Decompress

Today is our last full day of camp and we have finished all of our final clean up duties. Tonight the remaining service team members will decompress together over a meal with some nice wine followed by a movie on the camp's big screen. I couldn't be happier about this.

Family camp ended well and there was tons of positive feedback both for the kids videos and the food. Praise God we made it until the end, and pray that we are kept safe in our travels home. Pray that we would adjust well to the time change as well as the living/job/school situation waiting for us back home. We love you all!

Oh, and I was able to post all four videos from adult camp's video workshop on youtube. Links are below. =)

Video #1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK8xkM7xliE

Video #2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwJm-n2sqVw

Video #3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJru7F1DIzc

Video #4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPPvOz1gwN8

God bless,
David

Losing Your Daily Bread

I spend much of the last two days looking for my lost Bible, and just as I was about to give up the search, I spotted it sitting outside one of the buildings here at camp, out in the open where anyone could see it. Throughout the process, I was frustratedly wondering what God was trying to teach me, and looking back on it, I am both encouraged and humbled. I am encouraged because losing my Bible (with years of underlining and notes in the margins) was truly upsetting to me and I felt as if I was lost without it - a feeling that tells me I value God's words as my daily bread. I was also humbled because I became angry with God for allowing my Bible to be lost (i.e. "Come on Lord, you tell us to spend time with you and then allow me to lose your Word!") instead of continuing to trust in His goodness. It was sinful to blame God for my own carelessness in losing my Bible, and I am ashamed that I allowed something like this to change my demeanor not only toward God, but toward others here at camp. Even through something as simple as this, I have learned to be more aware of my own anxieties and trust God more fully in His care for me.

As far as camp goes, things are well. I have been sitting in on discussions with the 11-13 year olds on a daily basis so the kids can be more comfortable with me, even on days we are not making videos. As the lessons are completely in French, I have been frustrated as I cannot contribute to topics I feel I could help the kids understand. This has forced me to pray that the discussions would glorify God rather than guide the discussions using my own knowledge. I must trust that God is good and will look after these kids even if I cannot help the process with my words. However, this difficulty has had one benefit - I have spent discussion times memorizing Bible verses in French to gain (double) points for the red team in this year's family camp challenge. The kids have much appreciated this, and I have enjoyed the challenge.

We could use some prayer for Chelsea, as she went down sick this morning and could not help prepare today's bag lunches. She said she will be fine for dinner prep tonight, but I know prayer would help give her the energy she needs. (Especially since she is preparing a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for the families tonight.) I think the amount of work she has put into these camps over the past two months has truly worn her down. Less than a week to go!

We will be making one more video with the kids for this camp, and as always, I hope to post them soon. I will try to post the shorter videos from adult camp today, and the longer video from youth camp has been posted on my facebook page. Unfortunately, if you do not have facebook, you will have to wait until we get back to the states and I can upload it you youtube for you to watch.

God bless,
David

The Hardest Part

If you were to ask me what the hardest part of our trip has been up to this point, the answer would have to be that while we are here, we are not part of a regular church community. While we work closely with a large group of faithful followers of Christ, and are in that sense a temporary church, all of our true home churches are far from here. For us, due to our recent move, we are currently without a home church and even when we return home, it will take some time to find the community God calls us to join. As God has made clear to us the joy of being in a strong community over the past few years, I pray that He would work in our lives to quickly plant us where He wants us, so that He may increase our faith and glorify Himself more fully through us. Indeed, this is a prayer that is needed for all believers, regardless of where they are.

Sadly, attending a church service is an obligation for many. Yet, being away from a church home during our time here has made it even clearer to us that the Bible’s instruction to regularly meet with other believers to worship and disciple one another is a genuine gift from God. Without this instruction, many would attempt to follow Christ on their own and not only miss the grace of Christ shown through the actions of others, but also miss the encouragement and discipline of a church community. Serving here has been a blessing, but it also means that we have few opportunities to worship communally due to our duties, and even when we can, we are on a staff overseeing groups of youth or families in much different places and situations than ourselves. For family camp, this has been made amplified by the fact that all teaching and worship is in a language different than my own.

I can see that the French families here are truly finding peace and joy in the company of their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, and I thank God for the ministry done at Camp des Cimes to allow them to follow God’s loving instruction to be connected to other believers. Indeed, their evident joy is large part of my recent longing to get back to the states and get plugged into a new church home. Only two more weeks!

As far as camp goes, everything is going very well. I have been working with the 11-13 year olds every day and we have already made one short, simple video mirroring Jesus’s parable of the two sons (Matthew 21:28-32). They had fun filming it and had even more fun watching it today. As always, I plan to post this video along with the others upon our return.

