Pictured: The auditorium of the Adventist seminary where the men of the Oregon and Romanian first met and rehearsed on Tuesday.
From John Korb, OAMC singer, bass
Received Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 1:20 PM Pacific
Picture this. In the chapel of the Romanian Adventist Theological Institute (Institutul Teologic Adventist), in the village of Cernica near Bucharest, 200 men from two choruses, originating from two continents thousands of miles apart, finally joined together and lifted their voices in praise to God. At that moment, with the downbeat of “Soldiers of the Captain,” all the hopes, dreams and miracles prayed for since our first invitation to Romania more than eight years ago came together in four-part harmony.
The Romanian Adventist Men’s Chorus (RAMC) of about 120 men circled one half of the chapel. Ninety members of OAMC lined up across from them. Facing each other, RAMC director Alin Apostol led his members singing in Romanian, “Soldiers of the Captain, stand for Him and fight!” OAMC answered the “call for action” singing, “Jesus, Captain help us, soldiers true to be. Living dying, ever fighting Lord for thee.”
“We came to Romania as two separate choirs,” Lou Wildman declared. However, he reminded us that “we are brothers in Christ and we would now become one chorus.” Singers from both choruses took their seats. As the rehearsal progressed, OAMC’s anthem, “We Have This Hope” filled the chapel, only this time it was sung in the beautiful Romanian language.
With this integration of both choruses, another chapter in the 15-year history of the OAMC ministry has begun. David Schmidt, OAMC chorus president, shared that what began as a request for some special music for Easter at the East Salem, Oregon, church has grown into an international chorus making its debut during the week of Romanian Orthodox Easter (Passover) celebration.
“Our vision was for one concert, one Easter weekend,” said David. “God’s plan was for 15 years of ministry touching the lives of hundreds of chorus members and thousands of others who have attended the chorus festivals. We never could have imagined that God would bring us to Romania.”
There is one more day of rehearsal then it is off to Bacau, which is slightly north and east of Bucharest for the first concert.
Please remember us in your prayers as we perform for our first Romanian audience on Thursday.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Oregon and Romanian Choruses’ First Meeting and Rehearsal
Romanian Adventist seminary entrance
The stone sign that greets you at the Romanian Adventist seminary entrance.
Romanian Adventist Theological Institute
Here is the exterior of the Romanian Adventist Theological Institute where the men of the Oregon and Romanian choruses first met on Tuesday, the 14th.
Making Friends with RAMC, from Zach Parks, 16
From Zach Parks, 16, son of Pastor Gary Parks (who is also on the Mission)
Receved Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 12:58 PM Pacific
Romania … Romania?? Romania!!!
It was a very long, but fun flight. After arriving at the Rin Grand Hotel, we quickly went to sleep, preparing for the next day. We woke excited for the first day of practice, and just being together in Romania.
We are currently practicing in the SDA theological seminary, where the chapel is beautiful and has great acoustics. We worked out technical difficulties for most of the early morning and then sang a song before going to lunch.
As the Romanians filed into the room (for the afternoon rehearsal), there was a sense of excitement as new people, voices, personalities and languages were added to us.
Lou had them sing for us the song we do a cappella, “Soldiers of the Captain.” It was simply amazing as they sang with perfect unity, harmony and heavenly (and practice-assisted) grace. I wondered if we weren’t here to learn and be ministered to as much as we were here to teach and minister. We sang the same song for them and began practice.
How can I describe what it sounds like to sing with over 200 men? The sound was absolutely enormous and powerful as God sent his voice in the best quality that we can use, through his servants. The best words to describe the sound? Simply amazing!!
I sat next to a Romanian in his thirties. As we sat and sang together he described to me how grateful they were to have us come. He said something to the effect that it was so very important to have contact underneath the normal chit-chat level, how we need to be intimate, and they want to learn.
Intimacy hurts. It really hurts to be honest about your own stinking behavior, and to be open to having someone else be right. It hurts to expose your weaknesses to others, but at the same time it heals. My dad and I talk intimately a lot.
Another important aspect of intimacy is to allow that person to push you to grow. I was glad for the reminder about continuing to grow. I began to realize that I was here to learn as well. I am here to learn how to be happy with nothing and excited about things we take for granted such as freedom. We have never been forced to go to school on Sabbath, or live in a filthy dirty, cold, small and ugly concrete apartment.
This young man said that we “give them wings”… If we are open with each other, and learn to love life right where we are in this moment, and add God, we will be living heaven on earth.
Receved Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 12:58 PM Pacific
Romania … Romania?? Romania!!!
