ways that you may never know or understand. People in Targu Mures are still talking about the concert there. Not only the quality of the music and the performance, but on the very evident spirituality of the group.

Final day starts with rehearsal and fellowship

IMG_0716, originally uploaded by oamcsinger.

Pictured: Men of both choruses say their good-byes after morning rehearsal on the final day in Romania.

By Denny Nutter
Sabbath, April 25

Sabbath morning we met in the Seminary chapel for an inspiring combination of rehearsal, meditation on the texts of the music that we were presenting, and personal testimonies. The service concluded like the first time the two choruses had met with each other – the Romanian Men’s Chorus on one side of the chapel and the OAMC on the other. First the Romanian Chorus sang “Soldiers of the Captain” in Romanian, followed by the OAMC singing the same song in English. Then Lou asked the two groups to meet in the middle and exchange our farewells and goodbyes knowing that the next time we would sing together after the concerts Saturday night would be with the heavenly chorus around God’s throne. Many tears were shed and bear hugs exchanged. It was a very emotional time for many of us.

After Sabbath lunch we dressed in our concert attire and boarded the buses for Radio Hall in downtown Bucharest. We were joined once again by the Romanian Brass and the Brasov Symphony Targu Mures State Philharmonic Orchestra (thank you for the correction, Margit). Both concerts were sold out. The acoustics were terrific, the music majestic and spiritually moving. I very much enjoyed the personal exchange with the audience during our entry and during the hymn sing in the round. The audience always seems very pleased and breaks out in spontaneous applause after the second verse of “Nearer, Still Nearer” is sung in Romanian by only the OAMC.

Another high point for me was being with Levis and Paul Dragulin as they met their Romanian grandmother for the very first time just prior to our first concert. I’ll never forget their grins as they hugged her and exclaimed, “Isn’t she beautiful!”

The second concert was moving in more ways than one as we experienced an earthquake of about 5.3 on the Richter scale at 8:20 p.m. We found out the next morning that it had been centered in the region of Vrancea about 145 kilometers northeast of Bucharest.

But that was nothing compared to the moving of the audience by the Holy Spirit that night. It seemed like the audience didn’t want the evening to come to an end. Closing ceremonies and final numbers were a glorious ending to an incredible two-week journey for the OAMC in Romania and the conclusion of most recent chapter fulfilling God’s purpose in changing lives.

Final weekend begins with communion service

Lou-&-Daniel, originally uploaded by oamcsinger.

By Denny Nutter
Friday, April 24

More sightseeing was planned for Friday morning. A private tour was arranged for at Casa Poporului (“People’s House”), the seat of the Romanian Parliament and second largest building in the world next to the Pentagon. It was built and nearly completed by the Nicolae Ceausescu regime as the seat of political and administrative power. After lunch was free time, which some used to catch up on their sleep, laundry or packing for Sunday’s trip home.

After supper, we gathered once again for a rehearsal and a very special communion service. It was a touching sight and a meaningful experience to see Romanian brothers kneeling and washing the feet of their American brothers and vice versa. Lou set a real tone for service by dishing up the water for the basins next to a young Romania teenager, Daniel. Watching them wash each other’s feet at the conclusion of the foot washing service was a beautiful symbol of the fellowship and love we shared with our Romanian brothers during the two weeks together. Two American and two Romanian pastors presented and served the bread and the wine to conclude the evening together.

Exploring Romania

Bran Castle P4230152, originally uploaded by oamcsinger.

Pictured:Bran Castle, also known as "Dracula's Castle"

By Denny Nutter
Thursday, April 23

Thursday was a “rest and relaxation” day for the chorus members. One bus took half the group to the Bran Castle, commonly known as “Dracula’s Castle.” It was first used in 1378 in defense against the Ottoman Empire, and later became a customs post on the mountain pass between Transylvania and Wallachia. At the close of the tour, chorus members gathered on the upper balcony overlooking the inner courtyard to sing “Soldiers of the Captain” and “Power in the Blood.” The second bus took the remainder of the group into Brasov for shopping.

Early afternoon the two groups reunited and made their way to the Peles Castle, near Sinaia, a summer retreat for the first king of Romania, King Carol I.

By supper time we were back to the Adventist Seminary in Cernica (close to Bucharest) and were able to stay in campus housing since the students were on Spring Break.

A young boy’s prayer

OAMC received a message from the father of six-year-old Lucian, with the prayer Lucian said the night after seeing the final concert in Bucharest, before OAMC members departed for the trip home.

The boy’s father was a big help to OAMC member Eddie Ciobanu with putting up posters all over the city, helping with advertising and other organizational details in cities near Bucharest to promote those concerts, and wrapping up some administrative tasks.

He wrote:

“We got home last night delighted. I'd like to thank you for our time together and to ask for forgiveness because I could not help you more. May the Lord bless you and forgive me.

I was surprised by the prayer my little boy said tonight as he went to bed:

Lord, I thank you for sending us such chorus members. They sang after my own heart. Please help us meet these chorus members again; I love these people so much! Be with us and with them to get to America safely because there are a lot of dangers there...”

Amen.

Better than real – recreating a memory

IMG_0931 and 6163 85, originally uploaded by oamcsinger.

Pictured: The Radio Hall concert as it would have been seen if the organ repair had not begun.

