XC/DC France '08

he followed me to lyon!

2008-02-19T12:00:00.000-08:00

I pass this every day in the bus...it makes me think of you all and smile. :)

-christen

The sun sets on our ministry in France . . .

2008-02-06T11:37:00.000-08:00

What a pleasure to see you all at the Dayton Airport Monday evening! I shared the sentiments of many of my teammates as we inched closer to American soil coming from Paris . . . I can't wait to see my family but I really don't want to leave France! This beautiful sunset we enjoyed from the Marshall's rural home our last night in Chalons reminded me that there is great beauty in 'endings', be they days or ministry trips. But at the same time they are reminders of the promise of beautiful new days ahead . . . I know that is true of our team. We will return!!

P.S. We were treated to a great of Greenland on that trip home . . . click the arrow above the sunset picture to see our view from above the glaciers, etc.!

Lyon

2008-02-03T12:02:00.000-08:00

Well I am using a french keyboard so I am not going to try and use proper punctuation on this post. We will be up early in the morning to catch our train to the airport. So I am keeping this short.

I think I can safely say that before we got to Lyon most of the team was ready to just go home, myself included. Lyon turned out to be a great time for the girls. The Youth kids and the girls had great fun learning the chicken dance and having French pizza. As we walked into the church for the first time we were greeted by a young lady who was so very friendly that anyone who meets her will instantly like her. Annalis who only speaks French is just overflowing with smiles and laughter. We all soon learned that she has a desire to come to America to learn to speak English. After I thought about it for a while and asked some questions (and having a short conversation with my wife) Annalis will be coming to America in September and staying with our family for a while. After I told her that we would like for her to come she told me that she had been praying for a family to offer to have her for three years. I was both humbled and honored to think that God had chosen my family to be the ones to have her in our home. I didn't really want to go to Lyon, I am glad that God had other plans. I know my wife is probably nervous but after what Annalis told me I know this was a divine appointment that God had for me in Lyon.

See you Tomorrow,

Photoman

P.S. I will be updating the blog and making more posts from home so be sure to check it every so often after we get home.

Sparkle

2008-02-02T09:34:00.000-08:00

Video available due to a generous donation from the Hannah Namenyi Foundation.

Photoman

Notre Dame

2008-02-02T09:17:00.000-08:00

This video is courtesy of Hannah Namenyi.

Photoman

Paris at night

2008-01-31T10:14:00.004-08:00

Here is a quick view of Paris at night. If you look closely at the lights in the trees you may see something that looks like drops of light falling from the branches. It's really quite cool to watch.
This video is also coutesy of Tiffany.

Photoman

From Tiffany

2008-01-31T09:18:00.000-08:00

A small view of the underbelly (I don't maen for the word underbelly to sound negative, it is just how I describe the metro since it runs under Paris) of Paris. Coutesy of Tiffany.

Photoman

The magical hours of twilight!

2008-01-31T07:38:00.000-08:00

It seems strange, that in less than an hour (here in France) it will be time for the sun to start setting, and for you guys it will just be lunch time. It is 4:45 here and the magical hours of twilight are just begining, the sun is on it's way to setting and the light is just magnificent. As I am writing this I can see out the window and I just want to grab my camera and head for the top of the mountain and take some pictures. The light is beautiful as it cascades the tree tops and lights up the sides of the buildings. It is often very cloudy here and the view of the mountains is gone, thogh at the moment the sun is peeking through the clouds. My first day here at Champfleuri was a treat, there were no clouds and the view was spectacular. When we arrived here the night before it was late and it was dark so I couldn't see the mountains. When I awoke the next day and came out of the building I was not immedialtly impressed, it was a nice enough place nothing spectacular about the surroundings that I could see. Just then, I realized that I had left my watch in my room when I turned around to go back, I couldn't believe my eyes. The view was spectacular! (Yesterday I posted a photo of the view that I was treated to that morning, you can look at some of the older posts to see it for yourself. I will have to say though that the photo as good as it is doesn't compare to seeing it for yourself.) I later had an opportunity to go into town with Alan (he is our main contact person here at Champfleuri) we needed some plumbing supplies for a project I was doing. I was once again amazed at the picturesque views of the French Alpes (Alps to us Americans). On the way back to the camp I could see the mountains from the valley and look up at where we are staying. The mountain that we are on sits just in front of some larger snow capped mountains that are very majestic looking. As I said earlier I did not realize that the cloudless day was uncommon, I assumed that I would be able to go into town the next day and get photos of the view. Unfortunately that hasn't been possible, it has been very cloudy ever since and the view of the mountains has been hidden. Tomorrow we head out of here and are going to Lyon, our last stop on the tour until we go home. I am hoping that the clouds will be gone in the morning and we will be able to stop and photograph the mountains from the valley. It is kind of sad to think that our trip is almost over but at the same time I think all of us are ready to get home to our families and our beds. It has been a tireing and exciting trip, many long days filled with train rides and meeting new people have changed us all. My hope is that we have all been aware of the Holy Spirit's presence here in France. I am not a well traveled person but I love to travel, I find that when I am traveling outside of the U.S. I seem to feel the Holy Spirits presence more than I do at home. It's an exciting feeling to see the Holy Spirit at work when I am traveling outside of the U.S.. I can't explain why, maybe it's because I realize that God is truly a God of mankind, not just a God of Americans. At home, I tend to get so caught up in my own little world that I sometimes can't see out of the box that I have put myself in. It is only when I get out of that box and go somewhere that I am not comfortable (like France) that I can truely see God at work. It's exciting to hear the stories that people tell when they come back from a trip or when missionaries come home on furlow. It isn't the same as being there and seeing God at work with your own eyes though, it's something that I think everyone should have an opportunity to experience. Please pray for our team as we leave here tomorrow and head for Lyon, pray for divine appointments like James. Also pray for James that He will read the French New Testemant we gave him and he will come to know Christ as his Savior.

