About us

The story of the vision, the construction and the purpose of Camp Hope is a true miracle of God. There Is Hope Foundation has been working in Romania for over 25 years, helping the evangelical movement of the underground church in Transilvania grow and rise.

In june 2008, we were on our regular trip ministering in Bistrița. We had been praying for 4-5 years that God would help us find a suitable land to buy and build a children camp on it, a place for spiritual retreat. But every time we found one, it was not what we wanted. So we kept on praying while the romanians kept looking. The properties were too far from the city, had no electricity, no water and were too expensive. First Sunday afternoon after we arrived we were going to Teaca to a church we usually went to with the gospel. The Bazers, a couple from Florida for the first time with us in Romania, were in the car in front of us with pastor Nelu. All of a sudden they slowed down, hand out the window pointing to a hill. Tom said: „I wonder if this could be a good property for what we need!”

During that week, some of the men went to see the property and got in contact with the owner.  On our last Saturday there, the team stopped at a restaurant in the open air, right near that place. I invited them to see the property and when they came back, they all said: This is it!

As team leaders, we never asked for financial commitments from our time but we trusted God to provide the much needed resources. This being said, one team member suggested we ask for donation promises to buy the land. After discussing it, we gave the member permission to try. Arlene made some commitment papers on sheets of paper from a notebook  and until we got back from church, 36.000 USD had been raised. All this in one hour, after years of prayer.

Now… what are we building? We had some ideas but no plan. A team member had a relative who was an architect and entrepreneur, specialized in in building hospitals and different buildings for developing countries. After approaching him he agreed to help us for free and handed the project to one of his top architects. In less than a month we received his recommended blueprint. Acknowledging they know better we agreed with one change: larger corridors upstairs by 18 inch (45 cm).

We soon realized that this project was above any experience we had, but we also understood that this was coming from God because the architect was also a christian who prayed every step of the blueprint. By his recommendations, the building had to have 31.000 square meters, two floors, 12 bedrooms of 10, 8 rooms like a hotel room, a canteen and a conference hall for 350 people, as well as a professional kitchen.

Now we had the blueprint, but we didn”t have the funds. Should we have built something smaller, cheaper, easier to manage? After talking to the romanian board of the camp, we concluded that this project was not only what we wanted, but also what we needed. We needed a building that could host at least some of the 1.000 children we reached every year with the School of Heroes. Churches needed a place for retreats and the seminaries were needed to train church leaders and pastors. We had to trust God for every dollar so even if we needed 100.000 or 1.000.000 dollars, it all had to come from Him. We decided to go on as planned even if it exceeded our wildest dreams.

The fall of 2008 was a hard time, especially for romanians. all the legal documents for the purchase of the property needed to be made: documents, permits, approvals. All we could do was stay informed and pray for the lawyers and authorities. New taxes at every step and different payments. Will we ever be able to finish this?

In spring 2009, after ice melted, we dug the first shovel of earth on that wonderful hill to start the construction of Camp Hope. The Romanians chose the name of Camp Hope in the honor of: There Is Hope Foundation but it was also a perfect name, a symbol of our faith that ” our hope is grounded in the blood and righteousness of Jesus!”

Also, in 2009 România joined the European Union, which was a big obstacle for us. New regulations imposed by UE raised our costs greatly. One unexpected thing that raised our costs was the fact that, because Romania was close to Russia, we had to build an underground bunker, large enough to fit all the people- for us it was 300. An underground bunker….and all we wanted was a children’s camp! This meant we had to dig lower and double the quantity of concrete which drastically raised our expenses. Nevertheless, we decided to use the new space for recreation, with ping-pong tables and pool tables. At that time it looked like a waste of money and resources. But we never realised how important this would be for us- Camp Hope is just 100 miles from the border with Ukraine. 

In the summer of 2009, our team walked on the foundation of the camp and even touched the freshly poured concrete. Two members of our team worked besides the romanians helping to build the foundation and pour the concrete. Those who helped in any way, financially or otherwise, wrote ther name in the concrete with verses from the Bible and the name of God. It truly was a special day that will be remembered forever. 

In fall 2009, we were ready for the walls, but we had no funds. So we launched the ”Buy a block!” campaign where people could donate 15 dollars for a concrete block. The first donation came from a widow  from Florida, who gave all she had- just 15 dollars- enough for one concrete block. Somewhere, among the thousands of blocks there is that one block she bought, blessed by God, holding the wall together. Most of the money was sent to Romania in small amounts of 4.000-5.000 dollars, as the donations came. Thousands of people donated, small and large amounts.  

In june 2010, our team left for Romania again for the yearly mission trip. After security check in Molbourne, a friend stopped Tom to tell him that he will make a large donation for the construction of the camp. It was then that things really started to move forward. 

Up until autumn 2010 and spring 2011, we raised the columns, the walls, attic and roof. Looking over the plans, the contractor suggested we raise the walls in order to have a better angle on the roof so we can also use the attic for another 120 children. We felt this was worth it. How could we have said No to an extra 120 children to hear the Gospel every week at Camp Hope? Right after, large donations started to come in, confirming we made the right choice. 

Camp Hope was taking shape, brick by brick, prayer by prayer, donation by donation- a true miracle of God. 

In june 2011, we had a praise service instating a bedrock, a very special moment made ecev better when, on 25 june, we celebrated Arlene”s father”s birthday. He prayed a lor for his brothers and sisters behind the Iron Curtain and now, his children, many years later, were building a camp with them. While the band was playing we lifted two flags- romanian and american- at the entrance of the camp. The bedrock writes in both, english and romanian:

For the glory of God.

A gift for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

from his children in America and Romania.