In spite of pleas from OAMC, the Bucharest Radio Hall organ repair went ahead. That meant the organ was not available for the April 25 concerts.

Thus, a huge white curtain was hung to cover the gaping hole left when the organ's pipes were removed.

Through the magic of computer technology, Ralph merged two photos to show what the concert hall would have looked like with the chorus and the organ pipes.

Ralph explains:

In preparing for our Mission in Romania, it was our goal to provide the best music we could. This required commitment, preparation and lots of rehearsals in both countries. From what I’ve heard of the recordings, the results are wonderful. Lou often says it is “more than the music” and, from the stories we are hearing, many lives were impacted.

Another part of the preparation was in arranging for the halls where we sang. Our final concert was in Radio Hall, Bucharest. The demand was so high that we rearranged our schedule to present two concerts instead of one, and they both filled up. The advance team was making final arrangements at the hall two weeks before the event when we found out the organ was going to be repaired. We unsuccessfully requested a delay. On the night of the concert, there was a white curtain covering the gaping hole where the beautiful organ had been two weeks before. The concert was a wonderful success, but the missing organ was a disappointment.

I had pictures from our original visit to Radio Hall and intentionally took pictures during the concert from the same location. With a little editing, we have a memory of both.

As with so many things in life, it is important to be real, yet pull together the best for our memories of people and our surroundings. I believe God does that for us.

Video of Bucharest concert for a limited time - updated

bucharest concert video1a500px, originally uploaded by oamcsinger.

Streaming video of the 5 p.m. concert in Bucharest in Radio Hall is available for a limited time, I'm told.

Go here: http://oamenisiperspective.com/video/

For some reason, I'm having trouble getting past about minute 21. But go ahead and try it. That first 20 minutes are fabulous!

UPDATE: After I had repeated trouble getting past the 21st minute, I got it to work by exiting the browser then re-starting it. You may also want to exit all unnecessary applications.

Mircea - His continuing story

Our-oldest-and-youngest-singersx, originally uploaded by oamcsinger.

Pictured: The oldest singer in OAMC, Norman Skeels, 83-1/2, and the youngest, Mircea, 14, from RAMC.

Posted again with photograph

NOTE: Lou Wildman received the following in an email from Alin Apostol. Mircea is the youngest singer and is a member of the Orthodox church, as is his family. He is a fine young man and this will be interesting to the guys.

Alin wrote:

Lots of stories are unfolding as we move on. I will take time to share them with you so your men and their families and the whole OAMC family will glorify God, for He deserves it greatly.

I was talking to Mircea and his mom the other day. He said the whole tour was awesome! He is speechless. He was very much moved by the fact that you guys acted like we were one big family. He wishes it was not over. During the whole tour he felt like he was part of the family. He did not want to feel like he was from a different church, but that he belongs here.

He shared with his teachers where he had been and what he did – because he had to miss school for an entire week. His French teacher asked for a CD. I gave Mircea two, one for his mom and one for his French professor. I am curious to see what her reactions are.

Mircea is a great kid. He told me whenever we have a rehearsal or something like that, I know what to do: “Just call me and I will show up.”

God is good; He answers prayers! For years Mircea’s grandmother prayed that her grandchildren and her daughter would come to church. She had the high privilege to see Mircea’s brother and girlfriend for the first time attending a program of the SDA church at our concert in Botosani. She had the great honor to see Mircea sing in the big choir, right on the front row. Cristina, Mircea’s mom, also came; and not only that, she followed us on the Internet on our whole tour.

You probably know that Mircea’s father died five years ago of a sudden death. Nobody knew he was sick. It was at his father’s funerals that I first met Mircea and the whole family. Ever since we are close friends.

God works in ways we cannot imagine. It was approximately four weeks before the beginning of our tour that I asked Mircea to join us, and he did not refuse. From then on, he is part of the large OAMC family. Prayers are being answered in unknown ways!! God is good!!

More stories are unfolding...

Thank you for everything!!

Alin and the Romanian family of OAMC

Blessings in Romania continue

By Alin Apostol

Alin shared the following message:

I am speechless! I knew God was up to doing something, but had no idea He would bless me sooooo much!

I may sound a little selfish, but indeed through the mission of OAMC He blessed my family, my church, my country, my whole ministry here. What an incredible experience!

People are calling and e-mailing every day saying it was the best program they saw the Adventist Church do. People felt comfortable enough to invite non-SDA’s.

One of the members in our chorus from Botosani was sharing with the prayer group Wednesday night what happened at the Sunday concert in Botosani. Both his mom and his aunt never came to a program in the Church even though he insisted very much in the past. They are Orthodox. But since he had bought them tickets, they came at the public hall where we held our concert.

It was during the intermission right after we had our hymn sing in the round that the mother went outside, but his aunt remained on her seat. She picked up the conversation with two Orthodox ladies sitting in the row behind them. One of them was saying to the other among other things, “If Heaven is this nice I would like to be there.” She was so impressed by the whole program and by this comment that she keeps on telling everyone about it. And while sharing this with us, the chorus member had a huge grin on his face – because his family finally got in touch with the church and opened up the way for great things to happen in the future.

He became Adventist seven years ago, after his dad, who had joined the church, died of cancer. He is a very, very sincere guy. I am happy that OAMC opened the door for his family to see a glimpse of what Heaven is going to be like.