Kids Camping Weekend!

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all are doing well! Summer is on it's way!

This past weekend I had a ton of fun being involved in a local kids camp!

 I was asked to speak for the Sunday evening service, but they ended up being short a girl counselor, so I got to join in the fun for the whole weekend =)  

The weekend ran from Saturday 1pm- Monday 1pm and we had about 40 kids ages 8-14.

The kids are all part of a group called the Flambeaux (ages 11-14) and Petits Flambeaux (ages 8-11), an organization similar to scouting for boys and girls.

Our group joined together with the kids from the near-by town of Annecy for a weekend of camping about an hour away in the mountains.

And the theme.....?

You guessed it! 

PIRATES! 

Well, the parable of the hidden treasure to be exact.

So Saturday it was off on a pirate sea voyage for us,  with lots of Jack Sparrows', Captain Hooks' and maiden pirates in distress. 

Saturday we set up camp...

Center of camp, meeting point and where we ate our meals.

My lodging next to the kids

Then we got the kids active and out in the woods. They had lots of great games teaching them very valuable pirate (and life) skills. The final afternoon their efforts were rewarded with an actual treasure chest filled with gold coins- well chocolate gold coins ;-) 

The girls after making a team lunch together.

Trying to rescue the key from the captured pirate and find the treasure chest!

"Flambeaux" literally means "torch." The group's name reminds them to be a light into the world.

Sunday night Fête

Sunday night we had a fun fête including a sausage BBQ, skits, music, costumes and a Bible lesson.

Pirate sketches

We had time for small groups where we were able to see how the kids were processing what they were learning and see if they had any questions, and we also had some time of worship. The song  above you might recognize, the one below is their Flambeaux song.

The whole weekend was great French practice, but especially Sunday night. I was to share my testimony and talk about Matthew 13:44, about a man who found a treasure that was worth giving all that he had.  I shared how I had once found a treasure that worth giving everything for. That treasure was being able to communicate with my God. When I was 13 at a camp, God taught me the importance of reading my Bible and spending some time talking to him every day. It changed my life. It was a treasure worth surrendering my whole life for, to grow in knowing my God, even if that surrender meant it would take me to the Jungles in Africa.

Our littlest pirate...

The Captains of the Merry Fleet

Everyone accounted for...no one had to walk the gang plank

You know, the kids were so gracious with all my mistakes in French. They did however, find it hard to understand why it would be so difficult for someone to learn to speak their native language.

I do wish I had brushed up on a couple French phrases to have on the tip of my tongue before I left, like;

"DON'T RUN WITH THE POCKET KNIFE!" or

"DON'T DO THAT YOU'LL SET THE TENT ON FIRE!"

You know, everyday stuff. 

A beautiful end to a tiring yet rewarding weekend...

But the last night, as all the leaders sat around the campfire and all the little ones were in bed, and the sky was filled with a dusty, majestic shade of purple, the leader, Isabelle said she had been praying with the younger girls in their tent that night, and one of them prayed, "And thank you God for Amanda, thank you for sending her here to share with us, even though it is so hard for her to speak French...."

Motivation to finish the final three weeks out strong?

I laid my head down in my sleeping bag, smiling...

Prayer Requests:

A lot of the kids this past weekend came from non-christian homes. 

1.  Please pray for the seeds that were planted

2.  Please pray for the kids who already have a relationship with God, that they would continue to grow and start having a daily quiet time

3. For the parents of the kids as the leaders build relationships with them

Thank you to all of you for coming alongside and doing this with me. 

I couldn't do any of this save my Lord and all of you,

 Love from France,

 ~Amanda

"RESISTER"

Bonjour À Tous!

"Resister."

 Today we had the second of a 2 part seminar on the Protestant Reformation in France. It was fascinating to see how the persecution of the church has shaped the agnostic spiritual climate in France today. The present distribution of Protestant churches reflects the relocation of Christian refugees to the outskirts of France under the oppression of King Louis the 14th. 

It's amazing the effect one leader can have on a country.

It's a good reminder to pray for those in authority.

Praise the Lord our God is not bound by leaders! 

"Resister," or "to resist" in English, is what many Christians did during this time of intense persecution. One such woman was Marie Durand. As an alternative to being killed or sentenced to row on a large boat indefinitely, Marie was imprisoned near Montpellier in the South of France (incidentally the town where I will take the Medical course in July).  

She was told she would be freed if only she would renounce her faith. 

Time after time the guards commanded her to surrender, but she never gave in.