Currently, Chelsea is in the kitchen making a meal the French families rarely see – fried chicken and biscuits. Last night, Chelsea and her kitchen team (Caleb and Deborah) prepared another meal they rarely see - enchiladas with green pumpkin seed mole. The families enjoyed it so much they asked Chelsea to come out in front of everyone and explain to them what was in the meal, followed by a round of applause!

Tomorrow we will be shooting another short video – pray that I would be given the creativity to make it work as well as the last. 11-13 year olds are not always the easiest to keep focused. ; )

That’s all for now. Keep your prayers coming. We look forward to seeing you all soon.

God bless,
David

Back to Camp

After spending the last week off in Paris, our return to camp is almost like returning home. While Paris was a needed break and a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our anniversary and meet with new and old friends, it is comforting to be back. Upon our return yesterday, we were met with early arrivals for family camp. As there are children of all ages on the grounds and many adults, it is clear that this experience will be unlike anything else we have done at Camp des Cimes. As the camp will be entirely in French, I will nearly entirely be on service team cleaning the grounds and serving meals, though I will play a small role in activities for 11-13 year olds. Chelsea is already back in the kitchen working hard to produce meals, and we are both re-energized to work hard and represent Christ well through joyful service. As we are serving alongside both French and Americans for this camp (including a former camper I had worked with), communication will be more strained, but I can already tell our mutual faith will be a strong source of patience and unity.

Looking back at the two English camps (youth and young adult), it is amazing to reflect on our experiences over the past month and a half – we have truly been blessed with meeting Godly people and seeing Him work in and through their lives. As these groups and friends have come and gone throughout our time here, it has become more and more evident that the opportunity to serve here fore the entirety of the three camps is a true blessing. After spending some time in Paris and seeing very little evidence of true faith, it is even clearer to us how important it is to build up those of faith in France to bring the gospel to others. Pray that those serving the Lord throughout France would be encouraged and joyful in their service.

I failed once again in uploading videos, but I have a friend who will upload them soon from the states. When that happens, I will post links here. =) More updates from the first days of camp will be posted soon.

God bless,
David

Just What the Doctor Ordered

Half of our service team (four people) had to make their way home two days ago, leaving us understaffed for the remaining three days of adult camp. Add to this that I have spend the last few days fighting a nasty virus and have been considerably weakened, and you have a recipe for discouragement. Yet, through these difficulties, I was able to see God working through the campers here. Completely unprovoked, they have all volunteered themselves to help clean up after meals. This has been a greater blessing than it would normally be due to my illness, and I praise God for it. I don't know if I would have been able to make it through the past two days without their help. Sometimes, the smallest showings of a servant's heart in fellow brothers and sisters in Christ is exactly what is needed to lift our spirits.

Today was spent playing team sports with the campers and filming our final workshop video. I will be editing it tomorrow and hope to get all our videos up on youtube over the week long break between adult and family camp. Chelsea's workshop is going strong and she has planned a complex challenge for her campers to cook for the entire group (five courses) the final night of camp as a special treat. She has been truly enjoying herself and has felt truly blessed to get to know the campers in her workshop. Pray that the final day of camp goes well and a spirit of joy is over it all.

In other news, I have been asked to help watch the 11-13 year olds at family camp during times of Bible teaching, and am looking forward to the opportunity to meet new kids and help them make their own (albeit more simple) video, plus other activities. As family camp is completely in French, pray that I would be patient with the process and the leader of the activities (and translator for me) Mark Hoyle.

God bless,
David

Exhausted But Joyful

Well, needless to say, it has been a whirlwind of a week. It is currently mid afternoon and there are about 10 people sitting in the BAFA room (where internet connection is best) checking email and such. It is almost silent, and you can feel the exhaustion in the air.

At about 1 PM today, about 50 of us returned to camp from a 3-day, 2-night hike through the French Alps. Known as a “rando”, these hikes are held for every English camp. However, this was our first rando ever, as it was the first time we were allowed and able to go, without the duties of the kitchen to hold us back. While we are certainly glad we went, and we can now say that we have climbed up and down the French Alps, we would also say we would probably choose to not go again. It was invaluable time with the campers, and we got to know everyone just a little bit better, but I suppose that sort of life just isn’t for us. I don’t know that going three days without showering while hiking strenuously most of each day and sleeping in the (literally) freezing cold and eating cold potatoes for dinner is really in my DNA… Of course, the views were absolutely incredible, breathtaking, magnificent, and singing to the Lord in multiple languages huddled around a campfire was beautiful, and hearing some stories of loss and sadness but joy and comfort in His presence was inspiring. So maybe again… (Doubtful.) ☺