Gotta go it is almost sunset time,

Photoman

P.S. Do you like the video? Would you like to see more of them? The girls like to see comments from their parents, so far Lori Kelley is wining with the most comments left.

A Storm is Coming!

2008-01-30T13:51:00.000-08:00

Beware of the storm. Video Courtesy of NBFY (National Bureaucratic Fedaration of Youth).

Photoman

Snowshoeing in the Alps!

2008-01-30T12:14:00.000-08:00

We were walking among the clouds today. It was so thick you couldn't see more than 40 feet in front of you.
Miss B. and Mrs. B treking up the steep mountain side.
Taylor as she crested the peak.
Our team minus Mrs. D. who recently had knee surgery, she wisely stayed down and drank coffee.
Some of the girls looking at a video they had just made.

Photoman

More photos from todays workday.

2008-01-29T11:53:00.001-08:00

Taping off the floor to keep it clean is what is happening here.
Tiffany is sanding the wall to prep it for the wallpaper.
Every good work day needs to have a bit of fun. This is our entertainment for the day.
Hannah is busy cleaning up the floor of the recreation room.
Here is Christen painting door frames.

I will post more photos as soon as possible,

Photoman

Work day in Grenoble.

2008-01-29T11:39:00.000-08:00

Some of the girls were prepping a room for paint. The walls are old and not smooth, so they are hanging this wallpaper type material to cover the blemishes.
These girls are painting rooms in a building that is being renovated for the Camp director and his family to live in.
These girls are cleaning windows in the recreation center.
More of the girls who were painting the camp directors future home. Can you see their school spirit?
These girls are cleaning up after breakfast, which I slept through.

Hope you enjoy the photos,

Photoman

The Alps are beautiful!

2008-01-29T05:04:00.001-08:00

When Taylor and I arrived yesterday it was dark and we couldn't see what surrounded us. When I got up this morning I was met by this view. I was astounded and immediately started taking pictures of this mountain view. I will make another post as soon as we are done working on the dorms we are refurbishing. The girls are having fun with this project. Will have some pictures shortly.

Photoman

It's off to the Alps tomorrow!

2008-01-27T13:42:00.000-08:00

Well I am assuming that the team did not have Internet access while they were in Chalons, as I have not seen a blog entry from them. Taylor and I will be meeting up with them once again tomorrow in Lyon and we'll all be heading to Grenoble from there. I am not sure if we will have access to the web while we are in Grenoble, but I will try and get a post up as soon as possible once we are all back together again. Taylor and I have had a great time visiting with my Friend and his family, but we look forward to getting back with the team to work at the camp in Grenoble.

Photoman

A little bit of London!

2008-01-25T13:27:00.000-08:00

Hope you enjoy the photos.

Photoman

Hello from London!

2008-01-25T13:21:00.000-08:00

A bit of our detour.

Here are some of the things Taylor and I saw in London today.

Photoman

American Soil in France

2008-01-25T12:25:00.001-08:00

I made mention of the fact that the team had spent a couple of hours on American soil. We had an opportunity to see Omaha Beach and the Cemetary of over 9000 American Soldiers who gave thier lives in WWII at both Omaha and Utah Beaches. The French Government has deeded the land at Omaha beach to the U.S.

The emblem in this first photo should look familair to all of you. It is a silent reminder of home.

This photo shows only a small amount of the graves, but I liked it because of the flags flying above the graves.
There were many others who died this day that were brought home to the U.S. and burried.
There were also about 1500 names on a wall outside of the cemetary of men who were never found.
In all 27,000 Americans gave their lives to stop Hitler on DDay alone. Being at this cemetary was sobering. I think every american should have an opportunity to see this place.