38 years later, she was liberated when the time of persecution in France had ceased,

and on the stone wall of her cell, was carved,

"RESISTER."

Her carving can still be viewed to this day. 

Marie Durand's story sticks with me.

The engraving on Marie's cell- old French for "resister"

What is God calling you and I to "RESISTER" today? 

As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; 

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Romans 8: 36-39

More information on the Protestant reformation in France can be found @

http://www.museeprotestant.org/

On Friday, we célibataires (singles) had a cookout and the weather was LOVELY. We hit 82 degrees! It was perfect to introduce our new friends to the joy of S'Mores! 

S'more first timers!

The sticky, gooey, "Yum"... =)

Trip ups of the anglophone tongue...thought you might enjoy some of my errors of the day =) 


- I was trying to tell Renate that I was going to put the sausage in the freezer, but couldn't remember off the top of my head the word for "freezer" in French, so I went for "the very, very cold fridge" instead. She figured it out while laughing...


- A little later the girls were wanting to do laundry and needed to dry their clothes, so I started saying in French, "I'll go take my clothes down off the line," they started laughing and I realized I had just said, "I'll take my clothes off for you." 


Oh boy...many more to come I'm sure.




Thanking God for all of you!


      With Love from France,
                 ~Amanda 


P.S. 38 days left of language school. As Christopher pointed out, that's about the same amount of time it rained while Noah was on the ark. So imagine it raining every day from now until June 22nd. Something to think about....

Day 120

Happy May to All!

"April Showers" has lived up to it's name here, we welcome May with open arms =)
Day 120...that I've been in Albertville, France.

It's hard to believe that there are just 53 days left here in Albertville!
Graduation is June 22nd, coming very soon!

NEWS!! NEWS!! NEWS!!
Lot's of news since I last wrote.
Check out the updated prayer and timeline tabs for a quick glance at what's new.
ALSO- check out the new tab "A Day In The Life" above.
More details below...

1. Exams! Praise the Lord, by God's grace I passed the A2 level French exams! This is the first of 2 major exams in my six months here, this one being especially challenging as I was put in a class in the middle of the curriculum. I am now preparing for the B1 exams which will be held the end of June- keep praying for that mind like a sponge! =)

2. French Medical Vocab Class: there is an opportunity in July, to take a 3 week medical vocab course in the South of France, following my time in Albertville. After talking it over with the team in Gabon, we've decided this would be a good opportunity to get a little more French, especially Medical, before heading on to Gabon since I will only have 6 months of language school instead of a year.

3. New Departure Date: Due to the French Medical Vocab class, I will now be leaving the 21st/22nd of July and Lord willing arrive in Gabon in time for Field Forum, July 23rd-27th. I'm excited to get to Bongolo!

4. Teaching Classes! I found out what I will be teaching! The Nursing school at Bongolo will be begin classes in September for the new school year. It looks as though as of now, I will be teaching the course in Nursing Techniques in the afternoons and will be doing clinicals with the students at the hospital in the mornings.

5. Devotional: This week I gave my first devotional in French, for the entire school. It is an assignment everyone has during their time here, and usually one everyone is glad to see the back of  =) It was a really good exercise, to communicate how God is working and shaping me in a language that is not my own. I praise God for his continued grace and enabling as I strive to make this language my adopted heart language. I am so thankful to God for the opportunity to be here to learn French, and it is a reminder to keep pressing on, to one day be able to share with the Gabonese, whom this God is we serve!

6. Spring Break: Mid April brought a much needed 2 week Spring break. Post exams we were all completely fried, but we still had 3 more weeks of school to push through. So when it came we were all more than ready =) The first week I was able to catch up on administrative details and take a spiritual retreat day which was very refreshing. The second week I had a friend visit me from the States and we were able to travel with a couple of the girls here to a small non-tourist coastal town in Italy for the week. We had a wonderful time there, although our travels there and back were marked by many unexpected challenges and adventures! I hope to post more photos soon...

Thank you to all for your prayers and your continued sacrificial financial support!




With Love from France,
         ~Amanda

Hard Days

Zebadiah (19), Jonathan (22), Amanda (24)

 Today my little brother left for the Navy.

 I knew this day was coming, but it didn't make it any easier. 

Yet I know it marks just the first of many, missed, important days back home. 