During the hike, we also got to spend some time building relationships with some of the campers who we have begun to know here at camp. One camper, of whom we would like to share about here, especially encouraged us. His name is Cyril, and he is 32, significantly older than all of the other campers here. He is a member of the French Air Force, and he has never been to camp before. He is in my workshop, and immediately upon meeting him, I was blown over by his kindness and gentleness. As we have gotten to know him a bit this week, we asked him to share about his faith. He became a Christian when he was 20 years old, and is incredibly intelligent, having gone to school for physics. We conversed about creation and doctrine, and we were both so encouraged by his discernment regarding Scripture and teaching and theology. It was great to talk to him and know that there are people here in France who have those kinds of gifts to plug into the church. We did hear from him that there are many negative doctrines coming from the USA into France, with the thought that any doctrine coming from the USA must be good… Pray that both the church here and in the USA would expel these problematic teachings.

Concerning workshop, both seem to be going really well. David is having a great time making short little funny videos with his crew, and he is enjoying the laid-back structure quite a bit. I am having a blast with all the people in my cooking workshop. I am teaching mostly young men (two girls and four guys) how to cook dishes from around the world. We have so much fun cooking and eating together. We all just jump in, chopping onions and tasting and perfecting and laughing. I have a great group of campers who are all game for ANYTHING, including taking on dares to eat entire hot peppers and picking cilantro leaves off stems. In fact, our last workshop, I was dared to speak entirely in French for the hour, with one of the French campers translating to English for me. I completed the task and had a great time improving my speaking. I really love going to workshop and getting to know the campers. It is such a blessing.

Meanwhile, I am helping out a bit in the kitchen and trying to do some work with some kitchen organizational stuff. It is going slowly, but well, and I am hoping to devote most of my time the rest of the week to that.

Also, we are heading to Paris in less than a week for five days! Pray that preparations for that are completed soon.

More prayers – one of the campers received terrible news today about a friend in Paris. Please pray for this friend, whose name is Angelique. My heart goes out to these campers who all must face this broken and sinful world once again when they leave us.

God bless you these next couple of days.

Chelsea

P.S. We have been trying for the past week to upload videos of camp to youtube for you to watch, but due to the slow speed of the internet connection here, have been unsuccessful. Be patient with us as we keep trying!

Familiar Faces

Adult camp started yesterday, and it is definitely a change of pace. We immediately recognized many of the arriving campers (about 30 total) from previous English camps, and it is encouraging to see them return to the camp as adults continuing to seek fellowship and community with other believers. Pray that they would find respite from the difficulties of their home lives while at camp through the building of strong relationships with others they meet here. Like the youth, they also wrote questions anonymously at the beginning of camp, and they have asked many difficult questions about a wide range of scriptural topics – pray that those at the camp and the guest speaker Will would be given the words to Biblically and carefully answer their questions.

The atmosphere is much more laid back than English camp, and in some ways this is making the transition more difficult. We have been so busy for the past two weeks that the amount of down time is bringing unexpected stress. Camp director Tom told Chelsea that his goal for her throughout adult camp is for her to become bored and re-energized for her role running the kitchen for family camp, and I think it will take a while for us to adjust to the change and truly begin to recuperate. I spent today cleaning one of the camp’s buildings and Chelsea is hard at work reorganizing the camp’s recipe books, but within the week our roles should be reduced to simply sharing in community as the campers are doing. I was able to participate as a camper in team sports, and I found this opportunity to meet and get to know the campers to be a joy. We must keep in mind that sometimes the best ministry to others is simply to be their friend and reflect Christ through whom God has made us.

The first day of our workshops went well, with Chelsea making barbeque pork in her cooking workshop (five campers) and me making a short commercial-esque comedy in the video workshop (three campers). With only five days of workshops rather than the entire camp, we have decided to do multiple shorter projects rather than the full narrative done at English camp. Pray that God would bring about conversations with others here and help us to speak truth clearly and humbly through them.

Lastly, thank you for your prayers about our short getaway to Grenoble. It was a blessing and gave us the space we needed to grieve, take a deep breath, and enjoy each other’s company away from camp. We love you all.

God bless,
David

Another Type of Transition

This is Chelsea updating the blog today, and I apologize in advance as my husband writes much more poetically than myself...

