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!
Day 8 - May 28th - Wednesday
Today we traveled from Fiegnies to Douai for the second half of our ministry. We stopped in Arras on the way to do a little bit of touring. First we wandered through a small market in the main square, then traveled up the town bell tower to check out the view. That ended up being the setting for our traditional VISION picture! We planned to see the caves below the bell tower too, but as the tour wasn't available for a few hours we drove to Vimy (a Canadian WWI memorial) to kill some time. Luke and Danny, our two resident "Canadians", were absolutely thrilled! When it was time, we went back to the bell tower and toured the caves, which were originally used for mining but became storage areas for merchants when the ground above became too heavily populated for mining to be safe. The caves were filled with lovely sculpted garden areas as part of an annual attraction. Awesome stuff!
Around seven we arrived at Douai and met our France Pour Christ hosts, Sam and Mary; their teenage son, Florian; and their 16-mo. daughter, Esther. There are also three other people living with them who volunteer at the coffee shop they run as a ministry, L'Equitable (literally translated Free Trade). We have a huge variety of nationalities and languages here! Sam is French, Mary is Scottish, Priscilla is German, Tabea is... I think Swiss and German? And Ephraim is Swiss and Bolivian. All of them speak English to some degree, along with French and their home language. Also to be joining us soon is a German man named Heiko who speaks FIVE languages, including German, English, and French, all of which he is mostly fluent in, and Chinese, and Hindi, which he is still learning. According to Sam, learning multiple languages is required in schools (including English), but almost everyone essentially forgets all that they learned by the time they reach adulthood. This is why our French songs are so important! Looking forward to doing ministry here. For now, bedtime in the upstairs room all the VISION girls share. :)
Around seven we arrived at Douai and met our France Pour Christ hosts, Sam and Mary; their teenage son, Florian; and their 16-mo. daughter, Esther. There are also three other people living with them who volunteer at the coffee shop they run as a ministry, L'Equitable (literally translated Free Trade). We have a huge variety of nationalities and languages here! Sam is French, Mary is Scottish, Priscilla is German, Tabea is... I think Swiss and German? And Ephraim is Swiss and Bolivian. All of them speak English to some degree, along with French and their home language. Also to be joining us soon is a German man named Heiko who speaks FIVE languages, including German, English, and French, all of which he is mostly fluent in, and Chinese, and Hindi, which he is still learning. According to Sam, learning multiple languages is required in schools (including English), but almost everyone essentially forgets all that they learned by the time they reach adulthood. This is why our French songs are so important! Looking forward to doing ministry here. For now, bedtime in the upstairs room all the VISION girls share. :)
Day 9 - May 29 - Thursday
After our 8am breakfast, we watched a PowerPoint presentation from Franz (a France Pour Christ guy who I think attends Sam's church) about what they do here in France with their ministry. After that we performed all of our songs and dramas for them so that they could determine what would work best in the various places we're going. Lunch happened next, and that was a huge treat for me personally! Ephraim sat next to me, and although he's Swiss, his dad is Bolivian. This means that he is totally fluent in Spanish. :D For those who don't know, I took four years of Spanish in high school and I got to brush up on my skills on the VISION trip to Spain last year, so I can speak Spanish fairly well. I'm not fluent by any means, but it was definitely easier (and way more fun) to communicate in Spanish with him than in his limited English or my non-existent French.
