My apologies friends, but I am still working on finishing this blog. Since it's been two weeks though, I figured you should at least be able to read all about my adventures! Photos (and hopefully videos) will be soon to follow. Thank you for all of your prayers and support!
~Trish
Saturday, June 21, 2014
What/who is VISION anyway?
VISION is a singing/drama ministry at San Diego Christian college! An audition-based team of (usually) 10-12 students and a staff director, VISION learns songs and dramas throughout the school year, performs at local churches to raise support during their second semester, and at the end of the year (usually two or three days after graduation takes place) flies to a different country to minister to the people there. Not only do we sing songs in English, but we also learn several songs in the language of the people we are going to. In addition, our dramas are pantomimes set to music, which allows them to cross the language barrier. This year (as always) our staff director was Larry Wilson, our student leader was Jake Coffin, Malachi Briggs was our tech man, and I had the privilege of being the team drama trainer. Below is a picture of our team taken on our lovely new Santee campus. :) Click on the picture if you want to see a larger version.
Days 1-2 - May 21st-22nd - Wednesday and Thursday
Our journey started off a little rough... after our six hour flight to Newark we had a two hour planned layover, but once we got on the plane, we had mechanical issues right before takeoff. We waited on the plane for about three hours while they tried to figure out what exactly was wrong and whether we could still fly (apparently it had something to do with the landing gear), then they asked us to deplane. We waited for about an hour (thankfully they did give us meal vouchers), then reboarded and waited for another hour and a half before our seven hour flight finally departed. Seems like "somebody" doesn't want us in France, haha! God must be on the move. :)
Once we landed in Brussels, Belgium (around 1:00pm on Thursday) we met Kevin and Debbie, our primary hosts. They are a fantastic couple from El Cajon who have been working with BLF for years. We only met them today, and we already love them! They drove us to the Bibles and Literature in France (BLF) office where we met all of the missionaries there. Nathan and Annie are a young American couple who were called to France separately, then met and married and continue to help with BLF. Sarah and Florence are around our age, and they are both French native. Philip Kapitaniuk is another French native, while his wife Heidi is an American. While gathered in an upstairs room to snack on tasty French food, Philip told us about our mission as a team. He told us that our main goal is not to do office work or help with building, which we will be doing throughout the week, but rather to see the deep spiritual needs of France and take that knowledge back to the States and tell others. Aside from just giving details of our trip, this is my goal with this blog! Philip told us that in a workplace of 1,000 people, it would be extremely surprising if even one of them were a Christian. The people of France are hardened against God, and they are taught carefully to avoid "cults", as they consider Christianity to be. Only 1.8% of people in France are Christians... please be praying that the number grows!
To keep us awake, Nathan took us on a walk up a little hill to a windmill - the Moulin d'Marpent - just so we could see what a real windmill looked like. However, upon our arrival, an older man (the owner of the mill, who happened to be sitting outside his house across the street) asked if we'd like to see inside! He took us up to the top of the mill, showed us how it worked, told us all about its history (all in French - Nathan translated for us), then took us back down to the tiny gift shop in its base. We sang for his and his family there, and they gave us a few souvenirs - a baseball cap, a pen, one of the original shingles from the roof which was re-shingled several years ago; and in case you ever wondered, the mill has 8,000 shingles on the roof and the rotating top alone weighs sixteen tons. :) Even better, we got to tell them where we were from, what we were doing here, and invite them to come to church on Sunday! When we got back to BLF, the others were shocked and amazed that we received such a welcome; even though the others have been there for years and know the family, they have never had such an experience with them. God is already opening doors for us (and BLF after we leave) to share about Him!
After our adventure we drove back to the flat, had dinner, and walked around a little park down the street from the flat. Lovely first day - now off to bed!
Once we landed in Brussels, Belgium (around 1:00pm on Thursday) we met Kevin and Debbie, our primary hosts. They are a fantastic couple from El Cajon who have been working with BLF for years. We only met them today, and we already love them! They drove us to the Bibles and Literature in France (BLF) office where we met all of the missionaries there. Nathan and Annie are a young American couple who were called to France separately, then met and married and continue to help with BLF. Sarah and Florence are around our age, and they are both French native. Philip Kapitaniuk is another French native, while his wife Heidi is an American. While gathered in an upstairs room to snack on tasty French food, Philip told us about our mission as a team. He told us that our main goal is not to do office work or help with building, which we will be doing throughout the week, but rather to see the deep spiritual needs of France and take that knowledge back to the States and tell others. Aside from just giving details of our trip, this is my goal with this blog! Philip told us that in a workplace of 1,000 people, it would be extremely surprising if even one of them were a Christian. The people of France are hardened against God, and they are taught carefully to avoid "cults", as they consider Christianity to be. Only 1.8% of people in France are Christians... please be praying that the number grows!