This morning marked the final meal of English youth camp, the official end to the first third of our journey. These last two days or so have been marked by what you would call controlled chaos. Thursday was Bastille Day or Quatorze Juillet (July 14th), and the kids, per usual, had a fantastic time with lots of games and fun, but of course it also meant just two days left of camp, and David felt overwhelmed with the amount of scenes to shoot and editing to do on the video. However, God definitely provided and they were able to finish. We should be posting the finished product online somewhere, and we will link the blog to it when we do. It turned out so well! The kids at camp loved to watch it and see their friends onscreen speaking English.

Last night was the final night at camp and we had the whole evening planned down to the minute. In camp, all the kids get to choose a workshop where they learn about a certain art and then learn about glorifying God through it (hence the video and such). On the final night, every workshop (and every camper) displays their arts, so there are dance routines and such. The night began with the theater workshop coordinating with the kitchen team, creating a dinner theater atmosphere, complete with Dustin entering the room singing the name of the main course (tartiflette, an alpine favorite). Then, after dessert there was worship, so we showered and went to the hill and we watched the first dance and then the self defense program. Then we walked through two of the buildings where watercolors, ceramics, print-making/woodcutting, and photography were displayed. Following that we went to the main building and then watched the presentations for puppets, video, and the second part of dance. We then watched a fantastic video made by a Chris who is here filming everything that really captured the spirit of the camp and the reasons why everyone loves it so much. It is such a special special place where everyone is encouraging and people have a refuge and a safe haven to be themselves and express their faith with no judgment.

As everyone said their tearful goodbyes to one another and I watched from a distance I was struck by how short this is for them. They only get two weeks! It may seem like a long two weeks to us because of the business and how much work we do, but it flies by for them and they count down the days until they return next year to this incredible place. I feel blessed to be a part of it.

Next, we transition into adult camp, a period for young french people aged 18-25 to come for fellowship. David and I will be more on the program side of things, which is super exciting. Although I'm sure I will be stepping into the kitchen to help occasionally (I'm about to give an orientation to the new cook), I will be leading a cooking workshop and we will be working more directly with the campers, which is fantastic. David and Phillip will be leading another video workshop, which will be less structured, but also David will not be so active on the service team, so it will be a much needed break for both of us.

Pray for us as we are heading to Grenoble for a night tomorrow in order to get away, do some grieving and such by ourselves.

Also pray for us as we began the planning and organization for the next two parts of camp! They will be busy but less stressful with fewer rules as we are no longer working with minors.

We love you all. God bless you.

Not Abandoned

I have not intentionally neglected the blog - things have just been hectic here both in the kitchen and with the video workshop. I have spent the last three days editing and finalizing the video and hope to post it to youtube and/or facebook soon. This is the last day of English camp, and it is truly hard to believe the time has passed so quickly. Thank you all for your love and support - a more thorough blog is coming soon, I promise!

Blessings Through It All

It has been five days since Ian’s passing, and I am finding serving here at Camp des Cimes to be a refuge in some respects, but a trial in others. As with all experiences, you must take the good with the bad. The work and constant activity at camp has been a blessed distraction from thoughts of Ian, but it has also been exhausting. I so badly want to be home to attend the funeral and celebrate Ian’s impact on others, but also know that I was called here for a reason and cannot abandon my duty – this feeling is certainly something Ian knew well. I have not hidden my emotions, but have tried to find joy in moments of true community here. I know Ian wouldn’t want anything less, and I am hoping everyone here who heard the news understands that when I smile and laugh, I am experiencing much needed catharsis from the sorrow I feel. For the most part, people here have been very good about giving me my space and allowing me to grieve alone when I feel the need.

Friends and family have been a blessing from afar as well, sending their love and support. To be honest, it is a bit overwhelming. Know that I do not have energy to write too much back to each of you, but that your words have been invaluable to me in this time.

Camp chugs along like a well-oiled machine despite many last-minute changes. Yesterday, the dinner’s turkey order did not come until 6:15 – two hours later than scheduled. The kitchen team was panicked but worked hard to get the meal out before eight and succeeded with flying colors, delivering a meal every bit as delicious as we would expect from them. Video workshop has also experienced some bumps in the road as our editor’s computer crashed and we were left with less attractive options to do post-production work. I have committed my free time following workshop and prior to dinner to editing on our computer using iMovie. It isn’t the most advanced software and is frustrating at times, but for our purposes it will be just fine. Filming itself has been going well and the French campers have been nailing their English lines, so things could be a whole lot worse.

Here are the names of the campers in my workshop for prayer purposes: Nathanael, Augustin, Emilie, Maud, Maelys, Karine, and Tristan. I know that some of them are not believers, so pray that God would give me an attitude and demeanor worthy of him while working with them. For the most part, they have been a joy to me, though they are not the most organized or focused bunch until we start filming.