After lunch I reviewed one of our more difficult dramas with part of our team, then we headed out the door around two to attend a baptism service. We performed a full set for the service and got to witness the baptism of a fairly new believer, which is a huge deal in France! We stuck around for the church barbeque afterward, and didn't get home until around 9. No idea what the plan is for tomorrow! We'll find out. :)
After lunch I reviewed one of our more difficult dramas with part of our team, then we headed out the door around two to attend a baptism service. We performed a full set for the service and got to witness the baptism of a fairly new believer, which is a huge deal in France! We stuck around for the church barbeque afterward, and didn't get home until around 9. No idea what the plan is for tomorrow! We'll find out. :)
Day 10 - May 30th - Friday
After breakfast, Guy (an awesome French Canadian missionary we met at the baptism) gave us a PowerPoint presentation on how the mythology of other cultures lends proof to the stories of the Bible. Pretty cool stuff. After that, we walked to a plaza by a fountain and set up our sound system to do street ministry. That in itself was a huge God thing... we weren't supposed to be able to have electricity for our sound system to run off of out there, but right before we were about to go out the door, a city official called to invite Sam to a music festival thing that Douai has going on later in the month. Sam mentioned that he had a musical group with him right now and that they were planning on singing in the plaza, and she offered (as the owner of a nearby shop) to provide electricity so we could run our music tracks! Amazing. Another awesome surprise was waiting for us when we reached the plaza... the team from BLF had come to watch us perform and hang out with us! :D We performed to full-length sets in the plaza, with Sam wandering about talking with the audience and passing out invitations to our performance at his coffeehouse tonight. We took a break after our second set and broke up into pairs to do prayer walks in the area, then performed one more set before packing up.
Once we left the plaza, we headed back to L'Equitable and hung out for a couple of hours while we waited for our nighttime performance. When the time came, we had a completely full house and a few people watching from outside! What an incredible ministry opportunity! We performed a full set for the audience, and later we heard really good feedback from Sam. He said that several people were touched by the fact that we learned to sing in French, even though we clearly couldn't speak French (we sort of butchered our introductions, haha... all we had to remember was "Je m'appelle *name here*, Je viens d' *where we were from*", but it was definitely a struggle for most of us. We got a lot of good laughs out of our intro section.)
After our performance, we hung out and sung and played around with Sarah, Florence, Nathan, and Annie until they had to leave. So sad saying goodbye to them again, but it was so much fun to have them with us all day! Then we headed home ourselves and got to bed.
Once we left the plaza, we headed back to L'Equitable and hung out for a couple of hours while we waited for our nighttime performance. When the time came, we had a completely full house and a few people watching from outside! What an incredible ministry opportunity! We performed a full set for the audience, and later we heard really good feedback from Sam. He said that several people were touched by the fact that we learned to sing in French, even though we clearly couldn't speak French (we sort of butchered our introductions, haha... all we had to remember was "Je m'appelle *name here*, Je viens d' *where we were from*", but it was definitely a struggle for most of us. We got a lot of good laughs out of our intro section.)
After our performance, we hung out and sung and played around with Sarah, Florence, Nathan, and Annie until they had to leave. So sad saying goodbye to them again, but it was so much fun to have them with us all day! Then we headed home ourselves and got to bed.
Day 11 – May 31st – Saturday
After spending an hour or so in Douai to “sightsee” (i.e. wander around), we drove to Lille and went to Andre’s for lunch and a quick presentation introducing us to his ministry and life and such. He took us to a metro station where his people regularly pass out tracts and had us perform there. We had no sound, so our set was very limited. We did a few songs accompanied by Jake’s acoustic guitar, but the few dramas we did were completely silent. After every two or three songs or skits, Andre would step up and preach to the crowd while his friends passed out literature. A few people stopped to watch a whole set, and many took literature.
After we left the metro, we went to do a bit of ministry in another town that I really can’t discuss here. Let’s just say that God is moving in a ministry in which believers engage the unsaved through personal interaction and only share the gospel when they are asked about their lives or faith. If the French were to find out what this ministry is really about, they would stop going to this location or engaging in conversation with the people who serve there. However, through the method they use, seeds are being planted, and a few have even come to Christ! We performed in this location to draw attention to the missionaries’ ministry location, but we performed only secular songs using a keyboard, guitar, violin, and a couple of mics. It was a lot of fun to work with these enthusiastic people who are so zealous for the souls of their people! After a couple of hours there we went home to Douai, finished for the day.