To keep us awake, Nathan took us on a walk up a little hill to a windmill - the Moulin d'Marpent - just so we could see what a real windmill looked like. However, upon our arrival, an older man (the owner of the mill, who happened to be sitting outside his house across the street) asked if we'd like to see inside! He took us up to the top of the mill, showed us how it worked, told us all about its history (all in French - Nathan translated for us), then took us back down to the tiny gift shop in its base. We sang for his and his family there, and they gave us a few souvenirs - a baseball cap, a pen, one of the original shingles from the roof which was re-shingled several years ago; and in case you ever wondered, the mill has 8,000 shingles on the roof and the rotating top alone weighs sixteen tons. :) Even better, we got to tell them where we were from, what we were doing here, and invite them to come to church on Sunday! When we got back to BLF, the others were shocked and amazed that we received such a welcome; even though the others have been there for years and know the family, they have never had such an experience with them. God is already opening doors for us (and BLF after we leave) to share about Him!
After our adventure we drove back to the flat, had dinner, and walked around a little park down the street from the flat. Lovely first day - now off to bed!
Day 3 - May 23rd - Friday
Today we worked at BLF! The boys split up to either help with yardwork or build a second story on top of the office inside BLF, while the girls split up to pack Sunday School materials to ship to Africa, place bookmarks in and package the five books of the manga Bible into one set, or paint/varnish pieces of wood that will make up the trim for doorways and windows once the building is complete (that was my solitary job). We worked from about 9-4, then Kevin and Debbie took us to a Belgian outdoor market for about an hour. Once home we ate dinner and had a magnificent dessert of Belgian waffles with ice cream! Since tomorrow we'll be touring Paris and church is the next day, we took the time tonight after
dinner to rehearse in our performance space. After rehearsal it was straight to bed - tomorrow is going to be an early day!
dinner to rehearse in our performance space. After rehearsal it was straight to bed - tomorrow is going to be an early day!
Day 4 - May 24th - Saturday
Today was Paris touring day! We left the flat around 6am for the speed train station, where Philip and Heidi Kapitaniuk met us with their friend Noemy. After a two hour train ride through the country, we headed straight to the Eiffel tower. We climbed to the second story, took pictures, looked around, then got onto a "Big Red Bus" tour! We rode around the city on the second story of the double-decker bus, while the voice in the headphones they provided told us about the history and significance of the sights we passed.
My favorite part of the day happened when Philip rushed us off the bus at one of its stops and took us up the stairs of a huge mall nearby. We ascended all the way to the roof, where we were directly across from another rooftop... one bedecked with a statue of a rearing horse with outstretched wings... the same statue that the Phantom of the Opera ran up on to sing/yell from after spying on Christine and Raoul on the rooftop! :D I have been in love with the story of The Phantom of the Opera for about seven years, and today I got to see the outside of the Palais Garnier, where the story takes place and much of the 2004 movie was filmed! SO MUCH HAPPY.
After we spent some time on the roof (taking lots of pictures and with me basically dying of excitement), we got back on the next Red Bus and viewed some more of the local sights. We stopped for lunch, then traveled to Notre Dame cathedral (which all of us lovers of Disney's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" were pretty much thrilled to death to explore). We then stopped by the Arc d'Triomphe (August Rush, anyone?) and headed from there to Montmartre, where we took in the gorgeous view then split up to do some shopping. When our day finally came to a close, we boarded the train and (thanks to the magic of headphone splitters, two pairs of headphones, and my tablet) Jenna, Danny, Jake, and I watched The Hunchback of Notre Dame for most of the ride home. :) It was so neat to see all the places we had just been (Notre Dame, the Palace of Justice, the city streets) in cartoon form! The artists did an incredible job on that movie, by the way. It's amazing. Once home, after a quick dinner of cheese, pate, and crackers, we headed to bed. Tomorrow is church!
