Purtatorii de Faclie

We thought it was time to give you an update about our time so far at PDF. Our days this week are being spent getting to know the staff here and watching how the summer camp program is run. We are also spending a lot of time talking with the director Ebbe and his wife Elke. 

This weekend the Max Bike camp will begin and so we'll be getting a lot busier since Jerry will be one of the leaders for that camp. Yesterday Jerry spent the afternoon prepping the bikes with Eric, one of the staff here in charge of the ropes course and wilderness ministry. He's from Washington and the only North American on staff here (he's married to Ema who is from Romania).

While Miriam was napping I was able to snap some photos of the property. This is the main building which houses the sleeping rooms, kitchen, dining hall, offices, lecture hall/multi-purpose room, etc. and two private staff apartments on the second floor:

Here are some pictures of the inside of the main building: the reception area, the dining area, and the lecture hall:

The director and his wife live in the house in the picture below, just up the hill from the main building. Another couple on staff also live in this house in a separate apartment:

Since the main building can't accommodate too many guests (there aren't enough bedrooms), the summer camps take place outside in tents. There are 100 children ages 9-12 here this week and another 100 teenagers will be arriving in just over a week for the teenage camp. They sleep in the small white tents on the field and eat meals in the big tent:

The river is just beyond the tents. It isn't very wide now but when they receive rain several days in a row it can swell up to two meters higher than it is now. When Ebbe gave us the tour of the property he showed us how they use the river to create their own electricity. They also have their own well from which they get their drinking water. It's quite amazing that the centre is so self-sufficient, although we are learning that it did not happen without a LOT of work since the staff and volunteers built everything by hand.

There is also a swimming hole that was built this year:

As you can see, construction is still in progress. There are plans to build two more staff houses which would add 4 staff apartments to the property, as well as a large guest house to accommodate larger groups of people all year around. They plan to start construction on these in September. 

It is clear to us that God is blessing the PDF ministry here. He has provided for them very step of the way and given them the resources to sustain and build their ministry. It's amazing to us that everything you see in these pictures was built by hand by the staff here and volunteers from around the world. 

Here's a map that's on the wall in the Bistro in the main building of all the torchbearer centres in the world. See if you can find Romania!