Camp TED Day 5 (I think?)

Hey everyone! It's Hannah here. (Shout out to all my fans back home) Camp has been amazing so far. The talks/sermons during the morning meetings have been answering life's big questions and today's was "Who am I?" The speaker, a hilarious counselor named Jean-Jaque, talked about the different things that made up someone's identity and focused on the fact that every person is loved and cherished by God and made in His image, which should ultimately define us. Before the message, I gave my testimony, which was more of a story about how God has worked in my life in the past year, along with Hugo, one of the French ICers. It was a bit intimidating at first, being on stage and speaking with a translator, but I was not as nervous as I thought I'd be. 

I'm sure the other people that have already blogged have mentioned this, but being at Camp TED with so many other Americans is definitely a different experience. Everyone is so fun to work with and each person adds a uniquely important element to the camp. I feel so blessed to be able to work with the other teams from Chicago and Philly. This is also making the trip more challenging though, as it is now easier to clump with Americans instead of mingling with the French campers as much as we should be. Pray that all of us can keep our hearts and minds focused on our mission of sharing God's love and the Gospel to everyone around us, through both our words and actions.

This blog post is probably a bit all over the place, but so is my train of thought at the moment, and I have to go to dinner soon. I hope all of you are having a wonderful day!

Thank you for reading! 

-Hannah

Hey all!

This is Max blogging from Champfleuri, France, and I STILL can't believe that I'm actually here! The camp is incredible, the views are awe inspiring, and the people here are truly amazing. I've made so many friends, between the campers, counselors, ICers, and leaders.

The food has been one of the best things, having fresh baked french bread every meal is hard to pass up, and the meals from recipes of Damien's mother have been great! Tuna casserole with potato chips might seem weird, but it tasted spectacular.

One of my favorite things to happen today and that's been happening over the whole week has been playing the "Signs" game with other ICers and french campers. The fast pace of the game and mass confusion makes it a blast to play, and it helps with being together with the french campers without dealing with some of the awkwardness when words won't work.

If there's one thing on my mind while at this camp, it's just that all of the french campers will be able to hear and feel the message of the Gospel, in whatever way they need to hear it. Whether it be through me, any one from the other American teams, or any of the speakers, that it would be heard.

Thanks for reading and God bless!

Hello everybody! How are you today? Here at TED the forecast is lots and lots of rain with patches of sun throughout the day. Also, chance of various games and activities. Overall, a pretty nice first time for me.
Today we went spelunking. We went to a place called Grotto de Chambaran or something along those lines. We saw tanned icicles, deep and clear underwater mountain springs, blind and white Slavic salamanders and a beautiful light show. I could not begin to describe this light show perfectly to anyone but a cool thing along the way was socializing with a French person named Joel S. There's an accent mark somewhere in there but I can't put it there right now. Short time.
Fare thee well and have a fantastical time back in the states.
With lots of love,
Danny Newell

First full day of Camp TED! I am so excited to be here and that the camp has gotten started. We are still in the "getting to  know you" stage of the camp so we have been playing a lot of games where we are learning about each other. It is so much fun seeing all the friends I made last year and making new ones. It is interesting because there are three Sarah's at the camp so figuring out who is talking to who is a little confusing (We also learned today in one of the games that all three of us are born in March).

Amy gave her testimony this morning and was amazing (as we all knew she would be). The "theme" of camp is the "Big Questions of Life" and today's question was "How do I deal with my parents." Jim, the leader from the Philly team gave the talk and it was very good. He talked about Matthew 7:1-8 and how even though we are teenagers, in our families when we are in a cycle of fighting, by forgiving our family we can break that cycle. After the talk we went into small groups and talked about it.

This afternoon we played a game where we got into groups and tied two peoples legs together (like a three legged race) but then we kept adding people. So eventually all the girls were tied together and all the boys were tied together. It was fun, but slightly painful on my ankles. Then we played a game where we faced a partner and by moving our arms tried to get them to move their feet. It was quite the tournament!

I think for prayer, you could pray that we are able to communicate with the other teens. The language barrier gets difficult at times, especially as both american and french campers get tired. Please pray that we can stay energized throughout the upcoming weeks and that God will show himself in a new way to all of the different campers.

God Bless,
Sarah

Mady here,

Today was the first day of camp! All of the kids came in today, which is what I was looking forward to the most about coming on this trip. It was amazing to be reunited with everyone that we got to meet last summer and have kept in touch with over the year. Most of our team is starting to get over jet lag, which is something to be grateful for, because yesterday we were all feeling the full force of that. Champfleuri is as beautiful as ever; flowers everywhere, a larger than life mountain range, buildings older than our country, etc. All of the staff and other Americans are so passionate about their faith in Christ, it is  extremely encouraging and an ideal atmosphere for French teenagers who came here indifferent to the existence of God. Some things you all at home could be praying for us for is that (1) we are getting enough sleep now, with the late nights and early wake up call. (2) We are able to stay positive when we are tired, playing a game we don't like, eating a meal we don't particularly love, and talking to the other kids here. (3) That we avoid being passive about anything from our love for one another to our love for God. And (4) the final prayer request I can think of is that each French teenager here comes out of camp with a better understanding of who God is, and that they fully understand the opportunity they have to accept God as their loving Lord and savior. I hope all is going well at home, as exited to be here as we are, we all miss our families. Thank you all for the prayers and support you have given us through this all.

-Mady

P.S. Mom, I have some new French meals for you to try out

Day 2 in France

Hello family and friends! Monica here.

We are working our way through the jet lag and getting ready for the rest of the American crew to arrive. Chicago should be coming in sometime this afternoon!

This morning we had a large group meeting with all of the ICers, counselors and CF staff. Damien gave a devotional from 2 Chronicles 20 and reminded us that God is the one at work at this camp. We then had a time of prayer and worship, asking God to work in and through us during the next two weeks. After that we went around a learned everyone's names. Some of our team included Mighty Micah, Driving Daniel, Happy Hannah and Jumping Jonathan. The alliteration game was funny--and it seemed to really help!

As the rest of the day goes on we are continuing to prepare for tomorrow, when all of the French campers arrive. Please pray that our energy levels will be up and that good first connections will be made!

Here are some photos of life at CF so far (including some of our yard work!):

For more photos/videos, make sure to add Jonathan and myself on FB!