Today’s message was on obstacles to faith – pray that the Spirit works through the words spoken to change camper’s hearts to the gospel and bring them close to God. Tonight we will be playing a massive spy game throughout the whole camp grounds, with service team playing the part of snipers with water balloons. It will be my first time this year taking part in the night game, and it sounds like it will be a fun experience.

In other news, we are receiving updates from the States regarding the birth of our godson Aaron. We have been blessed with the opportunity to serve as godparents for our good friends Christopher and Rachel’s new child, and we are going to try to call them later today. It will be a true blessing to hear from them and hear the joy in their voices.

God bless,
David

Goodbye, My Brother

To many, Ian will be remembered as a valiant serviceman who risked his life to protect and serve those who never knew his name, to others he will be remembered as a caring friend who always lent an ear to those who needed it, but to me, he was the closest thing I ever knew to a brother. As with many brothers, we did not have a lot of shared interests or common hobbies, but our mutual history bound us together with ties of allegiance that ran deeper than the shallow conventions of modern friendship. When we talked, we would share our own perspectives, joys, and struggles, not looking to debate, but simply hoping to inform and share, as any two blood brothers would do. I think it was mutually understood that in any other life, we would not have grown close, but in this life, we were fated to have our lives intertwined in a fashion that we could never forget the other.

I met Ian when I was three years old living on Lamplight Drive. Nearly every day after elementary school throughout my time there, I would ask my mother if I could go play with Ian, and with her approval, I would knock meekly on the McConnell door and ask Elizabeth or Meg if Ian was available. Most of the time the answer was yes. It didn’t matter that Ian preferred building intricate Lego sets while I preferred throwing a baseball – we made concessions for one another and merely found joy in each other’s company. Over the years, our interests changed, but this reality remained. Over the past five years, Ian and I talked less and less, but it remained a priority to be in contact and update one another on any new adventures or turn of events. It was simply what you did with family. We would always leave each other with the same exchange – “Love you, brother.” ; “Love you too, man.”

Ian will always be preserved in these memories and he will never leave me. His stamp will always be on my life, and I couldn’t thank him more for this. I can only hope that my own life will mirror the loyalty, honesty, and kindness he has shown me. I will forever miss him and his company deeply.

For reasons I do not fully understand, God has brought me to France to serve Him for the months of July and August rather than be in the states with Ian’s family and friends. For reasons I also do not fully understand, God has permitted Ian to be taken from us. The only comfort I have is that God sorrowfully permitted this to advance a greater purpose. As Romans 8:28 states, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (NKJV)

If we accept the glorious and awesome from God, we must also be willing to mournfully accept the necessity of the painful and confusing. We are never promised any joy but the joy of knowing God is sovereign and working in all things. I don’t think we will ever know in this life how Ian’s death fits into God’s plans, but I know that in the end it will make sense.

Elizabeth and Meg, know that this is not your fault; rely on the Lord in all things and seek comfort in Him. Be honest with Him and seek Him in truth. He weeps with you over Ian’s passing, and desires to bring you peace beyond all understanding.

Goodbye, my friend. Goodbye, my brother. You were loved.

We have received terrible news from the States today. Please pray for us. Comment if you would like to receive a private message with more details.

It Begins!

Right now, I am sitting and listening to a camper activity going on below me in the Grand Chalet. As I hear the kids laugh and talk with one another, I am comforted with the knowledge that God grows His church regardless of age or circumstance. These campers are not afraid to ask tough questions, and as usual, the camp has given them an opportunity to ask them. Here is a sample of some of the many questions the campers submitted to the camp staff:

- What happens to infants who die? Why does God allow this?
- How can we know Christianity is right? What about Buddhism and Islam?
- Why does it seem that God is silent? Does He care about us? Why?
- Why does God allow disasters to happen?
- Why did God create us?
- My brother has skin disease. My family and church have been praying and fasting for years and exhausted medical resources. Why is he not cured?
- I recently read the book of Leviticus. Must we apply the laws God gave to Moses as Christians?
- Do you believe Jesus is God? Please prove it Biblically.

