Adventure Awaits at Journey Camp Romania

Pastor Donnie is 52, loves baseball, French Fries, and estate sale hunting with his wife Karen. Along with Matthew French, Donnie helped Co-Found JCR while dreaming about bringing the camp experience to the students of Romania in 2018. A little over a year later the initial camp took place. 

Donnie has made 9 trips to Romania, preached in more than twenty different villages and churches, and loves the culture of Eastern Europe. 

"My favorite part of air travel is working on my Sunday crossword puzzles, my least favorite is the lack of leg room."

Donnie has been married to Karen for 35 years, has four children, two daughters-In-law and two Granddaughters.

Pray for Donnie and the entire teams as they take the Gospel to the kids, students, adults, and the churches of Romania!

Coach French, as his students call him in his home town of Hartley, Texas is making his 5th trip to the land of Count Dracula to minster to the people of Romania.

He has preached during their revival seasons on two trips and this will be the third youth camp he will partner in to lead. He has a decade of experience as a youth pastor, slightly over a decade of experience as a pastor, and almost a year as a coach. Coach French is currently attending Temple Baptist Church in Dumas, Texas .

Matt will be helping  with leading the camp, assisting in games and speaking in the nightly chapels. 

"I have truly fallen in love with the culture, food and most importantly the people of Romania. My favorite Romanian meal would be dripping fresh bread into any of their soups, except for the pride of Romania, Tripe soup. That one they can have all to themselves. My favorite cultural thing is the way they drive. It is like Nascar on drugs... It's amazing. 

His favorite part about traveling is seeing the interactions of different cultures all meshed together in something that was meant to zoom through the air. 

Please pray for Matt and our entire JCR team!

  Andrew "Droo" Vandergriff is the student pastor at Aurora Baptist Church and has served as a camp director at Minnetonka Christian Camp for 20 years. He also serves as the board chair for Minnetonka, helping shape and cast their vision for the future.

Droo, as he is affectionately called, has been on at least 40 different mission trips, including speaking at a youth camp in the Himalayan Mountains of Nepal! His favorite thing about air travel is eating and his least favorite is sitting. We will try to get Droo some snacks to eat on the flight while he makes laps through the aisles!

This will be Droo’s first summer camp in Romania, however he has preached the last two winters in Romania helping promote the camp.

Begin praying for Droo and the entire team as we get ready for JCR25.
 

Michael "Mike" Draper is the Worship Pastor at Temple Baptist Church in Dumas, Texas. This will be his 4th mission trip and the second as part of Journey camp Romania. Once again this year he will be our Camp Worship Leader, organizing the music with a team of American and Romanians.

Michael says this about international travel:

"I love the excitement of jumping on a plane and getting to visit new places! I hate small spaces and that's all airplanes are!"

Begin praying for Mike and the entire team as we get ready for JCR25.

 

 Korian “Kori” Draper  

Kori loves hiking, being outside, spending time with family, and reading, especially Jane Austen and William Shakespeare. Her favorite thing to eat is seafood! She loves the Gospel of Matthew, and her verse is Jeremiah 29:11.

“This is my second year with Journey Camp Romania, and I am thrilled to be able to be a part of it. I love traveling and seeing all that the world has to offer.”

Her role with Journey camp 2025 will be teaching,  counseling, and using compassion to spread the love and life of Jesus Christ.

“I love traveling, it’s a dream of mine to see the world and experience the different cultures, food and atmosphere.”

Kori’s favorite thing about traveling is getting to experience it all with her husband Michael, who is also part of the team. My least favorite thing about traveling is the lack of leg room on the planes. Maybe Kori will get a first class upgrade this year!

Begin praying for her and the entire team as we get ready for JCR25.
 

Rachelle is a true JCR veteran and was part of the inaugural camp back in 2019. This will be her 3rd mission trip and 2nd time Journey Camp Romania. She and her husband Matthew French are teachers in Hartley, Texas and attend Temple Baptist Church in Dumas, Texas. 

When is comes to traveling abroad this is what she has to say. 

"My favorite part about the plane travel is the solitude because my life is loud!! My least favorite part is the landing. the speed and the noise freaks me out every time. 

Please begin praying for Rachelle and the  Entire JCR team. 

 Harleigh Lemmons is from Temple Baptist Church in Dumas, Texas. Harleigh is making her first appearance at JCR and this will be her first mission trip. She will be helping with children's classes and games. 

As far as traveling:

"I have never been on a plane but I'm scared about going through a storm."

Let's pray the plane rides are nice and smooth!

Begin praying for her and the entire JCR TEAM

 Bryson French is from Hillside Christian Church. This will be his second mission trip. Although he was a rookie last year, his servant's heart shined brightly as one of the most versatile members of our team.

This year he will serve as our Tech guy and leader's aide. Bryson says, "My favorite thing about air travel is being in the plane, and my least favorite thing is all lines and stuff at the airport." Hopefully the "stuff" will be minimal this summer!

Start praying for Bryson and the whole team. We are just two months from JCR25! 

  Brock Foster is a member of Keystone Bible Church in Fort Worth and is making his second trip as part of the JCR Team. He serves his home church by playing guitar and organizing music for Sunday worship services and takes part in the Youth Worship Team at Aurora Baptist Church on Wednesday evenings. Baseball is one of his passions and he has a powerful illustration of how God called him to be a missionary while walking the bases one evening at Minnetonka Christian Camp.

When it comes to air travel Brock says, “My favorite thing is being able to watch movies on the flight. My least is having to wait so long to get where we are going.”

Begin praying now for Brock and the entire team, for God to use us mightily for his glory!