After we left the metro, we went to do a bit of ministry in another town that I really can’t discuss here. Let’s just say that God is moving in a ministry in which believers engage the unsaved through personal interaction and only share the gospel when they are asked about their lives or faith. If the French were to find out what this ministry is really about, they would stop going to this location or engaging in conversation with the people who serve there. However, through the method they use, seeds are being planted, and a few have even come to Christ! We performed in this location to draw attention to the missionaries’ ministry location, but we performed only secular songs using a keyboard, guitar, violin, and a couple of mics. It was a lot of fun to work with these enthusiastic people who are so zealous for the souls of their people! After a couple of hours there we went home to Douai, finished for the day.
Day 12 – June 1st – Sunday
Left for church around 8ish. Today four or five of the local churches met together in the town hall, and we performed a small set in the middle of it. Afterwards we stayed for the church potluck… which lasted for four hours, haha! In America we eat to get full, then move on with our day. In other countries, eating is socialization time. Here in France, kids even come home from school for lunch all the way through high school! How awesome is that? Anyway, after the potluck, we went to Lille and stopped by a building owned by FEU, a ministry that reaches out to local college students and encourages those who believe in their faith, teaching them more about God (find out more at http://lille.lefeu.org/). We spoke to the guy who runs this branch (and also happens to be Andre’s son), then left FEU and went to the local square’s market for a bit. After some wandering and shopping, we set up our system in an open corner about a block from the main plaza, where there were two intersecting pedestrian streets giving us a steady flow of passers-by. We performed one set a few times over, totaling about an hour of ministry. Several people stopped to watch, some staying through a whole set – some even more than that! Meanwhile, gospel booklets were being passed out in the crowd by our host missionaries. We had an awesome God moment (aside from those happening in the hearts of our audiences); the police drove by in the middle of one of our songs. We had no permit for this city, and we had a full sound system set up, complete with microphones and everything. We were in the middle of singing (in French) one of our most outright invitational gospel message songs, and our student leader even made eye contact with one of the policemen as the van drove by, but they did just that – drove by. They didn’t stop to reprimand us or ask us to leave. That, according to our hosts, was a MAJOR thing. God is definitely at work here.
After our street set, we went back to FEU, where dozens of kids our age soon began to show up. We played Foosball with them, hung out for a while, then sat down at scattered tables for dinner. We were all supposed to split up so the students could practice their English on us, haha! Danny and I ended up at a table with two girls who spoke very little English and two guys who were pretty okay at it – Sarah, Pauline, Matias, and Fabien. We spent two or three hours eating, talking, and laughing with them. It was so cool being able to interact with people our age who are on the same path in a different country! Usually we only get to interact with seasoned missionaries, not our peers. What a privilege! We left around 11:00 and went to bed as soon as we got home. Tomorrow is a mystery!
After our street set, we went back to FEU, where dozens of kids our age soon began to show up. We played Foosball with them, hung out for a while, then sat down at scattered tables for dinner. We were all supposed to split up so the students could practice their English on us, haha! Danny and I ended up at a table with two girls who spoke very little English and two guys who were pretty okay at it – Sarah, Pauline, Matias, and Fabien. We spent two or three hours eating, talking, and laughing with them. It was so cool being able to interact with people our age who are on the same path in a different country! Usually we only get to interact with seasoned missionaries, not our peers. What a privilege! We left around 11:00 and went to bed as soon as we got home. Tomorrow is a mystery!
Day 13 – June 2nd – Monday
Today was a touring day; we went to Brugge, the “Venice of Belgium” with Kevin and Debbie as our guides! We took a tour on a canal, wandered around the lovely city, visited a Catholic church where an original Michelangelo is kept (even got to sing a song in there - see video below), and had lunch in the grand plaza. We split up to wander around and shop for an hour, got Belgian waffles, and began to head back to town. We stopped on the beach (by the English Channel, I believe) to have dinner, and got home around 9:30ish. Tomorrow we have an early start for ministry in Lille.
Post by Larry Wilson.