It was a very long, but fun flight. After arriving at the Rin Grand Hotel, we quickly went to sleep, preparing for the next day. We woke excited for the first day of practice, and just being together in Romania.
We are currently practicing in the SDA theological seminary, where the chapel is beautiful and has great acoustics. We worked out technical difficulties for most of the early morning and then sang a song before going to lunch.
As the Romanians filed into the room (for the afternoon rehearsal), there was a sense of excitement as new people, voices, personalities and languages were added to us.
Lou had them sing for us the song we do a cappella, “Soldiers of the Captain.” It was simply amazing as they sang with perfect unity, harmony and heavenly (and practice-assisted) grace. I wondered if we weren’t here to learn and be ministered to as much as we were here to teach and minister. We sang the same song for them and began practice.
How can I describe what it sounds like to sing with over 200 men? The sound was absolutely enormous and powerful as God sent his voice in the best quality that we can use, through his servants. The best words to describe the sound? Simply amazing!!
I sat next to a Romanian in his thirties. As we sat and sang together he described to me how grateful they were to have us come. He said something to the effect that it was so very important to have contact underneath the normal chit-chat level, how we need to be intimate, and they want to learn.
Intimacy hurts. It really hurts to be honest about your own stinking behavior, and to be open to having someone else be right. It hurts to expose your weaknesses to others, but at the same time it heals. My dad and I talk intimately a lot.
Another important aspect of intimacy is to allow that person to push you to grow. I was glad for the reminder about continuing to grow. I began to realize that I was here to learn as well. I am here to learn how to be happy with nothing and excited about things we take for granted such as freedom. We have never been forced to go to school on Sabbath, or live in a filthy dirty, cold, small and ugly concrete apartment.
This young man said that we “give them wings”… If we are open with each other, and learn to love life right where we are in this moment, and add God, we will be living heaven on earth.
Mission to Romania, Day 2, from Denny Nutter
From Denny Nutter, OAMC singer
Received Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 1:13 PM Pacific
Day 2 – First Day In Romania
This morning we had wonderful a breakfast buffet at 7 a.m. at our hotel, and then boarded buses at 11 a.m. to head out to the Romanian Theological Seminary, where OAMC practiced a few songs and had a wonderful lunch in the cafeteria. After lunch, about 121 of the RAMC (Romania Adventist Men’s Chorus) men joined us. They sang “Soldiers of the Captain” in Romanian and then OAMC sang it in English. Both groups gave each other a rousing round of applause and then we were seated in three major choirs with a mix of OAMC and RAMC singers.
What fun as we got acquainted with each other and practiced our Romanian and English with each other! Alin Apostol, the RAMC director, and Lou Wildman, the OAMC director, each gave tips and pointers, which were translated for both groups.
During a mid-afternoon break we acknowledged the oldest singer with us, 83-year-old Norman Skeels, and the youngest, Mircea, a 14-year-old Orthodox teen who begged his mother to let him sing and travel with the RAMC. Alin told his story and we were all thrilled that he will able to join us for the entire two weeks.
Tomorrow we will be practicing with the Romanian Brass (supposedly as good as or better than the Canadian Brass) for our final concert in Bucharest.
Our TV video taping originally scheduled for tomorrow has been postponed until the final concert at the Radio Hall in Bucharest (on April 25), which will be recorded live. We should be at our best by then!
We concluded the day with another delicious Romanian meal at the Seminary cafeteria with Tom Stafford’s custom-Romanian-made 75th birthday cake for dessert!
Some of us were fortunate enough to ride back to the hotel on the Romanian chorus bus, which was filled with rehearsal songs in four-part harmony plus some bonus numbers, such as “Battle Hymn of the Republic” in Romanian and “I’ve Got Peace Like a River” in English.
What an awesome experience to hear the words, “When I gaze into the night sky…” as we pulled out into the darkness from the seminary parking lot.
Received Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 1:13 PM Pacific
Day 2 – First Day In Romania
This morning we had wonderful a breakfast buffet at 7 a.m. at our hotel, and then boarded buses at 11 a.m. to head out to the Romanian Theological Seminary, where OAMC practiced a few songs and had a wonderful lunch in the cafeteria. After lunch, about 121 of the RAMC (Romania Adventist Men’s Chorus) men joined us. They sang “Soldiers of the Captain” in Romanian and then OAMC sang it in English. Both groups gave each other a rousing round of applause and then we were seated in three major choirs with a mix of OAMC and RAMC singers.
What fun as we got acquainted with each other and practiced our Romanian and English with each other! Alin Apostol, the RAMC director, and Lou Wildman, the OAMC director, each gave tips and pointers, which were translated for both groups.
