Suddenly, my ten weeks at Camp des Cimes has been reduced to three days. Whoa. Hard to believe. Since my last blog (which was forever ago, sorry), Adult Camp has ended, and a lot of the summer staff that was here headed back to the States. The first week of August was a week off for the camp, and I had the opportunity to go to Paris for a few days with some friends from here. Once I got back, I was able to climb a peak in the Alps, complete with glacier travel! All in all, it was a relaxing week, despite how busy I was.
On the 7th, Family Camp officially started. This is the first camp of the summer that isn't an "English" camp, so all the announcements, messages, etc. are in French, and not translated. Because of that, and my complete lack of any French skills whatsoever, I'm back on service team. I spend a good portion of the day doing dishes, cleaning bathrooms, setting up and tearing down for meals, etc. It's actually kind of nice to be behind the scenes for awhile, after the craziness that was July. I haven't had the opportunity to talk to the familes much, what with the language barrier, but apparently some of them were campers here around ten years ago, and now they're bringing their families back because they want them to have the Christian influence in their lives as well. It's cool to see.
There's a decent amount of down time on service team, so I've been able to read quite a bit. Last week I read The Question of God, which compares and contrasts the philosophical viewpoints of Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis. If you haven't read it, you should. It's a fantastic book!
After nearly ten weeks here at camp, I'm starting to get pretty drained, and the past week or so, I've been ready to go home. It's tough, because I know I need to focus on finishing my time here well, and enjoy the experience while I can! I would love to come back here in the future, but nothing in life is ever guaranteed, so who knows if that will happen or not? I'll try to write more about that once I'm back in the States, but this will be my last update until then. I can't thank all of you enough for your support and prayers! They're a huge encouragement. Starting on Monday, I'll be doing a few weeks of traveling on my own, and I fly back to Colorado on September 7th. Any prayers for my travels would be greatly appreciated as well!
Godspeed,
Ryan
Friday, August 19, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Adult English Camp
Amazing how time flies between these updates. It's already been 12 days since my last one? Inconcievable!
Things have been going great here at Camp des Cimes! English Camp ended on Saturday the 16th, and Adult English Camp got underway on the 18th. English Camp ended well, and apparently one of the campers commented that "70 percent of his good attitude throughout the year is a result of the time he spends here, and it's 350 days until it starts again". It's good to hear that camp can make such an impact.
The overall dynamic of Adult English Camp is much different than the last one. We have fewer campers (around 40, instead of 58), and they're almost evenly split between Americans and French. At the last camp, there were probably 50 French campers out of the 58. Having so many more English speakers is a change, for sure. The campers are also older (obviously), and speak better English. Some things are similar though. We're doing questions asked by campers again, and these are also heavy, "big" questions, such as "What is God's will for my life?" It's been good to hear what the daily speakers have to share.
Another big change at this camp is that we're able to take the campers out on day trips. We did an afternoon of rock climbing, and a day where campers had a choice of either mountain biking, via ferrata, shopping, or climbing. I helped out with the climbing portion, and it was great to see how our guide Chris was able to make such continuous comparisons between climbing and the Christian walk.
Early last week, I had the chance to do some scouting for this camp's randonee (backpacking trip). I went on two long day hikes trying to ensure that we would have reliable water sources and good camping spots. Needless to say, for me to be able to spend my days hiking in the Alps AND helping out the camp was a lot of fun. On Sunday, we left for the rando, and we got back this afternoon. Since I already talked about randos in my last update, I won't go into too much detail on how important I think they are. I will say that this one also went well, even though we had a handful of people leave early because they were sick (convenient to be hiking near a road).
It's hard to believe that I already have less than a month left here at camp, but it's true. As we go through the last week of this camp and prepare for Family Camp in early August, I'd appreciate your prayers for the following:
- Campers. As always, please be praying for the campers here, and that they'd be positively impacted by the teaching and general atmosphere.
- Staff. It's been three solid weeks of almost continuous camp now, and staff members can get worn down pretty easily. Please pray that we'll all be able to get the rest we need to keep going strong.
- ...actually, I think the last two pretty much covers the prayer needs here, albeit quite generally. Thanks so much for reading this, and especially for the prayers!