Photoman

American Soil in France

2008-01-25T12:02:00.000-08:00

I took this photo to show that although this piece of land has been set aside as a reminder to the sacrifice made to keep France free, someone doesn't seem to care as they have vandalized this sign.

This next photo is a German bunker that was dug into the hillside. It was used to launch mortar rounds out to sea at the Allied Forces as they approached land.
This photo shows some of the German made obstacles embedded into the sea floor to snag the incoming boats of the Allied Forces. They can only be seen at low tides.
This is not actually on the U.S. soil, but it was a good photo of some of the girls.

This was just a fun looking tractor and my daughter was close by so I had her stand nest to it.
Photoman

Hello from London

2008-01-24T12:56:00.000-08:00

Well today was the day that Taylor and I left the group for a few days. While the team is in Chalons en Champagne we are taking a detour to London. My best friend from High School has lived here 18 years now and this is the first opportunity that I have had to visit him and his family. Being so close to them I couldn't pass up the opportunity. Tiffany and Bethanie will be in charge of updating the blog for the team in my absence. We will be meeting up with the team on Monday in Lyon, to catch a train to Grenoble. I will be posting from London so that my family and the team can see what we are up to while we are here. I am not sure however if the team will have Internet access while in Chalons, so I will try to post some pictures of the girls while I am here. They will not however be current, they will be photos of Franceville/Normandy and earlier.

By the way we (THE TEAM) were on American soil for about 2 hours yesterday.

Photoman

Many new posts today

2008-01-23T10:07:00.000-08:00

I just want you to know that this post you are reading is 1 of 16 new posts that were added just in the last 12 hours. As you are looking at the posts you will have to click on the words (older posts) at the bottom of the blog to see more of the posts that I have added today. You will have to do this more than once to see all the newest posts.

Photoman

photos

2008-01-23T09:57:00.001-08:00

photos

2008-01-23T09:53:00.001-08:00

photos

2008-01-23T09:51:00.000-08:00

photos

2008-01-23T09:50:00.001-08:00

photos

2008-01-23T09:48:00.001-08:00

Photos for you

2008-01-23T09:45:00.001-08:00

A birds eye view

2008-01-23T04:48:00.000-08:00

The church service

2008-01-23T04:46:00.001-08:00

The church service continued

2008-01-23T04:44:00.001-08:00

Photos for you

2008-01-23T04:42:00.001-08:00

Images from our reformation tour

2008-01-23T04:40:00.001-08:00

more images from our reformation tour

2008-01-23T04:37:00.001-08:00

Another view coming soon!

2008-01-23T01:34:00.000-08:00

Today is the first time I have had in a while to get to post. We have limited access to the web here (only when the cafe is open) about 3 hours in the evenings and I have let the girls use it to email their parents. I have been given permission to use the Internet today when the cafe is not open so I putting up some posts that I have been working on. So scroll down the page some of them are long. By the time you have read this post you will have already seen the photos I have uploaded. There are 2 posts to go after this one.

Photoman

Miracles, Divine appointments & James

2008-01-23T01:33:00.000-08:00

Miracles, Divine appointments & James This post was written partially while riding the midnight train (until my battery died) and finished upon arrival to Franceville/Normandy, at which times I did not have access to the web.

It’s well after midnight and we are currently traveling by train to Franceville/Normandy, France. I was trying to sleep but God has my mind on some of the events of the day and I had to write them down. The entire group has been looking forward to this day, as we will be getting away from the stress of life in the Paris fast lane. Not only is the pace of life in Paris fast, the city is big the streets are never ending and by no means straight. For the novice user the Metro is no less easy to navigate than the streets. So we are all looking forward to getting to a part of France where life is a little slower. We look forward to this so that we can concentrate on the purpose we came here for, Ministry to the French. The problem with this is that Paris is a part of France as well, but the stress of the city has really kept us from concentrating on the task that God has sent us here to accomplish. All of the wrong turns the getting separated on the trains and the general frustrations of trying to move a group of 17 people quickly through the streets and rail systems has really allowed Satan to take our focus from us. We had a reminder of that once again tonight as we were trying to make our midnight train connection. As I said in the title, today was a day of Miracles, Divine appointments and James. Lets talk a bit about Divine appointments. We were privileged to be a part of the Dedication service of a new Church in Paris, Bible Baptist Church (in English, I apologize I do not know the French name). It was an honor to see well over 70 French believers and non-believers alike attending the dedication services. During the morning service Pastor Bodzzie was able to bring 2 non-believers into the family of Christ and our girls were a part of that today. I think that there was also 1 more new believer as a result of the evening service as well. God is definitely at work in Paris. After the service we were able to take a trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower, wow what a view. After the tower we were on our way to find some dinner and then to find our train, but God had other plans for us as well as more divine appointments that we were not expecting. I don’t want to go into a lot of details, as I want your girls to be able to share this story with you in their own words. Let me just say that the next miracle was a lost piece of luggage. We could have easily allowed Satan to get into our hearts and minds but we didn’t we filled our hearts with prayers and supplications to our Lord and He answered our prayers and brought to us not only the lost luggage, he also brought to us James (not his real name, just the name the girls gave him). I will only say that I believe that God wanted us to lose this luggage so that we would meet James. Pray that James will meet our Jesus. Also please pray for our team that we can face the adversity that Satan throws in our way not with frustrations and grumbling, but with prayers and supplications to our Lord. The opposite of this is exactly what Satan wants, as Leah Kelly’s mom has reminded us, we need to be encouraged when Satan is causing us problems and praise God for these problems. For when Satan is attacking us the most you can be sure that if you are looking for what God is trying to show you it will be worth all the frustrations Satan can throw at you. For our God is great and mighty God whose power no one can match, not even Satan!