Day 14 – June 3rd – Tuesday
This morning we went to Andre’s house again, this time to hear his full testimony and listen to a presentation on their ministry in France. After lunch, we began walking to our ministry site through a drizzle which soon turned into pouring rain. We stopped under an overhang near a shop and prayed for the rain to stop, which it did after a few minutes! Praise God! We continued on to our destination, the corner near the main plaza in Lille where we did ministry on June 1st. After a brief prayer walk in partners, we set up our stuff and did street ministry for at least 40 minutes, with Andre or Heiko or Sam giving brief explanations and offerings gospel booklets between our sets.
Awesome God bit – there was a police van parked right across the street, and Andre decided to ask them for permission before we set up – and they said yes!!! Two bike cops came by to watch later in our performance, and they stayed to watch for a good ten/fifteen minutes without any interference as well. When we had finished we walked back to Andre’s, then came home around 7:30. Dinner tonight was oysters! I love getting to try weird food for the first time. Oysters are AMAZING, by the way; both raw and cooked (they made us try one of each). Tonight we were joined by a girl from Scotland (Megan) who is going to stay with Sam and Mary for a couple of weeks. So much fun hanging out with her! She slept on a mattress in our room, so our last night in Douai became a sort of girls’ sleepover. :) Tomorrow we go to Valenciennes for ministry, then head back to the Feignies flat for the rest of our stay.
Awesome God bit – there was a police van parked right across the street, and Andre decided to ask them for permission before we set up – and they said yes!!! Two bike cops came by to watch later in our performance, and they stayed to watch for a good ten/fifteen minutes without any interference as well. When we had finished we walked back to Andre’s, then came home around 7:30. Dinner tonight was oysters! I love getting to try weird food for the first time. Oysters are AMAZING, by the way; both raw and cooked (they made us try one of each). Tonight we were joined by a girl from Scotland (Megan) who is going to stay with Sam and Mary for a couple of weeks. So much fun hanging out with her! She slept on a mattress in our room, so our last night in Douai became a sort of girls’ sleepover. :) Tomorrow we go to Valenciennes for ministry, then head back to the Feignies flat for the rest of our stay.
Day 15 – June 4th – Wednesday
Today was our last official day of ministry. We had an early breakfast (6:30), then said our goodbyes to Mary, Florian, Esther, Efraim, Tabea, and Priscilla. Sam and Heiko came with us for today’s ministry in Valenciennes. We met up with a few people at a small church in Valenciennes, had a snack and prayed for a productive day of ministry. We headed out to perform in a square where there are usually hundreds of people, but due to rain, we had maybe twenty over the course of our short (maybe 45 minute) time there. It didn’t help that we had no sound there, either… that draws a crowd more than anything else. We then went back to the church for lunch, rather discouraged, but Andre and the other pastors were still hopeful that God would move in our second ministry outing. After lunch we went out to a different area nearby, a sort of outdoor mall (much like our Horton Plaza). Because of the rain we congregated in a large covered hallway between stores and began our performance there. Due to limited space and no sound, we stuck to songs only for this outing, while the pastors with us talked with those who stopped to watch and offered them the gospel of Luke. Honestly, my hopes for this area were not very high… but people did stop to watch. And gospels were given out. Two stories in particular (related to us later) were very encouraging:
Judy, a young woman around our age, stopped to watch and ended up talking with three different pastors of ours over the course of her stay to watch. Through her interactions with all of them, she ended up hearing the whole gospel message, and she gladly took the gospel of Luke with her when she left. Be praying that she reads and accepts it!
An older woman whose name we don’t know thought our performance was from some religious cult, so though she watched for a few minutes, she soon left. However, something (or Someone?) drew her back to watch again, and this time one of our pastors explained that we weren’t a cult, and that Christianity is about a relationship with God, not a religion. She listened with interest, and she agreed to take a gospel
because, according to her, she was born on St. Luke’s Day and would have been named Luke if she were a boy. Coincidence? Or God-incident?
