Bucsin, Romania August 2008

After a very successful trip to Camp Bucsin in Romania in 2007, half the team wanted to go back this summer. By April 2008, eight members of Ballylinney Presbyterian Church had confirmed their intentions by purchasing their flights to travel as part of a team of ten to Camp Bucsin on Sat 9th –Sat 16th August. It was agreed that the team would stay in Budapest for an extra three days to take in the splendours of this eastern European city on the Danube. The team included myself, Elaine Ross, Victoria Campbell, Laura McCaughey and Alastair Smith, all having attended the previous year. First timers were Dorothy Magee, Nora Campbell and Philip Smith all from Ballylinney and they were joined by Hannah Buckley (Straid Congregational) and Patrick Scott (Templepatrick Presbyterian)
The Eastern Europe For Christ organisaton had asked me to lead this Irish team. I accepted but felt quite inadequate as the Irish leader for the last two years was a Reformed Presbyterian minister! I prayed about the task at hand and ask God to prepare me to lead this team both spiritually and physically. The majority of the team were going to teach English and take part in Bible Studies while the three men, Al, Philip and Paddy had a bit of physical work to do in trying to reroute a river!

The full party leaving Ballyclare early at 4 am, checked in at Dublin airport to fly to Budapest, Hungary and then boarded a further flight on to Tirgu Mures, Romania the same afternoon. The team were then met by Fery and he transported us to the CE House about 20 minutes from the airport; Nora and Dorothy travelled in a taxi provided by the CE Union. After a good shower, the last one for a week, the team walked around to the Lydia Children’s Home.

At Lydia, the team met Joco the Home manager and he informed us of the developments that had taken place since our last visit a year previous. Part of the Home had been given over to the neighbouring Old People’s Home and in exchange the children received their food daily. This meant that the money saved on paying for the groceries for the 16 orphans could be allocated to purchasing building materials for a three bedroom extension with ensuite facilities. At the plaster boarding stage the boys and girls themselves have been performing all the work and how they have developed their skills under the supervision of Joco. He asked us to pray that the boys would be more diligent in their times to work as many like to waste time with their friends from the city. But the boys are beginning to take ownership and complete the work. Joco was overwhelmed with the generosity of the donation we made to the Lydia Home on behalf of two families connected with our congregation. He assured us that the money would be put towards materials to bring water up from a well they have in their backyard and also to pay the fees for two of the girls to go on a hairdressing course at the local college.

The walk back to the CE House passed through the tree lined town centre and by many of the large churches. Our guide Fery, a trainee pastor with the Reformed Church, informed us of the many number of churches but small congregations. He spoke to of the Utilitarian church that was popular among many Romanian church goers, a church that unfortunately sees Jesus as just a good teacher.
An evening meal and very comfortable dormitory accommodation was offered to a very tired team. The following morning and after a hearty breakfast the team travelled in the mini-bus for two hours to Camp Bucsin just in time for the 11.30am Sunday service. Just as well because I was delivering the sermon, hence the inadequacy!

The theme for the camp bible talks was on LOVE and allocated talks were taken by both our team and the Hungarian team. I spoke on the meaning of love and how did we know love existed. Quoting from John 3 v16…for God so loved the world…and from Romans 5 v 8…but God demonstrated His own love for us in this, that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. I tried to explain that we needed to look to the bible to know the meaning of true love. God is love and God loves. I spoke of the facts that Jesus taught us how to love not just with words but with actions. Also that we will fall short of God glory and when we do God will still love us as His loves endures forever (Psalm 136). I finished my talk playing a song from Petra, a Christian band, which emphasised that ‘Love shows the world that the Son of love has come’. I prayed that the campers and leaders would have their hearts opened to receive the teachings from the bible presented the rest of the week.

Other topics were ‘The pressure of the crowd’ (Hugi and Istvan Halmen); ‘Friends, friendship and virtual friendship’ (Tori, Hannah and Laura); ‘Homosexuality’ (Monika Szabo); ‘Love and Sex’ ( Annamarie and Zoli) and ‘Trust, faithfulness and honesty’ (Elaine). After each of the bible talks small discussion groups were set up mainly in Hungarian but expertly translated for the Irish leaders.

There were five teaching classes and for two hours the campers worked on their conversational English. I took the Advanced A class, Hannah the Advances B class, Tori and Dorothy the Intermediate A class, Laura and Nora the Intermediate B class and Elaine the Beginners class. It was during these classes that you really got to know the campers and they were so keen to learn the English and were all such a pleasure to teach. In the afternoon three hours were set aside for free time; each day arts and crafts were performed in the dinning hall, while some played volleyball or football, others lay around and sunbathed or bathed in the mountain stream. Organised games were put on hold to about 6.30pm as the temperature each day approached 35C. A four team mixed football competition proved good fun but not as much as the International volleyball match were ‘Norn Iron’ took on Hungary as part of the Olympic celebrations! Gold medals all round for the Irish team and big Al and big Phil stroked the ball effortlessly over the net for many a winner.