Thank you for your continual prayers on the team’s behalf,

Photoman
P.S. We are in Franceville/Normandy now and will be until Thursday. I hope to have access to the web each day and I will post some photos as soon as I can tomorrow.

In addition too….

2008-01-23T01:31:00.000-08:00

I need to let all of you know that I am sorry if my first post caused you some concern or worry about the safety of your daughters. I had not intention of causing anyone to worry, as there was truly nothing to be worried about. I guess the timing of the post was not the best, by the time I had written and posted my first post, we had been awake for 36 hours straight and had not stopped moving. I was very tired and did not stop to think that my brief message may incite worry and fear. I would like to explain now what happened on that fateful day so that you do not have to worry for the next 2 weeks that your daughters are scarred and afraid of being lost or hurt.
Let me start from the beginning, when we arrived at the airport it started before we could exit the plane. If we had known then that this was a precursor for the rest of our day we may have been better prepared to handle it. Anyway the plane landed and we had to wait for at least 30-45 minutes to exit. They were having problems getting the walkway thing (not the proper term, sorry) attached to the plane so that we could exit. Then once we finally got out we had to navigate our way to a bus to get to the proper terminal. I have been to a few airports but never to one as large as the one in Paris. It literally goes on forever (well not literally but almost). We had to find a bus to get us from terminal 1 to terminal 2. Mrs. B and Christen who had spent so much time planning this trip so that we would not have troubles getting around unfortunately had no way of knowing that the airport had replaced the bus with a tram system. Between making multiple stops at restrooms, running into Pastor Bozzie, and multiple stops asking for directions we finally found out that we needed to take the tram. O.K. we are at terminal 2 now and we need to find the bus into Paris, sounds easy enough. Well it wasn’t so easy another long trek around terminal 2 asking for directions we finally found the bus stop, which was also under some construction so it had been moved as well. Not far at least, although it was poorly marked, we did find it. The bus ride itself was an adventure, the sites, the sounds, the smells (of the Frenchmen who do not use deodorant) were, uh; well you get the picture. It was an experience. After all the stops the bus made it took us about 2 hours to arrive in Paris. Once we were off the bus we had to decide which way to go to get to the correct Metro terminal, this proved to be a chore as the streets run in many different directions and the city blocks are by no means square. The street signs are not easily found if they exist at all, (not to mention they are all written in French) and there are people everywhere. Our ultimate goal was to find the apartment, which we were not having much luck with. I think part of the problem was that we had not eaten since breakfast on the plane and it had started raining on us. So between a lack of sleep, dragging our luggage around for hours, being hungry, and getting rained on we were all, needless to say; a bit frustrated. After our last wrong turn onto the correct street Mrs. B thought it would be best if she took the girls who were staying in the apartment to the apartment (to drop off their luggage) while we waited for her at the nearest metro station, then she would take the rest of us to the hostel so we could drop off our luggage. From there we were to head to the church for dinner and a prayer service. Unfortunately by the time the girls from the apartment finished changing and getting ready to go there was not enough time to go to the hostel first. We had to go straight to the church for dinner. It was at this point that some of us were separated from the rest of the group. While we were going through the turnstile entry to the metro some of our tickets did not work. My ticket and one of the girls ticket would not work and it took us a few minutes to get through the turnstiles. This had to happen at the busiest time of the day in the Metro people were everywhere making it difficult to see that not all had gotten through. Once we finally did get through we were not sure exactly where we were supposed to go. The others had all made it onto the train and we hadn’t. We took the next train but did not have the churches address. We hoped that the group would be waiting for us at the next stop so we could meet up with them and keep going. Unbeknownst to the 4 of us we had gotten onto the wrong train and it was going the opposite direction than we needed to be going. After a while we realized that we were probably on the wrong train. So we decided to just go back to the apartment and wait for the rest of the group to come back. It was 7:30 p.m. Paris time at this point and dinner had already been served. So we went to a Monoprix (grocery store) got a couple of frozen pizzas, some pop and went to the apartment and crashed. It was during this time that I wrote my first post. I had received a phone call from my wife (while we were walking back to the apartment) who had found out from our daughter (Taylor) that we were not with the group. She said she had been getting phone calls from other parents wondering if we had arrived and thought that if I could get a post out that people would know that we were o.k. I decided that if the apartment had Internet I would write a post letting all of you know that we were fine. I was so tired that I didn’t even think to tell my wife to start the phone chain. I just realized now while writing this article that she could have called you all. My apologies for not being able to think on my feet, no pun intended. Anyway I say all this to just say that at no time were we lost, we were just taking wrong turns and were backtracking a lot. Also and more importantly I want to assure you that at no time were any of us in any danger. I can honestly say that I felt very safe at all times in Paris. I can’t really explain it but I felt safer in Paris while walking alone after midnight with all of my camera gear, than if I were walking alone in broad daylight in many large American cities. I am sure that Paris has its rough parts but we were never in them and even the metro, which probably goes through them, at no time was unsafe. So please feel at ease your daughters were never in harms way and they are having a great time. I am very pleased to get to know each of the girls, as they are all very good girls. I am well pleased to see how well the girls are responding to their new surroundings and are enjoying getting to know new friends. It seems sad to think that after this trip they will probably not have many opportunities to be together.