The final two questions are topics I have studied personally in recent years, and I feel blessed to have the opportunity to help campers dig deeper into Scripture and logic. I will be assisting in a small group discussion on the question of the Law, and a one-on-one discussion on Christ’s divinity. I am deeply encouraged (and also overwhelmed) by the depth of questioning these campers have. It is my firm belief that asking tough questions is one key way God grows our trust in Him. After all, if we are too afraid to ask the tough questions and genuinely seek truthful answers, how can we justifiably say we have faith to begin with? Would not being afraid to ask questions show a lack of faith? As such, I welcome such questions and subsequent times of intellectual trial – I know that without them in my life, I would have (at best) very shaky grounding for my faith. As my faith is my ultimate and guiding joy in life, I wouldn’t trade the pain and confusion I felt when asking those questions myself for the world.

In other news, my video workshop is going well, and we are on schedule thus far. Day one I showed the campers a film noir (Laura, from 1944) to give them a taste of the genre we would be making, and today, I taught them how to storyboard and use a camera to emphasize mood, meaning, and most importantly, continuity. Hopefully some of my teaching rubs off and we come out at the end of camp with a pretty good product. In any case, pray first and foremost that the campers would have the energy and focus to work diligently on the project and grow through the process. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and a lot could go wrong, so pray that we could be patient with one another, glorify God, and have fun at the same time.

Chelsea and the kitchen team are still churning out quality food for the campers, despite some hiccups along the way. Day one, we did not have the potatoes necessary for a side dish, and yesterday we were missing capers for Chicken Piccata, and in both cases, Chelsea had to improvise a solution. Per usual, the meals she created in lieu of her original menu turned out wonderfully. Also per usual, Dustin and Kelly were flexible and made what could have been a painful process into one of laughter and mutual joy. Chelsea is truly blessed to have two people so servant-hearted to work with her.

Camp Director Tom spoke on the doctrine of God this morning (Who is God?), and there is a full slate of topics to cover over the course of the two-week camp. Pray that God would move and soften hearts, giving us all the words to speak and an attitude worthy of Him.

God bless,
David

Team Building and Anticipation

The campers arrive tomorrow, and we have spent the last two days participating in orientation and preparation for the next two weeks. New volunteers (such as Kelly and Dustin) take in wise words about the differences between American and French culture, and everyone is busy planning events, games, and activities for the camp. For me, there is always a nervous excitement about these days, as expectations are a blank and you must trust that God will work in spite of your mishaps and miscalculations.

It has been great to get to know new people and reconnect with the old. One example of many: I spoke with David Curtis, who led the video workshop with me two years ago, and it was a true encouragement to hear what God is doing in his life. He previously worked as a full-time videographer, but when the economy turned south, much of his work was lost. As a result, he has been working as a tow-truck driver in addition to doing video projects part-time. He told us how God has used his situation for good, providing countless opportunities to share his faith with those he picks up on the side of the road. In his life, a bump in the road meant God could use him and push him in new ways. Him and his wife are working toward serving in French ministries full-time, and I couldn’t think of someone more suited for the job as God continues to grow and shape them.

In our work, we have been blessed thus far. I have been blessed with wonderful and talented helpers for the video workshop (a huge answered prayer), and just finished the workshop’s promotion video for the campers. Chelsea, Kelly, and Dustin have churned out four meals and are currently working on a fifth, to rave reviews. F.Y.I - Fried Chicken, Chana Masala (Chickpea Curry Dish), Pork Enchiladas with Pumpkin Seed Mole, Wild Rice and Turkey Salad, and tonight we get Beef Kabobs as a team. We will be taking pictures of all the food once camp starts and posting them here, so stay tuned. =)

Team Epikos on the whole is doing well. Kelly and Dustin have found a niche in the kitchen and made new friends, and Chelsea and I feel, in many ways, back at home. It is nice to be serving along side friends, especially when you are confident God has and will bless your work for Him.

Updates coming up next on the first days of camp. As always, pray that God would touch the hearts of the campers and give us the strength, patience, and joy to represent Him well. Camp director Tom said it well during today’s orientation – it isn’t about setting out to change lives, but simply dwelling in the loving presence of the Lord and letting Him change the lives of others through us. For something so comforting, it is easy to forget.

Traveling, Arriving and Preparing

Chelsea giving Dustin a tour of the camp.

The trip here was long and tedious, but we made it without a scratch. The only damage done was some leaked ginger oil and a torn bag of butterscotch chips – not too bad considering all the transfers we made. We spent countless hours waiting in Newark and Paris (possibly the least comfortable airport in the world), but now that we are here, our travel woes seem like a distant memory. We aren’t even jet-lagged! We were especially happy to see Dustin and Kelly (our fellow Epikosians) already at camp when we arrived. They had some trouble as well, but also made it without any harm done.

