Goodbye!

Well, my bags are packed, my stock of swiss chocolate is bought. All that's left to be done is to say goodbye!

Of course, goodbye isn't the end. I'll be back in Switzerland next May, Lord willing. Until then, this blog will continue (although I'm thinking of changing it's name...)

Let's end with this picture taken today of some of my friends and beautiful Switzerland.

Goodbye and God bless!

Philippians 4.13

My last act as a CEMist this year was spending two weks as a counselor at the Colonie Harmonie Bible camp, where I had a room of six boys, ages 10 to 11. We had a great time together. Another fun thing was that my whole family was part of the camp staff this year. Jordan and Kathleen were counselors for the 7-12 year-olds with me, Dad a counselor for the teenagers and mom bravely worked as head cook for two weeks, feeding 170 people every day.

The theme of this year's camp was Philippians 4.13: "I can do everything through him who gives me strength", which really encouraged me during my time at camp.

Now camp and CEM are over. I'm leaving Europe in four days to go study at Harding University. I don't know what is in store for me. But I do know that God will be there to strengthen me and see me through.

almost camp

I know, I know. I haven't written in forever. Since last time, you've missed:

1) exams
2) weddings
3) work week at the center
4) CEM: summer session
5) CEM graduation

Right now I'm packing my stuff, preparing for camp. I get back July 31st, I'll tell you how it went.

See you then,

Justin

A New Life

Did you miss me?

Well, it's been a while since my last post, so I don't know where to start. I think I'll do a series of "flashbacks" these next few weeks...

In the meantime, I'll go ahead and congratulate Anne-Lise and Daniel, two friends from the young adults group, on their marriage Saturday! The Chorale Harmonie was honored to be able to sing at the ceremony. The wedding reception was great, and we celebrated until early this morning.

May the Lord bless you in your new life together!

rest

I got home last night after three very busy weeks of exams, travel, concerts and BAFA (French camp counselor) training. I now have a week of vacation to spend time with my family and friends. And rest.

Antiquity

Well, I just finished exams for the second trimester of CEM. It's been a pretty hectic week, but now that that's done, I can focus on our choir concert tour, which starts with a concert here in Marseilles... tomorrow!

On Tuesday, the CEMists went with Max and Prisca Dauner for an "educational outing" to some of the archaeological sites in the area. We went to see the Flavian Bridge, an Roman bridge over 2'000 years old that's still standing, with it's arches and everything! We also went to the ruins of the town of Glanum, where we saw vestiges from from the Celtic, Greek and Roman periods. We finished our outing with a visit to the archaeological museum, the Roman theater and amphitheater in Arles. All in all, a fantastic day!

Here are some pictures from the outing:

Visite archéologique

Trouble in Algeria

We learned earlier this month that the Algerian government has started enforcing the anti-proselytism law that it passed in March 2006. Since then, many churches have been forced to close, foreign ministers are facing expulsion from the country and several Christians have been tried and condemned "proselytizing".

So Saturday afternoon a few young people from church and I went into town join a protest against the oppression of Algerian Christians by their government

We were met with much sympathy, but also with hate.

Please pray for Algeria.

Snow and Ardèche

I got back last night from the Bonnefoi retreat center in Ardèche, France. I went up for two days with Craig, Garth and Lucas to get some work done in preparation for the French-speaking Churches' retreat we have at Ascension. We also picked up thirty beds at another center that was closing.

There was a lot of snow up there, so Lucas and I went ahead and built a big snowman. It was fun.

I took a few pictures, you can see them by clicking on the photo below.

Au centre Bonnefoi

Easter

When Perter and John arrived at the tomb that Sunday morning, they found it empty. Peter went in and saw the linen bandages lying there, and was perplexed. But John, seeing the cloths, believed.

"Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed". We were reminded of Jesus' words this morning as we celebrated the resurrection of our Lord. Jesus desires hearts that believe in him based on who he is and the promises he has made, not inescapable proof. He desires faith.

This morning we were over ninety assembled to share our faith and the joy of the resurrection together. We were able to witness one of our young members, Claire, act on this faith and be baptized into Christ. After service, we had a big meal together.

Worship, a new life in Christ, fellowship, good food, and the celebration of our risen King. What a wonderful day!