Photoman

Louis the Hobo and Sun Shine Steven

2008-01-19T03:06:00.000-08:00

[By Leah and Mariah]

The apartment group was waiting by the metro stop for the hostel group to show up when this little French man comes up to us and starts speaking in rapid French. Thankfully Madame Danielson was there to translate for us. He gave us all a smile and then left. Since we had no idea what he was saying, we were all just saying, "Oui!" or just laughing along cause we had absolutely no idea what he was saying. And when he left we all turned to Madame Danielson and asked, "What did he say? What did he say?"

"He said he fought with the Americans against the Japanese--and also that 'The sun is rising, and that the sun is in your heart.' Imagine some old man in America coming up to you and saying that! Leah loved it.

The day before that we met a man that changed our lives forever. We named him Louis. He was a poor little hobo who had gotten wet in the down pour of the rain. We were waiting for our metro to Saint-Denis when we noticed this rather petite man. He was standing by the metro holding his jacket coat open, facing the metro, holding it with one hand. We thought this was hilarious, so we played a guessing game to see what he was doing, then we guessed that when the metro went by that he was drying his coat or that he was holding his coat open because he wanted a hug. I think we all got pictures of him.

More photos.

2008-01-19T03:00:00.000-08:00

A little more.

2008-01-19T02:58:00.001-08:00

A tiny glimpse of our reality.

2008-01-19T02:48:00.000-08:00

The weekend is here and we are able to relax for a change. I am taking this opportunity to try and catch up on some of my promises. I will be posting some photos today. If you do not see your daughter I am sorry. I think I have all of the girls in at least one of the photos. I will be trying to post as many shots as I can that show multiple faces. I could write much more but I want to get the photos up, then if there is time I will write more. I will instruct the girls that if they have an opportunity to write a post to be sure to sign it.

Photoman

Work Day

2008-01-18T08:17:00.000-08:00

Today was our first work day. I will post some pictures in a bit. I just wanted to get this post started as I have little time at the moment. The pictures will give you some idea of what we did. When the girls write later they can fill in some details as to what they did. I am not feeling very creative so I will end here and post some images soon.

Photoman

Happy Hump Day!!!

2008-01-17T13:41:00.000-08:00

Today was a major difference from yesterday...in a good way. For starters, it didn't rain that much, at least not when we were outside. Second, we had no schedule!!! Third, we saw so many monuments!
OK, we saw three, two up close. But still...
After getting stuck in the metro by the police because we didn't have pictures on our metro passes (which is a requirement and can be punished by a twenty-five-euro fine that we didn't have to pay...), we made our way down to the monument, probably known by just about everybody from the Disney movie: Notre Dame.
Let me just say it was a far-cry from the movie.
It was incredible! It was full of amazing architecture, gorgeous stain-glass windows, authentic "monk music" from a stereo, and breath-taking sculptures and gargoyles.
Did I mention there are also four-hundred steps to get to the top...that we climbed?
Anyway, I have to get back to the hostel before the metro closes. I'll finish up tomorrow. Oh, by the way, the other monument we saw was the Eiffel Tower, and we're going up in it on Saturday...I think...
Bethanie