Things have been going great here at Camp des Cimes! English Camp ended on Saturday the 16th, and Adult English Camp got underway on the 18th. English Camp ended well, and apparently one of the campers commented that "70 percent of his good attitude throughout the year is a result of the time he spends here, and it's 350 days until it starts again". It's good to hear that camp can make such an impact.
The overall dynamic of Adult English Camp is much different than the last one. We have fewer campers (around 40, instead of 58), and they're almost evenly split between Americans and French. At the last camp, there were probably 50 French campers out of the 58. Having so many more English speakers is a change, for sure. The campers are also older (obviously), and speak better English. Some things are similar though. We're doing questions asked by campers again, and these are also heavy, "big" questions, such as "What is God's will for my life?" It's been good to hear what the daily speakers have to share.
Another big change at this camp is that we're able to take the campers out on day trips. We did an afternoon of rock climbing, and a day where campers had a choice of either mountain biking, via ferrata, shopping, or climbing. I helped out with the climbing portion, and it was great to see how our guide Chris was able to make such continuous comparisons between climbing and the Christian walk.
Early last week, I had the chance to do some scouting for this camp's randonee (backpacking trip). I went on two long day hikes trying to ensure that we would have reliable water sources and good camping spots. Needless to say, for me to be able to spend my days hiking in the Alps AND helping out the camp was a lot of fun. On Sunday, we left for the rando, and we got back this afternoon. Since I already talked about randos in my last update, I won't go into too much detail on how important I think they are. I will say that this one also went well, even though we had a handful of people leave early because they were sick (convenient to be hiking near a road).
It's hard to believe that I already have less than a month left here at camp, but it's true. As we go through the last week of this camp and prepare for Family Camp in early August, I'd appreciate your prayers for the following:
- Campers. As always, please be praying for the campers here, and that they'd be positively impacted by the teaching and general atmosphere.
- Staff. It's been three solid weeks of almost continuous camp now, and staff members can get worn down pretty easily. Please pray that we'll all be able to get the rest we need to keep going strong.
- ...actually, I think the last two pretty much covers the prayer needs here, albeit quite generally. Thanks so much for reading this, and especially for the prayers!
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
English Camp
First of all, I apologize for going so long without an update. Things have gotten pretty crazy here at Camp des Cimes, and it’s hard to find time to do anything unscheduled. I’ve also limited myself to using the internet only on my days off (once a week-ish) so that’s another factor. Anyway. I think the best way for me to cover all that’s been going on would be by walking through the schedule of a normal day here at English Camp. So… here it is!
8:15 – Breakfast. Breakfast is served in typical French style here, which means bread with jam or honey, and hot chocolate or coffee. It’s always the same, which is fine with me, because I love bread! Fresh French bread has yet to get old.
8:45 – Staff meeting. Here most everyone gets together and discusses how things are going, and what the upcoming day will entail.
9:30 – Morning activities. These are a variety of short team events we do in order to help wake up the campers and get their blood flowing before the morning teaching.
10:15 – Morning worship/teaching. After we sing a handful of worship songs (think the most popular mid-90s worship songs here), a staff member will lead the morning teaching. At the beginning of camp, students were given the opportunity to write down any theological/life question anonymously and put it in a pot. We got a total of 54 questions from 58 campers, and these are BIG questions. It’s serious stuff like “Can God really love me although I’ve sinned?” “Why does God bother to love us?” “Is science the contrary of religion?” “Why can’t you have pre-marital sex? Pray for me.” “Why doesn’t healing always work?” “Why aren’t the laws of Leviticus followed anymore?”… and so many more. These questions are being addressed both as an entire camp and in small group discussions.
12:30 – Lunch! The food is always fantastic (we have great cooks).
1:15ish – Free time. Campers do all sorts of stuff during free time, including ping-pong, foosball, volleyball, basketball, etc. As staff, we just hang out with them and get to know them. With the language barrier, it’s not exactly easy for me, but it’s fun to learn a few French phrases now and then as I help the campers communicate in English.
