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.