During a mid-afternoon break we acknowledged the oldest singer with us, 83-year-old Norman Skeels, and the youngest, Mircea, a 14-year-old Orthodox teen who begged his mother to let him sing and travel with the RAMC. Alin told his story and we were all thrilled that he will able to join us for the entire two weeks.
Tomorrow we will be practicing with the Romanian Brass (supposedly as good as or better than the Canadian Brass) for our final concert in Bucharest.
Our TV video taping originally scheduled for tomorrow has been postponed until the final concert at the Radio Hall in Bucharest (on April 25), which will be recorded live. We should be at our best by then!
We concluded the day with another delicious Romanian meal at the Seminary cafeteria with Tom Stafford’s custom-Romanian-made 75th birthday cake for dessert!
Some of us were fortunate enough to ride back to the hotel on the Romanian chorus bus, which was filled with rehearsal songs in four-part harmony plus some bonus numbers, such as “Battle Hymn of the Republic” in Romanian and “I’ve Got Peace Like a River” in English.
What an awesome experience to hear the words, “When I gaze into the night sky…” as we pulled out into the darkness from the seminary parking lot.
Mission to Romania, Day 1, from Denny Nutter
From Denny Nutter, OAMC singer
Received Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 1:13 PM Pacific
Day 1, April 12/13
The group that left on Sunday, the 12th, met at the Sunnyside Church and surprised the group leaders by actually showing up at the appointed time. Suitcases were weighed, passports confirmed, CDs and equipment added to suitcases that had weight to spare, and Romanian currency distributed. After the luggage was loaded on a truck, two PAA buses were waiting for passengers for the trip to the airport. Each passenger chose an airport and trip buddy to keep track of until arrival in Bucharest.
Things were well organized for the group to proceed through the lines to check baggage and obtain boarding passes. Once through security, the group met again and then proceeded to the gate. Several group photos were taken as the enthusiastic group sang Power in the Blood and then began boarding the plane.
The plane took the polar cap route across the tip of Iceland to Amsterdam, where we changed planes for the final leg to Bucharest. The first leg was a long flight (10 hours) with several meals served in flight. Some of group paced the isles and visited; others slept or watched movies, some tried to sleep but were frustrated with their attempts. Most of us were impressed with the good service and friendliness of the flight attendants, despite the challenges the variety of menu selections gave them.
It was a good thing that we had the time available to make the second flight! Those on the earlier flight out of Amsterdam had the gate changed three times as they proceeded through the airport. Oh well, our legs and brains needed the exercise.
Again, the staff did an excellent job informing the gang of each step from plane, to baggage claim, to customs, and out to the bus and luggage truck. Once on the bus, Edie Ciobanu gave a wonderful description of buildings and landmarks as we made our way to our hotel. Upon arrival, we were greeted warmly by the advance group. Once hotels were assigned, many were only too glad to find their room and attempt to catch up on sleep.
Received Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 1:13 PM Pacific
Day 1, April 12/13
The group that left on Sunday, the 12th, met at the Sunnyside Church and surprised the group leaders by actually showing up at the appointed time. Suitcases were weighed, passports confirmed, CDs and equipment added to suitcases that had weight to spare, and Romanian currency distributed. After the luggage was loaded on a truck, two PAA buses were waiting for passengers for the trip to the airport. Each passenger chose an airport and trip buddy to keep track of until arrival in Bucharest.
Things were well organized for the group to proceed through the lines to check baggage and obtain boarding passes. Once through security, the group met again and then proceeded to the gate. Several group photos were taken as the enthusiastic group sang Power in the Blood and then began boarding the plane.
The plane took the polar cap route across the tip of Iceland to Amsterdam, where we changed planes for the final leg to Bucharest. The first leg was a long flight (10 hours) with several meals served in flight. Some of group paced the isles and visited; others slept or watched movies, some tried to sleep but were frustrated with their attempts. Most of us were impressed with the good service and friendliness of the flight attendants, despite the challenges the variety of menu selections gave them.
It was a good thing that we had the time available to make the second flight! Those on the earlier flight out of Amsterdam had the gate changed three times as they proceeded through the airport. Oh well, our legs and brains needed the exercise.
Again, the staff did an excellent job informing the gang of each step from plane, to baggage claim, to customs, and out to the bus and luggage truck. Once on the bus, Edie Ciobanu gave a wonderful description of buildings and landmarks as we made our way to our hotel. Upon arrival, we were greeted warmly by the advance group. Once hotels were assigned, many were only too glad to find their room and attempt to catch up on sleep.
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