You know it's funny, after nearly 3 months of living in France, you'd think it'd be easy to believe I actually live here. After having to set up a French bank account, French cell phone and a local Library card- after getting used to getting my groceries on foot, irregular store hours, finding my baking soda at the pharmacy, not having easy access to fresh milk, baking without chocolate chips and cooking without pitted olives, you'd think it would have sunk in.

It didn't feel real until today. 

 I love my little brothers. 

I am so proud of them.

Jonathan will soon follow. 

After he graduates Nyack College in May, he will head to the Army in August. 

A lot of change for our family.

Yet I am reminded of Matthew 19:29

"And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake..."

 Please keep our family in your prayers, and especially Zeb right now, as he takes this first big step-he's being sworn in as I post this.

With love from France,

    ~Amanda

SONS of ANAK: Reflections on Language Learning

Bonjour! 

One of the reasons I have been so excited to come to a Christian language school, is to be able to learn Bible terms in French. I found when I was in Gabon last March, that was the biggest gap in my French vocab. It took me off guard at first, but it makes sense. They're not exactly teaching Bible terms in your high school French class these days =) 

So every Friday we have a Bible vocab session in class, we started in Genesis and have been working our way through. Recently we talked through the story of Joshua and Caleb, when they were sent out as part of the 12 spies of Israel scouting out the land of Canaan in Numbers 13.
Ten of the twelve spies came back and said that the enemy was too strong and their warriors too big, the "sons of Anak" were there. There were giants in front of them. 
Only Joshua and Caleb returned with the assurance of victory.


It struck me that Joshua and Caleb didn't just ignore the difficulties, the stature,  the strength of their enemy, but they acknowledged the obvious adversity and still took a stand to say, "my God is bigger. My God is stronger. With our God we will have victory."
The land God had promised them, a land flowing with milk and honey was at stake.
God had been faithful before, He would be faithful again.

It is easy to see language learning as "a son of Anak," as a giant in front of you. This "giant" stands between you and the mission field God has called you to, between you and the land of milk and honey. After-all, this land that God gave the Israelites would distinguish who they were in the generations to come as God's people, to declare to the nations who this God is, whom they serve and follow.
 We are going to a "land" God has prepared for us, to declare to the people surrounding who He is, who this God is that we serve and follow, and for whom we would leave home and family and near-fiances.


Our God is stronger! Our God is stronger than my French, stronger than my ear's inability to hear differences in sounds, stronger than my tongue that doesn't automatically go into "French mode," stronger than my mind that doesn't always put my French grammar in the proper order.
With all my inadequacies, God's name will still be proclaimed and He will still draw those unto Himself- and that is the assurance of victory.


What "giants" are facing you this week, this month or even this year? Are there "sons of Anak" that are standing in front of you? Are you able to report like Caleb and Joshua, "yes, with our God, we will have victory"?
As you go about your week and rub shoulders with those around you, I challenge you to remember that you have the gift of being able to to share the Gospel, to listen to people's stories and share how God has written yours, in your heart language! You don't have to learn another language in order to declare who your God is, "...the fields are ripe and ready for harvest."


Please pray for me as I strive to work with excellence in learning the language, pray for ears that can hear, a tongue that can speak and a mind that can comprehend. Pray I might have opportunities to declare who God is, in the agnostic cultural climate of France.
And pray for me, that I might grow to connect with my God in a language that is not my own.


What is French class really like you ask? Well I've never seen the whole thing, so I can't vouch for the entire movie, but this clip from The Pink Panther with Steve Martin seems to capture a lot......Enjoy =)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz0IT4Uk2xQ


Now you know how to pray for me ;-)
With Love,
From Albertville,
~Amanda

Life in Albertville.

Hello Everyone! =)
Welcome to Albertville!
Albertville is located in the Savoie region in Southern France in the French Alps.
I thought I'd give a tour on life here and the things that keep us busy. So feel free to come along and see where I live, work and play preparing for Gabon. I'll let you know now there A LOT of photos, so feel free to skim as little or as much as you'd like =)

Entrance to the center off of the small road: chemin des Galibouds

Entering the center

The family building

Classrooms and Singles' housing

Recycling bins, you can be fined in France for not recycling!

Main entrance to the school and where I live

Secured entry: keeping the singles safe at night

Mail boxes!

The "celibataires'" hallway- (aka singles', not celebrity or celibate hallway as some have guessed ;-)

Common kitchen

Cooking with 6 girls in this kitchen is always an adventure- but we enjoy it =)

Pantry for 6 of us.

Common living area

DVD player plays both region 1 and region 2 dvd's - so helpful!