Dinner was scheduled for around 7pm but usually was left to 8pm and then at 9.30pm the Hot Chairs were operational were couples were ‘volunteered’ to answer questions about their relationship with each other. Well done to Elaine and Al, did you know they were ‘stepping out’? I didn’t…slow on the uptake! But I did know about Laura and Paddy, the musical stars for Ballyclare HS who had been seeing each other for a while…over the hymm sheets! So then we learned about young love and blossoming love and we had Hugi and Istvan on the hot chairs and we learned that love at first does not change that much but after 25 years of marriage it matures and strengthened daily.
Campfire and Cappucinno was next on the agenda and most looked forward to a warm cup of coffee and a sing-a-long at the campfire or in the large tent by candle light. Going into the wee small hours of the morning the chat was good but the singing from the EEFC hymn book on one particular evening around the fire was special. The Beattles, Simon and Garfunkel, Robbie Williams and all those other timeless classics were bellowed out with great accord.

Devotions allocated to a member of the team each morning at 7.30am came early and thankfully were all well attended at ‘the bridge’, where the two tributaries became one. Straight after devotions, we met with the Hungarian team for a time of pray and organisaton for the day, except Nora who got her porridge on!

Simon Thompson     Bucsin 2008

Other thoughts from the team:

Prior to going to Romania I was very apprehensive and wondered what I had let myself in for.   I realised that I was going totally outside my comfort zone and, not really being an outgoing person, the thought of spending ten days in close quarters with a group of nine people I hardly knew, really scared me.  That was before I thought about the project and the tasks I might be asked to help with on the trip.

Now that I have returned home, I can only recommend the experience.  It was wonderful to be part of a team so diverse in age and ability (me being the oldest and most limited) whose only agenda was to serve God and others.  Our team formed a great bond in continually supporting and encouraging each other.

The commitment and dedication of the Hungarian leaders was humbling.  I was deeply touched by the teenagers at the camp who were so amazing, respectful, loving, kind and generous young people.  It was a privilege to be able to work towards gaining their trust and so fulfilling in the last days to have them confide about problems in their lives.  I know I gained a lot more from my visit to Bucsin than I could hope to have given in return.  I hope and pray that we have been able to make a positive and lasting impact on the leaders and teenagers and that they too have gained from the experience of working with us.

Dorothy

When we first set off for Dublin airport at 4am on Saturday 9th August, we each had our own hopes, fears and expectations. By the time we arrived in Bucsin and began to spend time with the campers the fears all seemed to fade into the distance.

Going to camp for the second time was great - getting to know new people and catching up with others. It was strange being there again but we soon felt quite at home and in some ways it was as though we'd never left.

Elaine

It felt weird to be back at camp, as it didn’t even seem like a year since I had last been there. There were a few familiar faces which were so nice to see and some new. The main building now had windows, unlike last year when there were just plastic sheets. There was also a lot of tiling completed in the bathrooms, but unfortunately we still had to use the outside facilities, i.e. the river!

This year I was team-taught with Dorothy, who definitely had more of a clue about how to go about teaching them than I did, even though I’ve done it before! Our class cooperated really well and there were no problems with getting them to speak in English.

On another of the free afternoons, Simon organised a football tournament. Hannah, my mum and I decided that we would play as well, even though I can’t play football to save my life! So we were all put in teams. In my team I was by far the worst, but did manage to score a goal, thanks to Tamas (Thomas)! There was definitely some rivalry between the teams, but our team miraculously managed to win overall!
The Hungarian team organised a 4 hour mountain walk… or so we thought! It was a beautiful day and thankfully most of the walking was in the shade of the forest trees. It was a good chance to get to know more of the campers and have a laugh with them. But after roughly 3.5 hours, the leader Istvan, suddenly realised we were lost...can’t say it went down well! So we had to return the way we had come; 6 and a half hours in total, some very tired!

At night time there was an evening programme. Every English class had to prepare a short sketch to put on in front of everyone. Our drama was about dating in the future! We decided that in the future it will be so advanced that women would be able to simply write down everything they want in a man and have him created. It was quite funny.

Overall I had an absolutely brilliant week at camp, and really didn’t want to leave. I hope I will be able to return next year to be a part of the work that is going on, it’s just an amazing thing to have been able to do.

With a new year came new campers, new translators and new team members but our main aims stayed the same. Over the week we got stuck in and each of us learned something from being there and experiencing life in Bucsin.

Tori