2:00 – Workshops. There’s a great variety of workshops going on, and campers are in the same one for the entire camp, so I’m sure they’re learning a bunch. The workshops include watercolor, puppetry, theater, photography, woodcut prints, pottery, dance, self-defense, and film. I would say more about these, but I haven’t actually seen them in action, because during this time I’m helping to prepare for sports!
4:00 – Gouter (pronounced goo-tay, literally means “tasty”) This is a quick snack to tide people over until dinner.
4:30 – Sports! Sports are a big deal here at Camp des Cimes, and I’m fortunate enough to be able to help make ‘em happen. We’ve already done a bunch in the past week, including Summer Olympics, a bunch of relay races, team challenges, team sports, and others. It’s fun to be able to help the campers have fun and get some exercise.
7:30 – Dinner. More great food… not much else to say about it though.
8:30ish – Veyee (evening activity). There’s a ton of creativity in the staff here, and they’ve come up with a bunch of great ideas for evening events. We did a 4th of July celebration where campers got to “visit” different states and experience an aspect of living there. There was a pirate night, which involved a massive, modified version of tag. There’s even a Bourne-esque spy game going on, which finishes tonight. The campers seem to have enjoyed everything a bunch!
11:15ish – Bed.
So that’s a typical day here. If you can stand to keep reading, I’ll tell you about my favorite part of camp thus far. On Friday, we left for a backpacking trip. It was a little overwhelming to me to see a backpacking trip come together for over 80 people, but it did! The first night, we were split into two groups, and I went on the upper, rocky hike. I’m not even going to bother trying to describe in words how beautiful it was, so just look at my pictures on Facebook if you want to see. We had a staff member give his testimony at the campfire, which is always powerful. On the second day, we met up with the other group, and all camped together (there was a testimony given on the second night as well). Sadly, day three was the end of the trip, and we all made it back in time to get cleaned up before goutee. Ever since I started going on backpacking trips with my youth group in middle school, I’ve wanted to be able to help make them happen for other teenagers. In my experience, God reveals himself in a very real, unique way through His creation, and backpacking is my favorite way to get out into nature and spend time with the Creator. I’m so thankful to have the opportunity to help in a small way to make a trip like this happen. Helping to give teens in another country the chance to experience God in this way is a dream come true for me.
I could keep writing, but I don’t want to bore any of you to death, so I’ll wrap things up. If you’ve even read this far, I’m impressed! Prayer would definitely be appreciated, for a number of things.
- First of all, the campers. From the questions they asked, they’re obviously searching, and working through some deep issues. Please pray that their eyes would be opened while they’re here.
- On that note, prayer for those who lead teachings would also be great. They’ve got a huge responsibility, and could use clear thoughts and clarity while speaking.
- Prayer for all the workers here in general would be nice too. It takes a LOT to make a camp like this happen, and it definitely wears on everyone. Personally, I’m used to living a quiet, introverted life for the most part, so spending nearly every waking minute with up to 100 people is unbelievably draining. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great too, and I’m happy to be here, it’s just tiring. So I’d appreciate prayer for strength and energy.
I think that’s all I’ve got for now. Next time I update, English Camp will be over, and we’ll be about to start Adult English Camp. Thanks for reading!
Friday, June 24, 2011
The end of the beginning
I suppose it's time for another update, eh? Ok then.
I'm pretty settled in to life here at Camp de Cimes, now that it's been a couple weeks. From all I've heard, the Refresh camp went quite well. The camp wasn't actually put on by staff here, it was others renting out the space, so I didn't have anything to do with any of the sessions. The missionaries I talked to seem to get a lot out of them though. There was a family serving in Indonesia, a couple from Vietnam who had served in Nepal for years, and a handful of others.
Since I wasn't a part of the camp going on, I spent my time helping out with whatever needed done around Camp de Cimes. In the past week and a half, I've done a lot of mowing and weedwhacking, helped to re-mortar a wall (hopefully putting up pictures of that soon), cleaned a lot of bathrooms, and done a lot of dishes. The work can seem mundane at times, but it's a huge blessing just to be here and do what I can to help out.