My favorite part of the day happened when Philip rushed us off the bus at one of its stops and took us up the stairs of a huge mall nearby. We ascended all the way to the roof, where we were directly across from another rooftop... one bedecked with a statue of a rearing horse with outstretched wings... the same statue that the Phantom of the Opera ran up on to sing/yell from after spying on Christine and Raoul on the rooftop! :D I have been in love with the story of The Phantom of the Opera for about seven years, and today I got to see the outside of the Palais Garnier, where the story takes place and much of the 2004 movie was filmed! SO MUCH HAPPY.
After we spent some time on the roof (taking lots of pictures and with me basically dying of excitement), we got back on the next Red Bus and viewed some more of the local sights. We stopped for lunch, then traveled to Notre Dame cathedral (which all of us lovers of Disney's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" were pretty much thrilled to death to explore). We then stopped by the Arc d'Triomphe (August Rush, anyone?) and headed from there to Montmartre, where we took in the gorgeous view then split up to do some shopping. When our day finally came to a close, we boarded the train and (thanks to the magic of headphone splitters, two pairs of headphones, and my tablet) Jenna, Danny, Jake, and I watched The Hunchback of Notre Dame for most of the ride home. :) It was so neat to see all the places we had just been (Notre Dame, the Palace of Justice, the city streets) in cartoon form! The artists did an incredible job on that movie, by the way. It's amazing. Once home, after a quick dinner of cheese, pate, and crackers, we headed to bed. Tomorrow is church!
Day 5 - May 25 - Sunday
This morning we performed for the church attached to the flat we're staying in, and Nathan sat behind us and translated during the sermon. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming! They were really touched by our performances too, especially by the "Everything" drama. After church we went outside and played "Asparagus" with the kids - I put the rules at the bottom of this post in case you're interested. Makes a great youth group or icebreaker game! Once we had played a few rounds we headed in for lunch, then Kevin took us to Ouvrage La Salmagne, where we got a full guided tour of an underground bunker that had been used during the Battle of France in 1940.
Once we returned to the flat, we ate dinner and then had a few hours to chill before bed. Some of us took a walk, while others played guitar and sang. You'd definitely never guess that we're a musical group. ;) Got to bed around 11:30; tomorrow we work at BLF!
The rules of Asparagus:
Setup: Players must be in an open area with some room to run and in possession of a ball (preferably a dodgeball or foursquare ball). While a larger group of participants is preferred, there must be at least three players for gameplay to proceed.
Gameplay: One players holds a ball, while the others gather around him. That player throws the ball straight into the air and yells another player's name, then runs out of the way while the person whose name is called attempts to catch the ball before it hits the ground. If that person succeeds in catching it, he then throws the ball into the air and yells another name, and so on. If the player whose name was called misses, he must chase the ball while the other players scatter away from him. Once he has regained the ball, he must yell "Freeze!" and the others must comply. He is then allowed three steps in any direction, at which point he must attempt to hit one of the frozen players with the ball. Frozen players cannot move their feet, or else they are automatically "out". However, they may move the rest of their bodies. As long as their feet remain planted where they froze, they may dodge throws aimed at their upper body. If the ball hits the frozen player, that player is "out". If it misses, the thrower is "out". Gameplay resumes with either the thrower or "throwee", whichever is not "out", regaining the ball and throwing it for someone else to catch.
Being "out": Once a player is "out", he remains on the field with his feet planted exactly where they were when he "got out". Other players may use him as a shield to protect them from a player who missed the ball. In addition, as long as his feet remain planted, he may move about to block the ball if it is thrown in his direction, in order to protect other "live" players.
Winning: The last player to remain unfrozen wins!
Once we returned to the flat, we ate dinner and then had a few hours to chill before bed. Some of us took a walk, while others played guitar and sang. You'd definitely never guess that we're a musical group. ;) Got to bed around 11:30; tomorrow we work at BLF!
The rules of Asparagus:
Setup: Players must be in an open area with some room to run and in possession of a ball (preferably a dodgeball or foursquare ball). While a larger group of participants is preferred, there must be at least three players for gameplay to proceed.