Day two a view for you

2008-01-17T12:41:00.000-08:00

Today has been like a cool breeze on a hot day. I have been staying at the hostel with 3 other girls. The hostel is really nice. I still cant get over hearing french! today we visited Notre Dame. it is such a beautiful place. some of the girls got to go up to the top of Notre dame. the others went shopping. the metro has become an indispensable resource. we take it everywhere. you go up and down the stairs a dozen times a day. we are all expecting to lose weight with the amount of walking we do! we went to a cafe called pomme du pain , it was very tasty, yet healthy. it was on champs elysees; l'arch de triumph is at the end of that street. six lanes of traffic and the french just walk right on out. its amazing. i have spoken a little bit of french to a cashier, but other than that, not much french has been used yet.
a interesting encounter with the french metro security scared us a little. we had not filled out our metro passes yet , and when the stopped us we were threatened with a 25euro fine. per person. fortunately we got out of it. we must have looked so dumb to them.
pepsi has been a commodity that is hard to find for poor Mr Phillips( he absolutely hates coke) thats what most cafes serve.
we rode the metro to the Eiffel tower, and walked a lot just to get there. when we got there we found out that it is impossible to get to the top of the tower except on sun-sat. it was disheartening- but we got to watch it light up from underneath. then we walked some more... and got back to champs Elysee's and split up to go shopping.
i know this is long, but this is my thoughts of the day section.

don't watch life from a camera lens
don't forget to be still and look for God
maps are good things :-)

We are here!

2008-01-16T11:10:00.000-08:00

We got to France without any problems, unfortunately once we got here the problems came at us from all directions, leaving us dumbfounded as to which way to go. We literally went the wrong way every time we had an opportunity. It is now 8:15 p.m. here (2:15) Ohio time and we are all someplace that we are supposed to be. Well almost, 4 of us got separated from the rest of the group and we never found our way to the church so we gave up and went back to the apartment. We have literally been carrying our heavy suitcases (up and down stairs on and off of trains and buses) for the past 8 0r 9 hours. We are soar and tired as some of us have been up for more than 36 hours straight at this point. We were supposed to do some touring today but the only touring we managed was 4 hours of walking around the airport and I don't know how many walking around the underbelly of France (via Le Metro). We are not writing this so that you can worry but so that you can know that we are o.k. Aside from being lost most of the day we are also having many phone problems. Unfortunately we are having trouble making and receiving calls. If you read this blog please start the phone chain and let the other families know that we are o.k. I will post some photos as soon as I get a chance tonight.

Photoman

Please pray for us as we try to navigate the city the rest of this week. Also that we will be able to get the phones working properly.

the official send-off

2008-01-13T18:58:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all who attended, brought food for, and otherwise participated in our official send-off dinner (even the crazy choreography part!). We had a great time sharing with you a little taste of the ministry we'll be having in France. We're so thankful for your support and encouragement and count you all as partners in this endeavor -- ministering alongside us from the other side of the ocean, as it were. :) We look forward to going out with your blessing and to coming back to tell you about all the wonderful things God does in us and through us!

"boot camp" is almost over!

2008-01-12T10:55:00.000-08:00

We had a good week of preparation. We've done a little bit of everything: language, culture, music, history, games, school work. Now we're ready to get on a plane and go to France for real!

On Friday we spent time at "prayer centers," praying for our team, for the people we will be working with, and for the country of France. We can't wait to see how God is going to use us while we're there!

I can't wait.

2008-01-11T08:20:00.000-08:00

Days to go to France

I CAN'T WAIT!

Photoman

Need help with your French?

2008-01-08T14:44:00.001-08:00

If you need help with your French this video may be helpful.

Photoman

1 WEEK TO GO!!!!!!!!!!

2008-01-08T10:21:00.000-08:00

Wow its almost time to go.

Photoman

good reads for pre-trip

2008-01-02T10:02:00.000-08:00

http://gofrance.about.com/od/culture/Understanding_French_Culture_Language_People.htm
this site has a tons of useful and unuseful information( like how to use a toilet in france) it was facinating, i must say...

dont forget your frank-o-file!

2007-12-31T12:59:00.000-08:00

here are some helpful websites some in french and some to help with the translation

http://www.wordchamp.com/lingua2/Splash.do - this will help you with reading french websites, it also has an amazing conjugator for french verbs, and you can make flashcards and quiz yourself on french words
http://www.wordreference.com/ - this is the online dictionary i use, it is just a dictionary, so dont try to translate english sentences to french ones !
http://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/gr/index.html if you would like to review your grammar, this is the basics, and the comics are ... interesting.
http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/index.php?action=getVersionInfo&vid=32&lang=3 The Bible in french!

Its working again.

2007-12-30T16:19:00.000-08:00

Days to go to France

Photoman

Another request for photos.

2007-12-30T16:00:00.000-08:00

Souriceau has requested some photos of Le Metro that we will be using for transportation while in France. I have posted some in the past they can be viewed in the archive posts. Just go to the bottom of the page and you will see a link to the archives. As I am not sure exactly what trains we will be on I will find some more photos and post them as well.

I hope all of you had a great Christmas, we did. Well less only 2 weeks left before we leave enjoy your new year and I'll see you guys in two weeks.

Photoman

I'm up for the Challenge Militaryarff

2007-12-21T08:53:00.001-08:00

BRRRRRR!

