Week One of Discipleship Training School

One week of Discipleship Training School (DTS) down, but if feels like I've been here forever. DTS is definitely intense. It reminds me of being at a conference, you know, where you sit under lots of good teaching everyday and take in more information than you can possibly absorb in a lifetime...except this one lasts for 3 months! Each week we have a different lecture topic, and this week's was The Nature & Character of God, taught by Daniel Schaerer. Daniel is the founder of YWAM France and loves the Lord soooo much. Here we are at the end of week one with Daniel:

Row 1 from L to R: Guess Who, Samantha, Daniel (this week's instructor), Mathias (a visitor for the day), Christelle.
Row 2 from L to R: Shea, Anna (DTS staff), Peter, Sophie.
Row 3 from L to R: Ruth (JEM supervisor), Alex, Tabea (DTS staff), Abigail, Florencia (our cook for the first two weeks).

A very basic breakdown of our weekday schedule is as follows:

Breakfast 7:00am
Personal Time with God 8:00am
Group Worship/Prayer (Depending on the Day) 9:00am
Lecture 10:00am-12:30pm
Lunch 12:30pm
Practical Work/Lecture/Free Time (Depending on the Day) 2:00pm
Meal Prep/Cleaning 4:30pm
Dinner 6:00pm
Lecture/Small Group (Depending on the Day) 7:30pm
Free Time 9:30-11:00pm

For the first four weeks of DTS Alex and I are responsible for cooking dinner each weeknight. I'm really enjoying the opportunity to sharpen my cooking skills!

Weekends are mostly free at present. So far I've done some hiking and running. But one of my favorite ways to use freetime is to ride one of the base bikes to St. Paul. So fun! I get to ride a bike through this small, French village with cobblestone streets, patisseries, and window flower boxes for the next three months, and technically call it home. Oh la la. C'est bon!

Don't get me wrong. I am homesick. I started feeling it by, well, Thursday. I knew going into this that missing my family and friends would be a very difficult aspect of the trip. But God is here with me, and he promises never to leave me (Deuteronomy 39:6). I will take comfort in the nearness of my God.

Le Coucher du Soleil

If that ain't the glory of God on display, I don't know what is. Thanks, Poppa, for letting me use your old iPhone. It takes pretty sweet pictures! I probably won't get tired of taking pictures of "le coucher du soleil" here, so you can count on seeing more.

A Short Introduction to JEM St. Paul

So France is pretty great, folks.  Sure, I've only been here a few days, but so far it's a "whats not to like?" kind of place. The Jeunesse en Mission (JEM) or YWAM base is a reconstructed farm house on a hill overlooking two towns, Saint Paul-Trois-Chateaux and Pierrelatte. I'm told we are just a 15 minute drive from the Prealps, so it's quite hilly around here. We have a nice view facing west, which means we get pretty stellar sunsets each night. Comme ça (although I must say the quality of this picture is rather disappointing).

My first weekend at JEM St. Paul was rather low-key.  Students were arriving throughout the day Saturday and we all took time to recover from our jet lag on Sunday.  This year there are 5 girl students and 3 boy students.  Two of the girls are from France, one of the girls is from England, and the rest of us are from Amurica, yes, you read that correctly, Amurica. Most of the students are fresh out of high school with the exception of one of the French girls and me.  I respect these new graduates so much for coming here all by themselves at the age of 18. I'm 27, and I was fearful about doing this, so I can't imagine how afraid some of them must have been. One of the other students had never been on a plane before this trip! Anyway, we're having fun getting to know each other and I think we're going to make a good team.

Well that's all I have time for; I should be sleeping already!

I'm just writing to say...

I'm in France in my room (I have a bottom bunk, in case you were wondering) at the YWAM Saint Paul-Trois-Chateaux base.  I would write more now, but I don't think I'm very coherent, so a more detailed post regarding my travels will have to wait.  Praise God for a safe and smooth trip; he is so kind!

Teeny Tiny Update

I'm at Heathrow Airport in London waiting to board a plane to Marseille, which may be delayed just slightly!  Almost there...

Mission Trip News

So I was standing in my room yesterday with clothes strewn all over the place, trying to figure out what on earth to pack for my trip.  Let me give you a window into my clothes packing thought process...

"Okay, so it gets really cold and windy in Southern France, so I should definitely pack all five scarves (because scarves are amazing!), four pairs of jeans, and my boots.  But if I go to Africa for my missions trip, then I won't want anything to do with scarves, and I'll need more shorts than jeans because it will be 1,000 degrees outside and boots don't go with shorts, so maybe I should only pack two scarves, two pairs of jeans, and no boots.  But if my missions trip ends up being in another part of France it will still be cold, so I'll want those scarves, jeans, and boots. Ahhhh!"

I finally broke down and chatted my supervisor at the Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux (Saint Paul) base and asked if he had even the slightest idea of where we'd end up doing our mission work.  And you know what he replied?

WEST AFRICA!!!

I am so excited, not only because I have a much better idea of what to pack, but because I really wanted to go to Africa.  For years now, I've had a heart for African French people, so to hear this news is really thrilling!  I don't yet know which specific country I'll be going to, but it will most likely be Senegal, Cameroon, or Mali.

Two weeks from today, around this time, I'll be on a plane to France.  What adventures await?!