Being in crowded airports is always an overwhelming experience for me. Not only does my introversion make me anxious, but with so many people around me, my mind also wanders to our call in Christ to bring others to him. There are so many people in the world who need truth, and seeing them in mass is a humbling experience. We truly need to rely on God to change hearts, for the task is too big for us. I know that proselytizing while standing on an airport seat is not going to change lives, but I also know that the brief conversations I have in airports while waiting in lines can make small impacts on people’s lives. In Paris, we were blessed to meet two fellow travelers – a woman headed to Lyon for a photo workshop, and a man going to Lyon on business - and share our mission with them. I simply pray that our brief conversations represented Christ well, and hope that God does the rest.

Tomorrow is orientation and the rest of the volunteers will stream into camp throughout the day today. Chelsea and her team are just beginning preparations for their first meal, and then we are off and running. It has been an encouragement to see familiar faces, and I am confident God has something special prepared for this year’s English camp. Continue to pray for His Spirit to work powerfully in the hearts and minds of the campers, leaders, and volunteers.



God bless,
David

Saying Goodbye

After two full days of moving and one day of R&R, it has finally set in that we are in the Twin Cities for the long run. While this is where both Chelsea and I have always considered to be our true home and saw ourselves starting a family, saying goodbye to Epikos and the friends we had made in Milwaukee was one of the hardest things we have ever had to do together. While neither of us thought it to be possible, the people who God put into our lives in Milwaukee made us feel truly loved and at home. We were blessed to be able to see nearly everyone who made an impact on our lives over the past four years in this final week, and with every meeting, a new flood of happy Milwaukee memories came. Thank you all for loving us with the love of Christ and allowing God to work through you to grow our trust in His plans for us. I wouldn’t trade my time in Milwaukee for the world.

On my final day at work in Milwaukee, a sister in Christ reminded that no goodbye between fellow followers of Christ is truly a goodbye. We will indeed all see each other again whether it is in this life or in eternity with our God. This thought made moving away easier, as it reminded me that God will still be at work in the lives of my friends in Milwaukee, and Epikos will never be abandoned by our God until He brings us all to our true home with Him. I think many of us, and especially myself, become worried by change and become anxious with the thought of all the things that could go wrong without our help. Sinful pride is at the base of this anxiety, as it assumes we had anything to do with any success to begin with. Reminding myself that the same God who works in Chelsea and myself is working in all believers at Epikos is a humbling and encouraging thought. It would be foolish to doubt that I will continue to hear success stories from Milwaukee as the church continues to grow and bring new believers into God’s family. I pray that God will rise up new leaders equipped to fill needs and shepherd His flock. I know He will.

Pray that God would lead us in all aspects of our lives in Minnesota as we seek to follow Him and represent Him truly and faithfully. Pray that God would bring us to a church where our gifts, time, and money can be used to expand His Kingdom and glory. I am excited to see how God will answer our prayers and grow our trust in Him as the next period of our life begins.

One final note: thank you all for your amazing generosity in stewarding God’s resources to aid us in our call to France. We are just under our support-raising goal, and have been humbled once again by God’s work throughout this process. It is now time to start directing our hearts and minds to the campers in France, as we are only a week away from our trip. Know that God has answered prayer regarding the video workshop I will be heading up, and I will be working on fleshing out further story ideas today.

Thank you and God bless,
David (and Chelsea)

Answered Prayers

We are not usually prolific bloggers! But we had to share with you a fantastic answered prayer and an incredible weight lifted off our shoulders.

As we hinted at in the last blog, we were praying that our lease situation would work itself out. This was because our lease did not end until the August 31st, and we obviously could not afford to pay rent while we were in France. So we (and a handful of people here in Milwaukee) had been praying that someone would come along and rent our apartment.

Well, after a showing on Sunday, we felt really good about the guy who had seen it. He seemed nice and very interested. We had a lot of back in forth communication with him via text message about parking and other such things. We eventually worked something out, and he agreed to move in on Wednesday! (Telling us Tuesday afternoon). This leaves us free and clear from our lease and we get almost the entirety of our security deposit back! Praise God! We are so thankful for that and thankful for any and all prayers from you guys.

We are also so thankful that our good friends here, Jonathan and Katie, have graciously opened their home to us (and our cute-as-a-button cat, Lily) so that we are able to save money now to be able to pay down debt and be much better stewards of God's resources for us. We are incredibly grateful for their hospitality and we are having a great time with them - they are super laid back and easy to live with, another blessing.

It was amazing that Tuesday afternoon, the guy renting our place said, "Alright I applied", and within an hour we had 7 people at our apartment packing up with a uhaul and about 4 others waiting in the wings to help if we needed it. We were able to pack and move our entire apartment in just under five hours - incredible.

