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Arrived in Bucharest

Received Mon, Apr 13, 2009 at 12:55 PM Pacific Time

From Rick Pummel, OAMC singer, 2nd Tenor

Sent from Bucharest

We have all now safely arrived at the Rin Grand Hotel in Bucharest. Those who arrived today came in four separate groups this afternoon. All went well on the trip, except that all of Gerard McLane’s checked luggage was lost by the airline! Please pray for its return. Dave Wyman was missing one of his checked bags as well, but it turned out that it somehow arrived with one of the earlier groups.

There were some rather droopy faces this evening (after a long day of travel), but all seem to be in good spirits.

Romania is definitely much different than America. At this point, most of the group has had rather little interaction with the people.

The countryside around Bucharest is one thing so far that stands out in my mind as markedly different from home. I thought it was odd to see totally unimproved grounds around most of even the fancy buildings. Not just grounds with no lawn but grounds that look like the construction crew just drove away and left the pits and bumps and all, with just sidewalks around the buildings. It is certainly not this way everywhere here, but I guess the poor condition of the road we drove in on, combined with all the trash along the roadway and the lack of groomed areas around buildings left an impression on me.

A group of us went directly from the airport to the seminary for supper. It is a very nice facility, the food was good and, of course, the people were very kind.

As I understand it, we will be spending the next couple of days rehearsing at the seminary before heading off on tour around the country.

We all thank you for your prayers!

Ministry or Music?

Received Sun, Apr 12, 2009 at 11:44 PM Pacific Time

By John Korb, OAMC member, bass singer

Sent from Amsterdam

Promptly at 8 a.m. on Easter Sunday, some 65 OAMC singers, staff and spouses descended on Sunnyside SDA Church to prepare for the flight to Romania. Bags were weighed and supplies were stuffed into additional pieces of luggage. Everyone loaded into the Portland Adventist Elementary School and Portland Adventist Academy buses. PACS supplied a truck to deliver all the luggage. Thanks to Glenn Heagy, and Larry and Lori Ramey, the check-in process at the airport was quick and uneventful.

I overheard one of the guys say that he didn’t want anyone to think he was very stressed about the whole process, but he could confirm that there were no urinals in the women’s restroom!

We proceeded to the boarding gate where we had time for a short devotional, prayer and one verse of “Power in the Blood.” The singing has begun.

The plane backed away from the gate and after a 10-minute delay on the runway, we were off to Romania.

So why are we on this mission? Prior to leaving we had a list of reasons: to help establish a men’s chorus in Romania, to help build up the body of believers in our church, to video our presentations for broadcast on the Romanian Church’s television ministry channels.

But on the plane I’m beginning to sense this mission is getting personal. One singer shared that he has been out of work for a year. He is looking for God to give him some personal direction, a way to leave the disappointments and hurts behind, to have a new beginning.

Others are sensing that God has not fully revealed the wonderful plans he has for this mission. There is anticipation, wondering what blessings He will bring. There have been prayers for a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Some of the guys have said they plan to listen. They want to hear the stories of the 100-plus Romanian singers, how they came to participate in the mission. On the list of Romanian singers they have listed their occupations as pastor, evangelist, auto repair, house painter, among many others. Interesting … guys just like us.

Lou Wildman, OAMC conductor, has said many times that OAMC is not about the music – it’s about ministry. There is no doubt there will be beautiful music. We look forward to seeing the fullness of God’s plan for this mission.