2007-12-17T17:54:00.000-08:00

Tonight was our 3rd team meeting, we went Christmas caroling at the Legacy Village. Those of you who were not able to make it missed a good time. You also missed 17 degree temperatures and shivering, it was fun none the less. I thought it was fun even though I butchered the French part of the songs. As the team photographer I was busy taking pictures while we were singing. Since we were singing songs that we were all very familiar with it was easy to sing along while I was taking pictures, until we got to the French parts. It was at this point that I would always forget that there were French parts and I would promptly sing the English part while everyone else sang the French part. I guess I should have been reading the song sheet instead of taking pictures. I will add photos of our night as soon as soon as possible. Well I must stop for now I will add photos soon.

Photoman

4 weeks to go!

2007-12-15T14:52:00.000-08:00

Photoman

Less than 5 weeks to go!

2007-12-11T06:43:00.000-08:00

Photoman

Days to go to France

Be encouraged!

2007-12-10T17:21:00.000-08:00

Wow, am I the wrong person to be saying "be encouraged" right now. I have really been discouraged of late. Since we have been home from California I have been in a funk that I just can't seem to shake. I don't want to go into details so I will just say it has all been a result of a lack of finances. It is especially hard this time of the year. It seems like every time I pray and ask God to give me strength, Satan blindsides me with another financial problem. No matter how small, they all seem gigantic at that moment. I have decided after the latest disappointing news that there is nothing that I can do about it, that God has total control of the situation and I need to let Him handle it. So, if you are like Taylor and myself and have received a letter saying that your support level has dropped due to a lost check deposit, take heart. God IS in control of this. Taylor and I both lost over 5o% of the money that we had raised to date and as hard as that is for me to understand I just have to believe that God is allowing this to happen for a good reason. I may never understand what it is but I need to trust Him just the same. Satan is doing his best to get me discouraged, I'll have to admit that I have been allowing him to get to me to. I say "Be Encouraged" because Satan attacks the most when we are walking where God wants us to walk. So be encouraged that Satan doesn't want us to go to France, he knows what good things we will accomplish there. Paul wrote these words of encouragement to us in Romans 15:13, May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. This verse is my prayer for the team and myself, so that when we arrive in France we will be overflowing with the power of the Holy Spirit and that the people of France will see the Holy Spirit working through us. Isaiah 41:10,11 says: So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish. I am so glad that I am a child of God and that I can claim these verses as promises from my Father.

So once again BE ENCOURAGED that Satan is opposing us.

This blog is kind of like therapy for me, I hope it helps those of you who read it as much as it does me.

Photoman

I still haven't received any requests for photos!

2007-11-29T19:55:00.000-08:00

So I'll just keep posting what I think is interesting.

Photoman

Grenoble

2007-11-28T19:33:00.000-08:00

Once again I hope these are from Grenoble.

Photoman

A taste of Lyon!

2007-11-27T18:05:00.000-08:00

I am not sure if all of these photos were taken in Lyon but I pretty sure that they were all taken in France. I hope you enjoy them.

Photoman

Team France 2008

2007-11-26T14:39:00.000-08:00

Let me know what you think.

Photoman

Home again but only for 7 weeks.

2007-11-25T18:31:00.000-08:00

Here are some of what we may see in 7 weeks.

Photoman

Its the final countdown

2007-11-25T15:02:00.001-08:00

Here's a new one not sure what happened to the last one.

Photoman

Days to go to France

It's been a while!

2007-11-19T21:51:00.001-08:00

Sorry guys I have not been able to get online until yesterday. I did not have access to the web that was good enough for me to post anything so I will try to get a few images up tonight. These images are some that I have taken while we are here in California.

Photoman

Less than 36 hours to go for my family.

2007-11-10T18:41:00.000-08:00

Wow we have less than 36 hours before we will be flying out to California. I don't have a lot of time to say much because I am trying to get ready to go, so I'll just say see you guys tomorrow at the meeting.

Photoman

Please make requests

2007-11-07T11:39:00.000-08:00

I would love it if I received some requests for specific photos. I may not be able to find exactly what you want but it would be fun to try. So come on Team France 2008 put me to the test. In the meantime here are some more images that I have found.

Photoman

A little taste of Chalons

2007-11-03T18:30:00.000-07:00

I am trying to put up photos of the areas that we will be visiting while in France. However I did not take these photos so I cannot say for sure that they are in fact from the areas that I am highlighting for each post. I have to trust that whoever took them knew where they were when they took them. There is no rhyme or reason to the order of my posts, just whatever I feel like putting up at the time. I hope you are enjoying them.

I hope this train is not one we will be travelling on!

Photoman

A little taste of Brittany

2007-11-01T11:31:00.001-07:00

I think these are all from Brittany.

Photoman

Does anybody read this?

