Message Magazine Online - Vol. 56, No. 03, Fall 2008

Other Online Features

• The Borrower
  Ron Berrus
• Missionary Mess-Ups
  Carolee Graf, Brazil
• Sharing Christ in Eastern Europe
  Bill and Denise Braun
• Bushwhacking to a Baptism
  Jim and Carla Junge
• They Call It a Splav
  Bill and Denise Braun
• Many Voices, One Lord
  Maureen Longnecker
• Four Dads and Four Daughters
  Cheryl Fawcett
• Ten Days of Casave
  Andrew Large, Nicaragua
• Something Unusual in France
  Frank and Marlea Pfeifer
• MKs Help in Outreach to Small Town Portugal
  Miriam Tyers, Portugal
• What is Language School Like?
  By a missionary in South Asia
• Dreaming Big: Church Ministries Institute Partners with Horizon International Schools
  John Taylor
• Nenagh-Gateway to Lough Derg
  Matt Tuttlebee, Baptist Missions Ireland
• Orthopedic Specialists Visit Togo
  Russ and Melody Ebersole

They Call It a Splav

Bill and Denise Braun, Eastern Europe

I don’t know what I was thinking when I asked our team leader if I could go on a splav (i.e., rafting trip) that he was helping to lead. I am not much of a camper. In fact, the last church “camping” trip I attended was more like a retreat. We didn’t stay in tents—we stayed in a building similar to a lodge. We ate our meals in a dining hall. The toilet facilities were genuine, however, the kind where you hold your breath until you burst out the door, panting. I knew that splavs, however, are the real deal as far as camping goes: complete with catamarans, tents, rain (and I don’t mean a light sprinkle), cold nights, bugs, bugs, and more HUGE bugs, cooking over an open fire, no shower, and no facilities.

Additionally, the group going on the splav was an interesting mix of people. A local pastor, Pasha, and his wife Maria had gathered a group of unsaved students to attend from a pedagogical institute. Only four of us were non-Eastern European.

As a group, we talked about various worldviews, including the Christian worldview. This proved interesting to the students. We paddled together, prepared meals together, assembled and disassembled camp together, ate together, talked together, and laughed and laughed together. I greatly enjoyed the fellowship I experienced with the Americans on the trip in general and also as we sang songs together as a quartet. That was very meaningful for me. Interacting with our godly Eastern European friends was a rich experience, and I also enjoyed being with the new Eastern European friends I had made. A special highlight was singing songs with them in their native language and even some in English. There’s just nothing like that!

Though once something I almost dreaded, the splav turned into an amazing time of fellowship and laughing until our sides hurt.

I trust the Lord will use the seeds planted in the lives of the students, and I hope to be able to reach out to those who study here in our city. And as for splavs, I can’t wait to go again; I guess I just might be the camping type after all!