Gameplay: One players holds a ball, while the others gather around him. That player throws the ball straight into the air and yells another player's name, then runs out of the way while the person whose name is called attempts to catch the ball before it hits the ground. If that person succeeds in catching it, he then throws the ball into the air and yells another name, and so on. If the player whose name was called misses, he must chase the ball while the other players scatter away from him. Once he has regained the ball, he must yell "Freeze!" and the others must comply. He is then allowed three steps in any direction, at which point he must attempt to hit one of the frozen players with the ball. Frozen players cannot move their feet, or else they are automatically "out". However, they may move the rest of their bodies. As long as their feet remain planted where they froze, they may dodge throws aimed at their upper body. If the ball hits the frozen player, that player is "out". If it misses, the thrower is "out". Gameplay resumes with either the thrower or "throwee", whichever is not "out", regaining the ball and throwing it for someone else to catch.
Being "out": Once a player is "out", he remains on the field with his feet planted exactly where they were when he "got out". Other players may use him as a shield to protect them from a player who missed the ball. In addition, as long as his feet remain planted, he may move about to block the ball if it is thrown in his direction, in order to protect other "live" players.
Winning: The last player to remain unfrozen wins!
Day 6 - May 26th - Monday
We left for the BLF office around 8:30 this morning. I woke up with a little bit of a stuffy nose/sore throat this morning, so I thought it might be better to stay away from the paint fumes for a bit; Danny took over my painting job, while I helped a few other girls pack some Sunday school materials into boxes to ship to Africa! I felt better later in the morning, and since we had quite a few working on the boxes and Danny had a lot of wood to paint, I rejoined the painting committee with her. It was so fun getting to know her better!
After we stopped for lunch, we left BLF and drove to Flander's Fields, an American cemetery in Belgium; also the setting of the famous poem by the same name. An American named Chris told us the history of the place and let us into the chapel, even allowing us to sing the National Anthem there! (See video below.) It was an amazing opportunity to be in such an important place on Memorial Day.
After driving back to France, we went to Philip and Heidi Kapitaniuk's house for dinner! While the food cooked we got to play with their kids in the huge barn they converted into a playroom. After a few rounds of Ping Pong Extreme, Heidi served us an INCREDIBLE meal, complete with escargot! By the way, after trying it for the first tonight, I have decided that escargot is probably my favorite food. Ever. After dinner we sang a few songs for them, hung out a little more, then finally said our goodbyes and headed back to the flat for the night. Tomorrow is another BLF day!
After we stopped for lunch, we left BLF and drove to Flander's Fields, an American cemetery in Belgium; also the setting of the famous poem by the same name. An American named Chris told us the history of the place and let us into the chapel, even allowing us to sing the National Anthem there! (See video below.) It was an amazing opportunity to be in such an important place on Memorial Day.
After driving back to France, we went to Philip and Heidi Kapitaniuk's house for dinner! While the food cooked we got to play with their kids in the huge barn they converted into a playroom. After a few rounds of Ping Pong Extreme, Heidi served us an INCREDIBLE meal, complete with escargot! By the way, after trying it for the first tonight, I have decided that escargot is probably my favorite food. Ever. After dinner we sang a few songs for them, hung out a little more, then finally said our goodbyes and headed back to the flat for the night. Tomorrow is another BLF day!
Post by Larry Wilson.
Day 7 - May 27th - Tuesday
Today we worked at BLF all day, finishing up our work from the last week. Danny and I finally completed the trim pieces we were working on, with some help from the wonderful Laura Kapitaniuk. :) Our goodbye (to all the BLF staff) was long and sad... we took pictures with them, they gave us some free copies of the books our team worked to package this week, and we said our farewells.
When we got home we had a crepe dinner with Francoise, the woman who helped us translate some of our songs and remotely helped us with pronunciation when we were state-side. After dinner she shared
her testimony with us, then she went over our songs with us and fine-tuned some of our sloppy pronunciation.
After Francoise left we retired to our rooms to pack. Jenna and Danny and I had some fantastic girl talk during/after packing; I am so blessed to have roomed with these magnificent people for a whole week! Tomorrow we head for Douai. For now, sleep!
When we got home we had a crepe dinner with Francoise, the woman who helped us translate some of our songs and remotely helped us with pronunciation when we were state-side. After dinner she shared
her testimony with us, then she went over our songs with us and fine-tuned some of our sloppy pronunciation.
After Francoise left we retired to our rooms to pack. Jenna and Danny and I had some fantastic girl talk during/after packing; I am so blessed to have roomed with these magnificent people for a whole week! Tomorrow we head for Douai. For now, sleep!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)