After we finally finished up and went back to the church, we ate dinner and chatted with the group we found there, then attended a small prayer meeting in the same building. Among prayer requests and such, we had the opportunity to hear from the pastors (including Sam) about their perspective on our input. Over the course of our ministry, they were able to pass out 50 or 60 gospels, which is far more than they are ordinarily able to get people to take. They all marveled and thanked God for the work that He did through us over this past week. Although 50 or 60 may not seem like a big number to Americans, that is a HUGE deal in France. Praise God for what He is doing there!
Around 9:30 we left to go back to the flat in Feignies, got some packing in, hung out as a team, etc. Late breakfast tomorrow, so tonight is party time! Whoo roommate chats and guy talk and such! We probably got to bed around 1:30 with all of our shenanigans. :)
Judy, a young woman around our age, stopped to watch and ended up talking with three different pastors of ours over the course of her stay to watch. Through her interactions with all of them, she ended up hearing the whole gospel message, and she gladly took the gospel of Luke with her when she left. Be praying that she reads and accepts it!
An older woman whose name we don’t know thought our performance was from some religious cult, so though she watched for a few minutes, she soon left. However, something (or Someone?) drew her back to watch again, and this time one of our pastors explained that we weren’t a cult, and that Christianity is about a relationship with God, not a religion. She listened with interest, and she agreed to take a gospel
because, according to her, she was born on St. Luke’s Day and would have been named Luke if she were a boy. Coincidence? Or God-incident?
After we finally finished up and went back to the church, we ate dinner and chatted with the group we found there, then attended a small prayer meeting in the same building. Among prayer requests and such, we had the opportunity to hear from the pastors (including Sam) about their perspective on our input. Over the course of our ministry, they were able to pass out 50 or 60 gospels, which is far more than they are ordinarily able to get people to take. They all marveled and thanked God for the work that He did through us over this past week. Although 50 or 60 may not seem like a big number to Americans, that is a HUGE deal in France. Praise God for what He is doing there!
Around 9:30 we left to go back to the flat in Feignies, got some packing in, hung out as a team, etc. Late breakfast tomorrow, so tonight is party time! Whoo roommate chats and guy talk and such! We probably got to bed around 1:30 with all of our shenanigans. :)
Day 16 – June 5th – Thursday
As our last full day in France, today was about getting ready to say goodbye, as you'll see in tonight's festivities. It also happens to be my birthday, which is SUPER exciting for me, because VISION has always left a day or two before my birthday in the past - this is my first birthday without jet lag in four years! :D Since today was meant to be pretty chill for the most part, breakfast was scheduled at 10 - yay for sleeping in! Once we got everyone settled at the table, the whole team broke out into a lovely chorus of "Happy Birthday", while Debbie brought in a doughnut bedecked with a glowing candle and set it in front of me. I couldn't imagine a better way to start my 23rd year than by blowing out a little flame surrounded by the smiling faces of the twelve people I have grown so close to these past three weeks! The birthday love continued throughout the day, as Donny made sure that I was sung to several more
times throughout the day, the girls gave me a lovely gift, and the team even had the restaurant tonight play the French version of Happy Birthday over their speaker system! I feel so incredibly loved by this team, and by God through them, that I can't even words because there's so much happy. :) I am getting ahead of myself though, haha!
After breakfast, around 11, the Kap family came to say goodbye to us. We had one last game of Asparagus with the kids in the yard, Natalie and Laura both gave me lovely handmade birthday cards, and
we shared a long goodbye with the whole family that included Philip firmly impressing upon each of us that if we were EVER back in France again, they would LOVE to give us a place to stay! Every year I am amazed by the fact that, even though we go to other countries to serve God and bless the missionaries working for Him there, it is always they who end up blessing us even more. Once the Kaps left, Kevin took us to a Roman forum to peruse the museum and wander the grounds for a bit, then allowed us to roam free in a Carrefour (French version of Walmart) to pick up any last-minute souvenirs (especially food!). We then had a couple of hours at home to get schnazzied up for our traditional last-day dinner.
