Alpiniş

Alpiniş expresses the vision and dedication of the MLI team to equip and reach the young generation in Romania with the Gospel through camps, outdoor activities and retreats.

Located in the mountains near Sibiu, Alpiniş is a – small but growing! – camp/wilderness and conference center used for Christian outreach, spiritual guidance, mentoring and leadership development. Annually hundreds of Romanians, young and old, take part in spiritual camp/wilderness programs, lay leadership and pastors’ conferences and team building retreats at Alpiniş. Some regular programs include:

Summer camps – with church youth groups from Romania and abroad who come for a week of camp: games, hikes, Bible studies, volleyball, friendships and fun!

Alpiniş Outdoor Challenge (in partnership with Wilderness Ministry Institute, CO, USA) – training leaders to take youth on a life transforming adventure journey: leaving behind modern life distractions (watches, mobiles, i-pods, etc.) we backpack for five days through some of Romania’s most beautiful scenery. Every person is stretched to new personal limits, experiences God’s creation and develops deeper friendships.

“The mountain is not meant to teach us anything. It is meant to make us something.” (Oswald Chambers)

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Essential Questions Camp (in partnership with Written Word, Timişoara) – aiming to offer spiritual and intellectual direction in a relational environment for those searching for growth and answers to important questions like: how do I integrate my vocation with my faith? The week of camp is structured on seminars, individual times between tutors and participants, reading and outdoor activities (meals and fun included).

Short History of Alpiniş:

• 2001 – land purchase, near Sibiu, outside the mountain ski resort of Păltiniş;
• 2002 – 2003 – we bought a 3 bedroom vacation home and 5 acres of land around it.
• 2004 – 2008 – we transformed the house into a ministry facility, a villa accommodating thirty people.

The first camps at Alpiniş were in 2005 while the villa was transformed; every year since then the facility was used for camps and retreats.

Alpiniş has developed with the financial support of friends, organizations, and churches in the USA. We appreciate your support and generosity, thank you!

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What makes Alpiniş, camps and outdoors, special is people – people who encounter God both as leaders and participants. Following are some of the highlights from participants:

Summer Camps testimonies:

“My fondest memory of the entire trip can be summed up in the Alpiniş Camp. During the short week we spent there, I was able to develop friendships with many of the Romanian kids; especially many who were my age. These interactions have taught me lessons that no class or teacher here could have shown me. I now know of challenges that many Romanian students and young adults face that I, as an American, will not have to deal with in my life. This gives me a new outlook on my own future and the choices I make every day that affect it. And of course I am genuinely excited that I can say I have friends on the other side of the world!” (Jordan Fischer, Grace Church, Normal, IL)

“For a number of children in our group, this was their first camp experience ever. They all returned excited. One of the mothers who is not part of a church, shared with me how her daughter Ovideana impressed her whole family and relatives with the stories from camp and the lessons she has learned from the Bible studies. I am impressed by the way many of the un-churched children who came to camp share the Gospel with their families and friends.” (Pastor Florin Botar, Câmpeni, Romania)

“I was most excited to see how our youth have consolidated friendships and how they formed new friends in the five days at Alpiniş last summer. Alpiniş seems to slowly become a part of our lives.” (Lori Erbatu, youth leader and MLI Board member, Giurgiu, Romania)

Outdoors Ministry testimonies:

The survival camp meant so much for me. It was great to hear everyone’s “life story” and to see how amazingly God works in people’s lives. I will never forget the caves, the meadows, the rock climbing experience, the food and drinking Coke with a spoon (from the bowl in which I had soup). (Cristina C., Timişoara)

What did I like in this camp? Everything – from the nature we explored and the diverse activities, to the attention, care and patience the leaders treated each one of us with. I met new people and I really enjoyed God’s creation, I would love to do this again. (Hedda, Timişoara ’09)

This was a real adventure! Rain, cold, wind, sunshine, friends, bonding and fun. What seemed difficult at the beginning turned into an unforgettable experience. None of us will forget how wet we were and how we dried our boots and clothes. But we will also remember the special moments and the breathtaking view. Climbing up was hard, climbing down even harder. Yet, in all of it I experienced God’s joy and care. (Hedda, Timişoara ’10)

“For me this camp was one of the greatest things I experienced. I returned home spiritually, emotionally and physically stronger. I got to know special people in circumstances that forced us to see beyond appearances. I learned that I can do more physically than I thought. This camp was also an answer to prayer – going through a difficult situation at home, I needed a break and a time to meditate and change my perspective. I prayed before the camp that it will be a turning point in my life journey and God answered my prayer – I could see how He is Emmanuel, I saw His Spirit in Creation, His kindness, care, and sovereignty amidst our fears and desire for all to be well. All was new to me and I am usually resistant to change, but I enjoyed it to the maximum. Here are a few words that sum up the experience: an investment in the relationship with God and friends, renewed strength, great fun, new passions.” (Cristina B., Timişoara)

Outdoor Ministry for me brings together the love for God and people with the love for mountains and nature. It is exciting to take part in Jesus’ great commission in this way and to see transformation take place in the lives of young people as we have the joy to lead them in a very practical way, and challenge them to live with Christ.
“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.” (Isaiah 42:16) Dani Jurescu, outdoor ministry leader, Timişoara

From Essential Questions Camp:

Alice, eighteen years old: I have met beautiful people in this camp. I learned many things to help me organize my life and my time better; I learned not to judge people by appearances but to get to know them first, but moreover here I learned to pray out loud for the first time. I decided to be more faithful: to pray, read the Bible and try to be a better person. My purpose in this camp was to find out what career would be suitable for me. I have not made up my mind yet, but I have made a few steps towards a decision, based on the discussions we had here.

Silvana, eighteen years old: In this camp I learned to not be afraid to speak in public and to be disciplined in my fellowship time with God.

Laura, seventeen years old: This camp has helped me in many ways. I liked it that I was challenged to think about things that had never crossed my mind. For me, what we talked with Andrei at the seminar about fellowship time and how to organize our lives was very useful. And I like the attitude the people had, in the sense that if you made a mistake, you were not patronized.