I've been fortunate enough to have some time to get out and see the areas surrounding the camp, as I'm sure you've noticed if we're friends over on Facebook. It's BEAUTIFUL here. Hiking around camp is a great way for me to clear my head and simply appreciate how much God has blessed me by putting me here.
In the next week, things will really start picking up here. We'll have a lot more staff coming, in preparation for the two big July camps. Once July hits, things will be crazy busy from what I've heard, so it might be more difficult for me to post updates, but I'll do my best!
Thanks a bunch for the prayers so far! It's hugely encouraging to know that there's people lifting me up back in the States. I'd apprecaite prayers for all the staff members coming in, and that they'd have safe travels. Also that all the campers coming would have their hearts prepared for the time here, and that they'd be deeply impacted by the teaching and overall environment. I think that's all for now.
Godspeed,
Ryan
I'm pretty settled in to life here at Camp de Cimes, now that it's been a couple weeks. From all I've heard, the Refresh camp went quite well. The camp wasn't actually put on by staff here, it was others renting out the space, so I didn't have anything to do with any of the sessions. The missionaries I talked to seem to get a lot out of them though. There was a family serving in Indonesia, a couple from Vietnam who had served in Nepal for years, and a handful of others.
Since I wasn't a part of the camp going on, I spent my time helping out with whatever needed done around Camp de Cimes. In the past week and a half, I've done a lot of mowing and weedwhacking, helped to re-mortar a wall (hopefully putting up pictures of that soon), cleaned a lot of bathrooms, and done a lot of dishes. The work can seem mundane at times, but it's a huge blessing just to be here and do what I can to help out.
I've been fortunate enough to have some time to get out and see the areas surrounding the camp, as I'm sure you've noticed if we're friends over on Facebook. It's BEAUTIFUL here. Hiking around camp is a great way for me to clear my head and simply appreciate how much God has blessed me by putting me here.
In the next week, things will really start picking up here. We'll have a lot more staff coming, in preparation for the two big July camps. Once July hits, things will be crazy busy from what I've heard, so it might be more difficult for me to post updates, but I'll do my best!
Thanks a bunch for the prayers so far! It's hugely encouraging to know that there's people lifting me up back in the States. I'd apprecaite prayers for all the staff members coming in, and that they'd have safe travels. Also that all the campers coming would have their hearts prepared for the time here, and that they'd be deeply impacted by the teaching and overall environment. I think that's all for now.
Godspeed,
Ryan
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
The beginning
Well, I’ve been at Camp des Cimes for three full days now, and it’s been pretty amazing. This is still downtime before the first camp starts, so we’ve just been working to get everything ready. On Thursday, I did some random chores around camp, such as filling in a basketball court and weed whacking, while others did some masonry on a building, others fixed a deck, and yet others cleaned. Friday, I had the pleasure of mowing the entire camp, and weed whacking what I wasn’t able to get to with the mower. It was a lot of work, but the weather was nice, so it wasn’t too bad. Today was an off day, so a group of us hiked up to a refuge in a nearby national park, and delivered a bible to the people working there. The Alps are insanely beautiful, as a video I took will show to a small extent. Tomorrow, the first camp, Refresh, begins. It’s a camp for missionaries to come to and… well… refresh themselves.
Thanks so much to everyone who prayed for my safety getting here – I didn’t have any major issues! I’d appreciate prayers for Refresh, and that it would be a beneficial time for all involved. Burnout is a huge issue for those involved in ministry, and hopefully this will be able to prevent that for those who come.
Godspeed,
Ryan
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
En route
And here we go! I'm sitting in Denver International Airport, waiting for my flight to Dallas. In Dallas, I connect with a flight to Paris. From there, I catch a train to Lyon, another train to Grenoble, and a bus to Bourg d'Oisans. Should be fun when I know almost zero French.
Any prayers for the trip would be greatly appreciated, especually making the connection in Dallas, as I only have an hour and need to go through customs. Yikes. Other than that, I'm stoked! Can't wait to see how God works this summer at Camp des Cimes!
Any prayers for the trip would be greatly appreciated, especually making the connection in Dallas, as I only have an hour and need to go through customs. Yikes. Other than that, I'm stoked! Can't wait to see how God works this summer at Camp des Cimes!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)