Over 40 leaders gathered from throughout the Central European region in the beautiful city of Iași in Eastern Romania, for 3 days of gathering – great teaching, good worship, times of intercession and just getting to hang out with each other – a YWAM gathering is never dull!
Our main speaker was Tom Bloomer, who is the Provost for the University of the Nations, and known as “Mr History”. We had a great time sitting at his feet and listening to him share stories and insights from his life -and we were all challenged by his sessions:
There were many other times of great teaching: here is Carmelita Clarke, YWAM Central Europe’s leader, sharing on Circles of influence in YWAM Central Europe and what that looks like:
And we also took time to share our stories: it is always encouraging to hear what is going on in the region: from an amazing outreach by Roma from Bulgaria to a Roma village in Albania, to teaching many people with incredible results about “hearing God’s voice” in Slovakia, God is doing many things in our region!
We also took time to pray for each other in various ways…here we are praying for Ad who has taken a step out of his role in the CELT (Central European Leadership Team) for a year, to focus on many new things happening in Slovakia – including a brand new ministry centre in Lukatin
We also took time to use the location of the conference (on a hill overlooking the city) to pray for the city of Iași:
The city is a beautiful place, and one afternoon we were able to enjoy the sites: There are many amazing buildings within a short walk of each other: The beautiful Church of the Three Hierarchs:
The Palace of Culture:
The oldest church “Saint Nicholas” and next door, the oldest house in Iași: 
On our last night we were treated to a concert by four wonderful singers (the ones on the left are brother and sister and both sing for the Iași Philharmonic). It was a truly amazing experience. And we got to see why Iași is known as the “city of culture”.
We gather as leaders once a year, and as a whole staff every other year, and this is deliberate – we need to renew relationships, not just with each other, but also with the One we are serving, so we can continue to do His work here in Central Europe and beyond. This gathering was not just a good time of input, but also of remembering why we do what we do, so we can keep on doing it! Until next year…