Additionally, although we had many many frequent flyer miles donated to us, the miles the trip was going to cost had jumped significantly last week, from 120,000 (for the both of us) to 160,000 to about 400,000! We had been praying a lot that the miles would come back down, and on Wednesday, they did! They went back down to 120,000 miles on Wednesday afternoon and we jumped on the tickets. There are long layovers everywhere we go, but we are just FINE with that! We can handle sitting in the airport a bit if we manage to get basically free flights!

Sometimes I doubt, but prayer truly works. As we have gotten on our knees these past few weeks, I am reminded by the grace of God and what a privilege it is to come and lay our petitions at His feet. He loves us so much.

God is truly blessing us. As we begin our final two weeks in Milwaukee tomorrow, we really reflect on this place as our home. Although we complain about it and get frustrated sometimes with things about this place, it has been our first place we called home as a couple, and it has meant so much to us. We love the people and the church so much, and it is finally starting to sadden us that we will be leaving. As people have rallied around us these past couple of weeks, we have realized how loved and blessed we are. Know that you all are loved right back. I am just gushing thinking of it all and again, how truly blessed we are.

We pray that you all would be equally blessed, and that the love of God would be revealed to you more fully than ever.

Raising Support

Good afternoon!

I thought today would be a good day to give you an update on our support raising and preparations for our travels to France this summer.

Currently, we have raised just over a third of the necessary support, so we have a bit of a ways to go, but we know that God is faithful and that He will provide. We have been working diligently at preparing what we are able to prepare before leaving.

I (Chelsea) have basically finished my menu for English camp, and will then send it to Brenda so we can tweak it together for family camp. Next, I will be preparing a list of all the orders for the entire time we are there, so that I can be prepared with ingredients on hand for each menu item.

David is currently preparing a layout and plot for the video he will be putting together with the campers in his workshop this summer. He has a couple of ideas for style, but needs a short (15 minute) plot idea that would allow for breaking down into short scenes that each camper can "direct." If you have any ideas, please let us know, we would love for you to be involved in the process! He is currently thinking in the style of "film noir" and would love for the theme to have something to do with Heaven/Hell and/or evangelism.

I would just like to thank all of our amazing supporters so far - the generosity has been astounding, and you all mean so much to us! Additionally, I just wanted to put in here that we were incredibly grateful for the letter written by Marc that we included in the support letters. It humbled us beyond belief, and amazed us that we were thought so highly of - we definitely do not deserve such praise in the least. Hopefully, we can continue to be both humbled and encouraged in the journey. We are so thankful to be heading back to work for the furthering of the gospel of Jesus Christ once again.

Continue to pray for us and for the hearts of both the servers and the French people we will be touching. Pray that God continues to reveal Himself to all of them and all of us.

Also, if you would just say a prayer that we continue to raise support and that our lease situation works itself out.

May you all be enormously blessed this week.

We love you.

A New Year and a Transition

This July will mark our third year going to France for missions and our third wedding anniversary. Of course, this year will be a little bit different. While in past years we have gone only to serve at Youth Camp, this summer the staff have invited us to spend over seven weeks with them, serving for youth camp, young adult camp, and family camp. They had no one to run the kitchen for family camp and asked Chelsea to do so. It seemed to work out, in God's perfect timing for us to go.

This summer will be a transitional period for us. We have spent the last four years living, attending school, working, and worshiping in Milwaukee. It has been an incredible four years, especially because God brought us to epikos, a church on the east side that we love dearly and will sorely miss. There, we have made quite a few cherished friends, we call them a family, and we have gotten truly plugged in, serving in several capacities. Beyond that, we love to worship there, pray there, and listen to the Word there - it truly is an incredible place and is our favorite part of Milwaukee. However, in the fall both of us have been accepted to graduate school in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Because of school and the fact that both of our entire extended families live there, we have chosen to return. We will be moving our things in June and then we will return from France at the end of August and just live there. That is why it seems as though His timing is perfect for us to fill the need at camp this summer.


So, we will be continuing this blog this summer, starting now, updating you all in our support rairing process and team building process before we leave, and then throughout camp (our goal is nightly or at least every other night). Instead of explaining what we are doing, we would like to share with you then what is going on with the kids (adults, families) at camp and what the camp is doing to help the kids (adults, families) grow in their faith. This year, for English camp, two others from epikos are joining Chelsea in the kitchen, per the needs for a kitchen team. Pray for us as we build a sort of "epikos France" team.

Please join us in prayer as we begin the process of going and support raising once again and as we prepare our hearts, minds, and bodies for service once again.