Pulley system for the wood shutters outside our windows (see below)

The shutters are adjustable to let in some light or to be completely shut, it's amazing how much warmer it is with the shutters down, especially with the single paned windows. 

Communal bathroom

French throne

Shower

My room =)

Making use of limited space

So these walls between rooms alternate storage between the rooms. My room is right next to the common area and kitchen, so I have a storage closet and a sink in a closet on my side, and on the between is the mint green wall, which is the pantry in the common area on the other side of the wall. It struck me as kind of funny at first, but it's efficient!

More use of storage...

My funny little sink in a closet =)

It's been really helpful, especially not having a private bath.

The view out my window - God's magnificience in the Alps.

Conference room

We have a devotional and prayer in this room every morning at 8:40 before class. Each student must lead a devotional in French at some point throughout the semester.  On Fridays we have a time of worship together (again in French =) I've enjoyed getting involved playing violin on the worship team.

Our classroom

There are five classes of French at the school. I've been put with a class that started last September, so it was difficult to jump into the middle of a class at first, but now I'm really enjoying it growing a lot in my French. 

Madame Anne

We do a variety of reading, writing, grammar, listening, speaking exercises, and of course, no English is allowed in class. We try to keep English to a minimum outside of class too. Living with 2 girls from Germany, a girl from Holland, a girl from Britain and a couple girls from the States makes it easier, as French is our common language.

 

Don't know what we'd do with out the mural ;-)

We have class from 8:40-11:15 and 1:45-4:15 Mon, Tues, Thursday, Friday. No class on Wednesday and long lunch breaks which mirrors the cultural school schedule in France nationwide.

the laboratoire

The laboratoire is one method we use to practice our pronunciation. We respond back to oral exercises on the computer, and Madame Anne sits at a master computer where she can link in to listen to each of us individually and give us feedback. It's definitely not a student's favorite place in the world, but I think it does help. Side note: the school is getting new computers!  

National Crepe Day!

Learning to make crepes on a Friday afternoon- a great way to end a week of French class! 

SCHOOL FIELD TRIP: skiing in the French Alps! 

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I had never gone skiing before, but what better place to learn! I didn't do anything spectacular- rocked the bunny hill all day =), but I got over being afraid of sliding around on snow on skis and actually had fun. I look forward to learning more in the future.

CONFLANS

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 On the weekends it's fun to visit places for the day near by in the region. One Sunday the girls and I made the 30 min walk up to Conflans. Conflans is a medieval city on the slopes overlooking Albertville. There was hardly anyone around and nothing was open because it was Sunday, so we had a wonderful time exploring the old "city" and soaking in the panoramic views. Come along with us and enjoy Conflan...=)

The bridge between Albertville and the road to Conflan

OLYMPIC FACILITIES

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Two of our grocery stores, Lidl (similar to Aldi) and Carrefore (sim to Kroger) are within a 15 min walk (one-way) from the center. There is a store called Geant (sim to Target) that is a 30 min walk one way from the center. I walked there one Wednesday just for a good walk and to visit the bigger store. These are the views I passed along the way. The Olympic facilities still remain from the 1992 Winter Olympics which were held in Albertville. Last week they celebrated their 20th anniversary. 

The old vacant house next to the school- doesn't look like something straight out of a novel or a movie? The school is considering purchasing it to expand their housing availability.

The church we attend, around the corner from school

 I've enjoyed getting involved in the nursery and have started playing violin on the worship team. We have one service, 10-11:45. The church celebrates communion every Sunday. I am learning to connect with God and hear from Him in a language that is not my own.

 

 

The sanctuary

The nursery

ANNECY

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A couple of weekends ago, the girls and I took a Saturday and frolicked around the nearby town of Annecy. It is about a 45 min drive from school, so we enjoyed getting out and about enjoying the old architecture, market and the contrast with the modern-day mall located in the "modern" part of town. We also enjoyed some French baking =)

Carey- with the C&MA to Mali

Library and theatre in Albertville

The old church in Albertville

....and home sweet home again back in Albertville.

As I write this, I am sitting in our living room, snow is
falling outside our window, Jodi is in the kitchen trying to make chocolate chip cookies with French ingredients and
measurements- always an adventure =) And I am sitting on
the couch with Renate (a teenage girl from Germany who is
here for the year practicing her French), and introducing her
to her very first viewing of the Sound of Music! =)
Always something new.....

Hope and pray you are all doing well!

Love From Albertville,

           ~ Amanda