Aller-Retour

With most of the team back home safe in Boston* our blogging here will come to an end. Thank you to all who kept up with our adventures! We look forward to sharing more photos and stories with you via Facebook and at the missions night at Immanuel. Here are a few more photos!

Liz giving a great talk on Jacob wrestling with God. Marie translating. Thanks Marie! Well done ladies!

Some hand art

From our Red Carpet Night. We might post the videos they created--they were pretty stellar!

A few more shots of everyone all dolled up!

Here's our wall of campers -- shout out to Hannah who took all the photos and arranged them! Please continue to pray for all of these lovely people. It was hard to say goodbye, but we know that God goes with them even as they leave camp. We can pray that He will continue to draw them closer, and that we will be able to continue our relationship through the marvelous wonders of the internet. We live in the future!! And we look forward to spending forever with them one day as well : )

*Jared is staying with Sylouan for a week visiting his family and Paris, Micah is staying on at Champfleuri on staff and then going on a missions trip with Thierry Mirone, and I am staying in London visiting Mary Cote for a few days.

Thanks again for all of your prayers and support. We love talking about this trip and this place, so if you get the chance, please ask any of us about it! And then prepare yourself for a few hours of stories, laughter, and tears.


A bientôt.

--Monica

We're already crying. :(

Today is the last full day of camp TED. It's been an amazing couple of weeks here, and we are not ready for it to end. One of my favorite parts of camp has been the daily devotionals every morning because we take time to pray for every camper, counselor, and staff member. We split up into groups and each pray for 4 or 5 people. I don't particularly like to pray out loud, but it amazes me that God can listen to multiple prayers, in multiple languages at the same time and that he cares and wants to spend time with all of us. 

Yesterday we were able to watch the Camp Made Movie Trailers. We had a red carpet entrance, complete with a live feed to the theater. Everyone dressed up fancily and it was a very nice evening. After the movie trailers, we had a very powerful worship session. The songs picked had everyone in the room jumping around and dancing for God. After that we heard a testimony/short talk from Joel B about living life as a Christian outside of the whole "church" bubble. 

Today Monica talked about how God wants you to come home to him, and how He will come back for you. She used examples of teens who run away from home, believing that they are not wanted, when in reality the biggest thing their parents want is just for them to come home and be safe. This is the same for God, no matter how much we think we might disappoint Him, He never turns his back on us and will always welcome us back like nothing has happened. 

Tonight we have TED's Got Talent, and afterwards the dance partayyyyyyyyyyy. Let's hope for a great final day at camp! Woooooooooooooooooooo

-Amber and Max

Nearing the End!

Hey everyone!

     
     Today is our 9th day of camp and so far its been my personal best year yet! I've been maturing relationships I made in past years as well as making many new ones along the way. Looking back, its hard to realize that we only have 3 or so days of camp left. Last I checked, it was only our 5 day of camp! Time flies when you're having fun. Yesterday we got back from our big hike. There were 3 groups for the hike; the first group would be hiking for 5 hours, the second for 3, and the third for 2. I thought I would go on the second one because it would be pretty easy. Thomas, one of the staff at camp told us we would only be ascending the mountain for 45 minutes. What we didn't know was that Thomas is military crazy, and that 45 minutes to him is like 2 hours for us. Basically we spent the day hiking upwards at a 45 degree angle having to climb with our hands because the ground was too slippery. It was rewarding however, because we got a great view from the top.

   
      Today was a pretty low key day, everyone was exhausted and just took it easy. Tonight is our night of non musical worship. The staff set up all sorts of stations where you can read Bible verses or reflect on the beauty of god in pictures. I'm preparing myself for lots of tears, because they always flow like a river. Pray that God will work in the hearts of the campers tonight. I know He is doing His work here.

--Jared

Overnight camping TED stylee

Yesterday we began the day with a message about Moses and the 10 commandments from Juliette, one of the French counselors. She passionately reminded us that God desires to have a personal relationship with us. She also went through the commandments, looking at how each one is an opportunity to thank God for what He has done for us. They are a set of rules for a freed people so they can return their love to the one who freed them! How beautiful!

After that we loaded up the buses and went to the high ropes course. We were able to explore the different levels (green, blue, red, and black). Many were challenging--and a lot of fun!

We then had dinner and a campfire where we sang some songs and Yannick, one of the French counselors, gave his testimony. He shared with us how he became a Christian at TED when he was 17. Now he is living for the Lord, participating in a Christian group on his university campus (similar to Cru or Intervaristy) and is a counselor at TED. As someone who has known Yannick since he was a teenager, it was incredibly moving to hear about how God has been at work in his life!

Here are some photos of our time around the fire:

Now we are back at camp and ready to jump back in to all the excitement of life at TED.

Pray for energy and time away with the Lord for all of our team. It's a busy push to the end, but we want to make sure we enjoy it--and have God at the center!

--Monica

Hi-hi-hike!

We are going to a high ropes course today, sleeping out overnight, and then hiking tomorrow. Pray for us, for safety and for relationships to be built! This is a big opportunity for us to get to know new people and continue to know people more.

Look forward to some updates from campers upon our return tomorrow!

--Monica

Update

Thank you all for your prayers.

One of our team members spent the night at the hospital getting some tests done. She is resting now and back at camp. With new medicine we are hoping and praying for the best!

Please continue to lift us up as we go on our overnight tomorrow night. Also for continued health and safety, as a few others among us are feeling under the weather.

Love to you all! More photos and updates to come later today.

--Monica

Cool Days are Here Again

Hello Everyone!

Today was the first day it wasn't burning hot (I actually put a sweater on). I think everyone is relieved that it is starting to cool down and we are all praying that it stays that way. In our big group game this morning we played a game where people had to grab streamers off of other people. It was a lot of fun, but it was very dangerous and a lot of people went to see Nurse Donna afterward. Lizzy did a fantastic job preaching on Jacob wrestling with God and how God invites us all to wrestle with Him.

I think we are all enjoying our time here and am seeing God work in the camp. My favorite part of the day is when we start our big group meeting in worship. I love it because we sing in both English and French and it is a good reminder of how God speaks all languages and how even with the language barrier between us, we can still all worship together.

We are starting to get to the point where everyone starts to get tired so pray that we will energy and stay positive. Please pray that we have the courage to go outside of our comfort zones to talk to new people.

Love you all!
Sarah