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
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Thursday, August 18, 2011
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
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
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
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
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
Monday, August 8, 2011
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
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
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