Our annual shindig took place in an Italian restaurant in Belgium - INCREDIBLE food, and of course, WONDERFUL company - plus Philip and Heidi, who had made our reservations, asked to tag along with Kevin and Debbie! Hurrah! After we enjoyed our meal, we moved on to three very important VISION traditions: secret prayer partner revealing, the quote book, and the girls’/boys’ song.
Secret Prayer Partner (SPP) Revealing - At the beginning of the trip, everyone selects at random a slip of paper with another teammate's name on it. The person you draw will be kept secret throughout the trip, and it is your responsibility to pray for them, write them little notes of encouragement and/or give them little gifts, and buy them an end-of-trip parting gift. This year I had Jake, our student leader (which is ironic, since he had me last year), and I was thrilled to discover that he had no idea it was me the whole trip! As for my SPP, I had a suspicion that it might be Donny, and I was glad when it turned out that I was right! It was such a blessing to receive notes of encouragement from the amazing guy who's been my teammate for the past three years and my friend for four years. He has been such a wonderful example and inspiration to me, and it took a great deal of willpower not to cry when he called me his “little sister” in the note that accompanied his parting gift to me. What I love most about the SPP system is that every single person on the team is covered individually by the prayers of at least one of their teammates. Even though some teams can end up a little “cliquey” by the end, this ensures that everyone has at least one other person cheering for them and lifting them up to God for the duration of the trip.
Quote book – This is one of those “just for fun” activities that has nothing to do with ministry. I keep a note on my iPod entitled “Quote Book”, and whenever anyone says something particularly funny (whether intentionally or accidentally), my teammates alert me to the quote and I write it down. At our
farewell dinner, we pass it around in a circle and each member reads the next quote on the list; things like “The paint in France smells like candy!” or “Guys, we are super talented.” Most of them are inside jokes, but they make us laugh. :)
Girls’/Boys’ Song – Every year each gender gets together and writes a song about the team members of the opposite gender, focusing on each person individually and usually mentioning their distinguishing features or trademarks along with what makes them special. Lots of fun!
After we got home from the special dinner, we headed into our rooms to finish last-minute packing, much shuffling of souvenirs and dirty laundry, and the last night of hanging out with our respective roommates. It has been such a blessing to room with Jenna and Danny for the whole trip, and I will miss them both dearly! Sleep came around 1:30am… and tomorrow we make the long journey home.
times throughout the day, the girls gave me a lovely gift, and the team even had the restaurant tonight play the French version of Happy Birthday over their speaker system! I feel so incredibly loved by this team, and by God through them, that I can't even words because there's so much happy. :) I am getting ahead of myself though, haha!
After breakfast, around 11, the Kap family came to say goodbye to us. We had one last game of Asparagus with the kids in the yard, Natalie and Laura both gave me lovely handmade birthday cards, and
we shared a long goodbye with the whole family that included Philip firmly impressing upon each of us that if we were EVER back in France again, they would LOVE to give us a place to stay! Every year I am amazed by the fact that, even though we go to other countries to serve God and bless the missionaries working for Him there, it is always they who end up blessing us even more. Once the Kaps left, Kevin took us to a Roman forum to peruse the museum and wander the grounds for a bit, then allowed us to roam free in a Carrefour (French version of Walmart) to pick up any last-minute souvenirs (especially food!). We then had a couple of hours at home to get schnazzied up for our traditional last-day dinner.
Our annual shindig took place in an Italian restaurant in Belgium - INCREDIBLE food, and of course, WONDERFUL company - plus Philip and Heidi, who had made our reservations, asked to tag along with Kevin and Debbie! Hurrah! After we enjoyed our meal, we moved on to three very important VISION traditions: secret prayer partner revealing, the quote book, and the girls’/boys’ song.
