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

Photos from yesterday/today

We did some water games yesterday, here are some highlights!

Mackenna shared her testimony also, here's a photo! She did a wonderful job, and the story of God working in her life is one that is very applicable to many campers here. She was translated by Marie, one of the French counselors.

After the lake today, we all put our wet clothes and towels out to dry. It was a great day!

Here is Kurtis and Jonathan Douib, hanging out before dinner.

Please be in prayer for 2 French girls who have decided to quit smoking during camp. They are finding it more difficult than they had hoped. Pray for the difficulties in their life which make them feel like they need to smoke, and that they would turn to God to heal them!

Thank you for your prayers and support. Tomorrow we will be playing a game that the French ICers have put together. We will also hear Sarah's testimony, and Liz will give the talk on Jacob wrestling with God. 

--Monica

Lake day!

Hey everyone! 

Today was our 3rd full day of camp, and we went off-site for an adventure! We visited a local lake  and spent most of the day there. For the first hour, we rented paddleboats and took them out to the middle of the lake where we swam, jumped off the boats, slid down the slides on the boats, threw frisbees, and had a grand old time. Then, we spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the water, relaxing on the private beach, and getting to know each other better. It was a great way to build and strengthen relationships, in addition to getting to cool off from the heat! Please continue to pray for our endurance in the heat, since it hit close to 105 degrees today! Many of us are sunburnt and struggling with dehydration (but all still safe, don't worry!), so your prayers are really appreciated. Please pray especially that we would still be able to reach out to the French campers, which isn't easy with how tiring the heat is. 

Now we are getting ready for our large-group meeting, which was moved to tonight since our adventure took up most of the day. As I'm writing this, I'm listening to the worship team practicing songs in both French and English. The bilingual worship has been one of my favorite parts of camp, and I love getting to see so many people from different cultures praising God together. 

Please keep praying for the health of our team and the campers, that relationships would continue forming and growing, that God would be working in both the hearts of the French campers and our own hearts, and that each and every camper would feel welcome and accepted here at camp.

We love you all!

Victoria

Hi!

Today is our second full day at camp TED with the campers here. Already we are tired and slightly dehydrated, but still having an amazing time. This is my third year here at Champflueri and every time it is better than I remember it. If you have looked at the weather forecast for Lyon France recently you will see that is it very war. VERY WARM*. Yesterday I believe it reached easily 100 degrees. Because of this we could really use prayers for us al to stay healthy and energetic. My favorite part of camp so far is getting to know all of the new Frenchies (French kids) and any time I get to stand by a fan. A couple Boston girls have gotten sick the past couple days, most likely due to dehydration, so pray they become better. Every year the thing I like the most about coming to Champflueri is the atmosphere of love and friendship and just genuine happiness for everyone to be together. I can feel that starting to form, and I can't wait. 

Some final prayers: 

-Health

-rest!

-HEAT RELATED PRAYERS 

-that every French kid can have someone to talk to and love them. That connections could be made with everyone. 

Loving it here and everyone I'm with.

-Mady