Rustic Romanian Summer Camp

In Romania, Steve met up with long-time ITMI friend, Don Christensen. Steve appreciated the opportunity to travel with Don and learn from Don’s years of experience and wisdom as a traveler and missionary. After visiting a church in Arad, Steve and Don drove to the home of ITMI partners, Mitruts and Alina Stiopu, in Caransebes. They were about 15 minutes later than they planned leaving Arad. Later, en route, they came upon an awful, probably fatal accident that had just occurred. Thankful to the Lord for sovereignly delaying them, they made it safely across the severely rutted, narrow and dangerous roads to Caransebes.

The Stiopus, survivors of great abuse at the hands of Nicolae Ceausescu’s regime of terror, are true warriors for the cause of Christ in Romania. In addition to running a small for-profit construction supply business in order to support multiple Christian ministries, the Stiopus have been organizing and running Plopu Camp for more than 20 years.

The camp ground, which is nothing more than a plot of ground and some rustic, crumbling structures in the lush, green Romanian hills outside Caransebes, is a peaceful retreat from the battles of daily Romanian life. The camps are designed for youth and families, who stay in camping tents on the property. The 1-2 camps held each summer have an extensive track record of changing lives. Don Christiansen shares, “Many of Romania’s Christian leaders today were saved at Plopu.”

Steve and Don encouraged the Stiopus to expand this ministry, trusting that our God is big enough to provide the funding necessary. If they could construct some actual buildings on the grounds, this would allow them to have more camps throughout the year, including winter camps. ITMI will be collecting funds for this endeavor to impact the future of Romania.