Foot

I just got back from our monthly football (soccer in the US) match. The church has a team that plays in the Marseilles inter-church soccer league. It's lots of fun and a good way for friends to meet the Church in a fun, informal way. We're also excited about the European Church of Christ soccer tournament in Schaffausen, Switzerland, that we'll play in in April.

But back to the here and now. Tonight's match was a bit special because:

a) It was our first game played with our brand-new team uniforms, complete with numbers and FCCF (Fuveau Chapel Football Club) written on the back!

b) Today is also the eighteenth birthday of two of our star players, Constantin and Saïd!

c) The other team didn't show, so we split up into two teams and played each other instead. The blue team won, but just barely.

We then went to the nearby KFC to have ice cream and celebrate Constantin and Saïd's birthdays. Good times.

Happy Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
KATHLEEN!!!!!

18 already! Time flies!

Palm Sunday

They lined the streets, crying "Hosanna! Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord!". They threw their cloaks and palm branches on the street to prepare his path. Children ran before him, filled with excitement. The crowds of Jerusalem joyfully worshiped God, thanking him for the promised Messiah who had finally arrived to free them.

And yet, five days later, these same crowds would scream "Crucify him! Crucify him!".

It makes you think, doesn't it?

Saturday

Saturday, my day off. Felt good to sleep in.

I was forced to make a difficult decision, though. Do I spend my afternoon getting my homework done, so that I could have a calm, pleasant Sunday evening, or do I spend 4 hours of my life building a jousting helmet out of linoleum flooring?

Actually, the choice was easy.

Teen trip to Naples

Well, I haven't been blogging for a while, but Dad says there is no such thing as "blog guilt". Good, it's nice not feeling guilty.

In the news here: during the second week of April the CEMists went to Naples, Italy, with teenagers from the churches in Lausanne, Geneva, Marseilles and Lille for a week of missions.


So, we sang for residents in a senior center, a foster home, a public elementary school, in the streets and for a concert organized by the Church in Naples. We also went downtown to give food to the homeless, we spent time visiting with members of the church, eating, singing and playing soccer with them. A great experience.

If you want to see some photos from the trip, click here and here for pictures we took.

Very mature

What to do when you arrive early to the young adults group at church.



Of course, it doesn't always work...

Sleding in Ardèche

Two weeks ago, we went up to the Bonnefoi retreat center for a bit of maintenance and cleanup. After a bit of trouble with the icy roads we made it too late to get any work done. However, we did have a bit of fun on the snow (snow! They have snow in Ardèche!).



The next day was very busy with moving beds around, cleaning storage rooms, finding a few dead mice, et cetera (no photos, that was boring).

One we were done, we had a bit of time to sled on the beautiful slopes on the grounds. The snow was frozen, which meant that the sleds went really fast, and that the only way to break was to jump off the sleds. Fun!

I'm back!

Well, much to Raphaël's joy (and mine), my computer is up and running! I can now blog again! It's a good thing, too. A lot of bloggable things have been happening, so I have a bit of catching up to do. But first, here's a picture of two long-lost friends finally reunited:

Tuesday nights

Every Tuesday evening, raphaël and I invite some of the young adults from chruch over to our appartment to partake in a meal of "super-sandwitches" with us. We then play cards, watch a DVD on Raphaël's computer, or just stay un and talk and laugh till late. Tuesday happens also to be the day we have the most homework, which means we sometimes are a bit tired Wednesday mornings.


It's one of my favourite parts of the week, when we can relax, have a good time and laugh a lot. Here are a few photos of yesterday evening. You would be surprised how much Lynda can eat!

We Three Kings

We three kings of Orient are,
Lost in Marseilles after travelling so far.
Cars and danger, but no manger,
I knew we were following the wrong star!

We met kids at a Bible school,
They told me that I was a fool.
"He's in Bethlehem, give me your wallet!"
At least they didn't take my mule.

So we three kings of Orient are,
Driving home in a stolen car.
Melchior driving, I'm navigating,
With a map. Stupid Star

Back to class

To all those still on vacation: enjoy it while it lasts!

I was thankful to be able to spend the holidays with my family in Lausanne. I had a great time! Such a great time that I didn't find much of an urge to blog...

But all good things must end. I'm not saying what comes after isn't good (gotta be careful what I say here, you never know who might read this), just that sitting around for two weeks being lazy beats getting up in the morning!

So this morning we started bqck for our second trimester of CEM. It was great to be back, although some people hadn't gotten used to getting up in the morning yet...