My Friend Iulian

Iulian Avramescu is from Bucharest, Romania. I have a lot of young friends from Bucharest having met them when they attended our Bible School that we started back in 1994. Romanians are full of life. Actually, I could write about several of them and I might do so in the future. Right now, I want to tell you about Iulian.

Jack Wyrtzen, one of my mentors, taught me to "accept a person for who he is and see him for who he can become." Potential! Iulian has vast potential. In fact, he is beginning to realize his potential now.

Iulian and his sidekick, Marius Laciu, just left our home today to return to Romania. Yesterday, we met with one of his board members who is in Budapest connecting with Campus Crusade. We talked about a camp site near Arad, Romania where Iulian has led youth camps the last two summers. This board member, Phil Blackstone, from Dallas, Texas, was excited to hear about this possibility. Maybe we can lease this property so that Iulian can expand his summer youth camps.

Last night, we held a conference phone call with the owners along with two other board members who live in Dallas. It was a good discussion. No decision yet--it will take more negotiation, more talks and more prayer. At this point we do not know what the outcome will be, but, I hope it works out.

Why? A young man brimming with potential needs a place to realize his potential. This would be a good spot to do just that. I've been there three times and I get excited about this property and buildings each time I go there. Man, oh man!

Who are you connecting with to invest your time in them? Do you see potential in a person younger than you? Are you helping him or her develop their potential? Do it! Look around ... you might be surprised what you will find. Your time will be well spent.

I knew that Iulian would need some fuel in his tank, so, I asked him to follow me to the gas station. After giving him a little bit of money to buy something to eat on his return trip I gave him a big hug. I hugged Marius, too. I encouraged Marius to stick with Iulian as his assistant and to build the team. As I watched them drive away I found myself smiling and thinking, "This is money well spent, a good investment." My time with these guys was even a better investment ... listening, talking, counseling, encouraging, "seeing" the future and showing what could be done ... potential.

Potential!

Eric Murphy

Lifestyle Changes

My father died from cancer. He won the first battle with prostate cancer in 2000-01. Bone cancer and lymphoma won the final battle in 2010. The last 10 years of his life were years of suffering because of cancer. Hard to watch ... I am sure that it was more difficult to endure.

My phone calls to my father in late May and in June were not easy. I could tell that his strength was waning. Finally, there was one phone conversation with my father telling me that he knew that he would not be alive when I was planning to visit him on his next birthday. He struggled to tell me this. Deep inside of myself, I knew that the end was near.

Cancer is a terrible disease. I had been reading various articles and books trying to find natural methods to fight cancer and I shared this information with my father. He decided to proceed with chemotherapy, not natural methods such as nutrition. I respected my father's decision and chose not to argue with him. He had the information and he made his decision. But, it made me do some deep soul searching.

I am not going to have chemo! No way! Did you know that 85% of oncologists report that they will not have chemotherapy if they have cancer? Hm-m-m!

Lifestyle changes ... I changed my routine. Earlier, about 11 years ago I stopped sugar. Good decision! Five years ago I stopped all soft drinks--cokes, et al. Three years ago I stopped using all sweeteners--the pink, the blue, the yellow, etc. Good decisions. Well, in June I made some more changes such as adding raw foods to my diet.

No, I am not a vegan or vegetarian. I simply increased raw food in my diet. Also, I accepted the fact that my metabolism does not process wheat products well. White potatoes is another culprit for me. Cream and milk ... I used to "love" this in my tea. All of these things made me gain weight! So, I stopped the "whites" and added raw foods. Bingo! I started losing weight!

Exercise is a great cancer fighter along with raw foods. Sit-ups and push-ups ... walking ... some Tae-Bo for cardio ... helped me to lose weight. More importantly, this is my plan to fight cancer! The extra benefit is the loss of weight ... now 25 pounds. And, I added 3 or 4 pounds of muscle because of the physical exercise.

Tell you what ... I'll update you in a few months to tell you about my progress. Check back.

Eric Murphy

The Old Silk Road

I love history ... years ago I studied the Silk Road. Funny, how something that interested me long ago re-enters my life again.

First, there is news about China building a railroad in Iran with aspirations to go through Iraq and on to Syria. Of course, they are looking to extend their railroad from China and the route that will be used is the old, historic Silk Road. I think this has prophectical implications with Israel involved. We shall see. A railroad along the Silk Road would be huge for commerce. Huge!

Next, a people story ... 20 years ago there was a young man who was under my influence in a youth camp that I started in Hungary. 1990 or '91 ... can't remember exactly ... he made a decision that set the course for his life. You see, I am faith-based. It means that I teach about God and allow those who hear to choose to receive or reject the information. That's their choice. Well, he chose to accept this message and he embraced it in his life ... a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Cool!

Later that week there was a campfire and he made another decision ... to do whatever God would have him to do. It's a commitment and he freely chose to commit his life to God wherever God would lead him. Now, it does not mean that everyone who makes such a decision is going to move to Kyrgyzstan, but, that's what he did.

Kyrgyzstan? Yes, in fact, he went to Bishkek. Hey, there it is again, the Silk Road. Connection! Did I tell you that I love history? He's making history!

The Chinese are building an important railroad and my friend is building in people's lives. Action on the old Silk Road ...

Camp Monty in Montenegro

One of the things that I do is put smiles on young faces. I love it! I started a unique youth camp in Montenegro [used to be part of old Yugoslavia] in 2007. My life was threatened the night before it opened, but, the situation improved each day. By the end of Camp Monty in 2009, parents were lined up to thank me for coming to their country and that their teens love the camp. Isn't that cool? God made this happen ... not me.

2010 was similar in that one mother thanked me for organizing Camp Monty each summer and that her son LOVES the camp. She even told me that she loves me and loves Camp Monty. Why? She sees that it does so much good for her son. Keep in mind that she told me this while waiting for the police to interview her son after his bike and a car were involved in a wreck. It happened the night after we had "all the watermelon you can eat" event after the evening meeting. Can you imagine that she would say something like this when so distraught about her son who received the worst end of the collision? I think she was glad that I came to check on her son and was trying to encourage him. He went airborne over the car landing on his cheekbone and temple ... ouch!

While I was talking with him, the 14 year old told me how much he enjoys the camp and how much he loves me and all of the camp staff. Incredible!

He is quite the "personality" in camp and he was greatly missed on the final two days of camp as he followed doctor's orders to stay in bed.

His mother attended the awards banquet two days after the accident despite her son not being able to come. I read a letter that he had written to thank everyone for Camp Monty 2010. Yes, she had some tears.

He's OK now and he can't wait for Camp Monty 2011.

You know what? Same with me--can't wait!!

Eric Murphy