Secret Prayer Partner (SPP) Revealing - At the beginning of the trip, everyone selects at random a slip of paper with another teammate's name on it. The person you draw will be kept secret throughout the trip, and it is your responsibility to pray for them, write them little notes of encouragement and/or give them little gifts, and buy them an end-of-trip parting gift. This year I had Jake, our student leader (which is ironic, since he had me last year), and I was thrilled to discover that he had no idea it was me the whole trip! As for my SPP, I had a suspicion that it might be Donny, and I was glad when it turned out that I was right! It was such a blessing to receive notes of encouragement from the amazing guy who's been my teammate for the past three years and my friend for four years. He has been such a wonderful example and inspiration to me, and it took a great deal of willpower not to cry when he called me his “little sister” in the note that accompanied his parting gift to me. What I love most about the SPP system is that every single person on the team is covered individually by the prayers of at least one of their teammates. Even though some teams can end up a little “cliquey” by the end, this ensures that everyone has at least one other person cheering for them and lifting them up to God for the duration of the trip.
Quote book – This is one of those “just for fun” activities that has nothing to do with ministry. I keep a note on my iPod entitled “Quote Book”, and whenever anyone says something particularly funny (whether intentionally or accidentally), my teammates alert me to the quote and I write it down. At our
farewell dinner, we pass it around in a circle and each member reads the next quote on the list; things like “The paint in France smells like candy!” or “Guys, we are super talented.” Most of them are inside jokes, but they make us laugh. :)
Girls’/Boys’ Song – Every year each gender gets together and writes a song about the team members of the opposite gender, focusing on each person individually and usually mentioning their distinguishing features or trademarks along with what makes them special. Lots of fun!
After we got home from the special dinner, we headed into our rooms to finish last-minute packing, much shuffling of souvenirs and dirty laundry, and the last night of hanging out with our respective roommates. It has been such a blessing to room with Jenna and Danny for the whole trip, and I will miss them both dearly! Sleep came around 1:30am… and tomorrow we make the long journey home.
Day 17 – June 6th - Friday
This morning was an early one, particularly considering last night's festivities. In comparison to past trips though, leaving the house by 6:30am with all our bags in the car and ourselves fed and ready to board a plane isn't too bad. We bid a sad farewell to Kevin and Debbie, who have been SO fantastic on this trip. We will miss them greatly!!! Still, the hardest part about this morning was saying goodbye to Ryan and Malachi, who are staying in Europe to visit friends or family for a few more weeks. Thus bereft (as one of our members mentioned, like the Fellowship of the Ring once Merry and Pippin were kidnapped), the nine of us continued on to our flight. After our trek across the Atlantic, we had to say goodbye to Mr. Wilson in the Newark airport (much like when Gandalf fell off the cliff to fight the Balrog), and we spent our three hour layover in mourning (and in discussing who on our team would be which LotR character - I was elected as Merry!) As I was too tired most of the day to keep track of how long individual flights took, I have no idea how long which part was; but I do know that it was 10am in France on Friday when our plane actually took off, and it was 4am on Saturday in France when we landed. In California time, we landed still on Friday, at 7pm. Longest day EVER. And yes, that means I flew nine hours into the past. MIB status right there. Fast forward, meeting team family members, tearful hugs, saying goodbye to some amazing people I may never see again, ride back to campus (where I am living this summer), dinner with stateside friend, BED. Glorious bed. And thankfulness. :)
Well, that concludes my missions blog for this year - and the last VISION blog I will ever make. :( It has been an amazing blessing to work with this team the past four years, and if any of y'all are going to San Diego Christian, I highly recommend auditioning! I will definitely miss the program, but I have a feeling God has something even more exciting up His sleeve... stay tuned in to my regular blog, atorchintherain.blogspot.com, within the next couple of weeks to find out more. Until then, let's go experience whatever adventure God has for us in the interim!
Allonsy!
Well, that concludes my missions blog for this year - and the last VISION blog I will ever make. :( It has been an amazing blessing to work with this team the past four years, and if any of y'all are going to San Diego Christian, I highly recommend auditioning! I will definitely miss the program, but I have a feeling God has something even more exciting up His sleeve... stay tuned in to my regular blog, atorchintherain.blogspot.com, within the next couple of weeks to find out more. Until then, let's go experience whatever adventure God has for us in the interim!
Allonsy!
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