Last week we ran a VBS at camp with some kids from Bucharest and some from Rosiorii who I mentioned in my previous blog post. Camp was amazing! Full stop, it was great. The kids from the two very different backgrounds got along decently, and at the end of the day, everyone enjoyed their time there, and walked away with some toys, and a little bit more knowledge about Jesus. What more can you ask for?
My days at camp were kind of all spent pretty much the same way. I'd wake up, spend some tíme with God before the day and drink some espresso (we'll get to that latter). Go to the staff prayer meeting, and talk over the day. Have breakfast, do our lesson, some games, eat lunch, some free time which l usually oither spent napping or hanging out with the kids one on one. Then dinner, and some night worship songs by the campfire. It was great. One of the nights after worship, I got to share my testimony with the everyone, including the story of how God brought me to Romanla, and the kids we're genuinely moved by my willingness to put aside things that the world would consider important like my own time and money, to love on them. Plus, I got to connect with a lot of them personally in the following days and discuss in more depth all of the awesome things God does in your life if you're looking.
That's the general overview, which in and of itself is great, and the connections I built with the kids out of my venerablity in sharing my testimony, could very well be the "why" I was talking about in my first post, which i think is awesome. Anyhow, there are two little side lessons I learned at camp, that I would love to share with you.
The first I call Sandwiches. You see, at camp we shared like a dozen meals together, and in Romania pretty much everything you eat is served with a communal loaf of bread. "Sandwiches" starts with my naively attempting to turn whatever was placed in from of me into a sandwich. Salad and chicken? Going on the bread. Rice and veggies? Yep. Soup, why not? Nutella, ham and cheese? Actually pretty good l'd recommend, although the kids did tease me about it (with love of course). So, on the second day I was eating lunch at the same table as a couple of the kids, and they observed me scooping up soup with a spoon, pouring it on the bread, and eating it. A little weird I must admit, but not unreasonable right? After I had done this a few times and they couldn't help but laugh. Apparently, the soup was a traditional Romanian food and I was "Ruining it with my American ways." And my only translatable defense was that “I wanted it to be a sandwich.” We all thought the whole situation was pretty funny, and we moved on whith out a second thought.
Well, a day or two latter it was hot, like hot hot. So we set up a water slide with some big plastic sheets and soapy watter on a hill. It was supper fun, and the kids had a great time. As we're were coming to the end of our time with the water slide, we wanted to go out with a bang. So one of the kids I had the soup experience with (great kid by the way, love him to death) said something in Romanian to his friends, then gestured to me and put his hands flat on top of each other, and I immediately knew what he was thinking. Sandwiches. So, we stacked three of us on top of each other like a well built ham and cheese, then a fourth guy took a running start and jumped on the pile to push us down the hill. This went about as well as you would expect and we ended up in a bruised pile at the bottom of the hill, but everyone was smiling and laughing. It was fun, and well worth it. The lesson from this: "When in doubt, always make a sandwich." Or maybe something along the lines of: "Don't be afraid to do silly things, sometimes that how the best memories are made."
The second lesson is a bit more serious, I promise. I call it Espresso. Camp is located in the forest in the foothills of the carpathian mountains, and the view was breath taking. I mean wow, the pictures really do not do that place justice. For context, I am a big coffee fan, have been for years. So every morning when I woke up at camp I would wonder down to the staff cabin, make myself a cup of espresso, and drink it on the porch overlooking the mountains while I read the bible or prayed, or often both. It was on the morning of the second to last day that I realized that this was the third really profound coffee moment in my life (one was drinking fresh espresso in Columbia when we had just adopted my little sister, best cup of Joe I've ever had btw. The second was while I was drinking instant coffee in Ecuador. I was there on a short term mission, and it was talking to friends over coffee and empanadas one night, that I realized God's calling me to missions). So here I am, sipping on an espresso and thinking about the significance of coffee in stange but beautiful places through out my life, when I realized that this symbolizes the beginning of a much longer journey just like in the other two instances. Although l'm leaving Romania soon, this isn't the end of my missional journey. Heck, I don't even think it's the last time l'Il be here. The inspiration I've found in the the people serving here and connections I've made with the kids are too meaningful to me to not come back at the first opportunity. The message from this story is a bit more obvious: "Know when God is moving in your life, and rejoice in the gifts He gives you along the way."
Espresso, Sandwiches, and God's work. I wish all of my day's could have more of each, and I pray that you get the opportunity to experience them all in you're own intimate and unique way. "May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you." 2 Corinthians 13:14 NLT.
Keagan Neely, August 10, 2025