2007-10-28T19:09:00.000-07:00

Well, I don't think anybody reads this stuff but I am going to write anyway. I think I'll just say that it has been a long day of sorting through stuff from my recent flood. We are however pretty much finished with the cleaning. I am happy about that, the good news is we didn't really lose anything valuable, just some of my personal photographic work. Fortunately I can replace it all as I still have the work backed up on my computer. Well enough of that I think I'll just put up some pictures of France and say goodnight.

Photoman

OH - IO

2007-10-27T20:05:00.000-07:00

Let's go all the way!

Photoman

Not a great story but its exciting to me!

2007-10-26T18:57:00.000-07:00

Well I just found out today that the Australian Center for Global Recordings Network wants us to come to there for 1 to 2 months to visit their ministry. This way, I can see if this is the kind of work that I feel God is calling me into. I think this would be an awesome opportunity but there is no way that I can miss that much work. God, on the other hand, can take care of that issue if He wants us to go. So all I can do is seek Godly counsel and PRAY, a lot! If this is a part of God's plan for us I can't wait to see how He provides for us. If you guys think about it feel free to pray for us as well. In case you guys are wondering what GRN is all about, here is a link to the GRN Australia website. It is a direct link to their VIDEO page. These videos would be a part of my responsibility. They are wanting to improve the quality of them and have them appear more professional. If anyone wants to know more about what is happening with GRN and my family feel free to contact me and I will share with you all that I know at this time. Oh yeah the picture for this blog has one of your team members in it. For those of you who have a good memory can you pick this member out? It's not me but this team member was at our first meeting. Good hunting.

Photoman

We have tickets!

2007-10-26T16:35:00.000-07:00

Departure date: Tuesday, January 15; 6:34 p.m from Dayton to Detroit

Arrive Paris CDG: Wednesday, January 16; 11:20 a.m.

2007-10-26T14:01:00.000-07:00

Well I hope someone is reading my posts. I have only had 1 comment so far and I am pretty sure it was not anyone from Team France 2008. If you haven't been reading these blogs from the beginning I hope you know to start at the bottom of the page and read your way to the top. Kind of like climbing a ladder or the Eiffel tower. Well gotta go I need to get to my son's birthday party. I'll try to find something more interesting to write about tonight. In the meantime enjoy the pictures. Maybe I'll post some images from other parts of France later tonight.

Photoman

Here's your sign.

2007-10-25T17:27:00.000-07:00

Well after finding all my grammatical errors and typos I thought I would let the pictures do the talking.

If you haven't been to this site yet,

Welcome from Photoman

Our means of transportation

2007-10-25T09:27:00.001-07:00

While we are in France we will be traveling all over the countryside via a sophisticated train system. I have seen all different kinds of pictures of trains, though I'm not sure what ours will look like, the bottom one looks pretty nice. We'll likely see some of the older looking ones as well.

Photoman

Pictures of France

2007-10-24T19:42:00.000-07:00

I am sorry that I cannot put up photos of France I have taken myself, unfortunately I have never been to France. Since this blog is supposed to get us excited about France I thought it would be best if I submitted photos of France. So I will be looking for photos of France to submit. When I can't find a good one I'll just stick in something of mine. I hope that is o.k. with everyone. I wish I had a story to tell you tonight, but I am too tired to think of anything interesting so I won't waste your time. Maybe tomorrow I'll have something better to say. I hope you enjoy the photos.

Photoman

Not the brightest bulb in the pack

2007-10-24T07:15:00.000-07:00

I may not be the brightest bulb in the pack, but I am following the advice of this Frenchman and hopefully by the time we leave I will be able to speak French like a true Frenchman. You can view the video below to learn for yourself.

Photoman

When it rains it floods.

2007-10-23T16:49:00.000-07:00

My wife and I were talking about our upcoming trip to California and we realized we have less than 3 weeks before we leave. We decided that we really need to concentrate on the details of the trip and getting ready for it. God had other plans, we awoke today to find that our basement (our extremely overfilled basement) had flooded. Hence the title of tonights blog. I thought that over the next week I would be spending my free time pouring over the missionary application for Global Recordings Network. It is an intensly detailed application. However it looks like I will be spending my free time cleaning my basement for the next few days. I am not sure if anyone is reading this blog, so this may just be therapy for me. If anyone finds this I hope you get a chuckle out all of this. I must say I have had my working boots on all day and they are a bit damp as is my basement. The good news is my basement is getting cleaned and organized, a chore that we have been putting off for far too long.

I'll go first

2007-10-22T19:33:00.000-07:00

O.K. everyone, I'm trying to figure out how to use this blog. It looks like my first attempt didn't work so I am trying again. If you are reading this and you are a part of Team France 2008 or if you just like Paris. You may want to visit this site, http://www.parisdailyphoto.com/. Let me know what you think. Now lets all get our working boots on and get this blog going.

Photoman