Week 5 in Marseille, France

This week was "English Camp" week.

Kevin took Cooper with him early every morning and came home around 6ish every night.  The interns and Kevin ran the show and it was a big hit.  I took Isaac and Mei over one day for a few hours, but we felt it was better for them not to be there since it was for jr. high kids.  I did get some pictures the day I was there and at the end of camp.  The last day they had a presentation for the parents.  They showed off the English words they knew, sang some songs and showed the parents some of the dances they learned.

Cooper was kinda of a star because he knows english and how to play kick ball.  He loved it and made some new friends.

Here is one team lined up to play kick ball.  The French know all about soccer, but baseball, ect is just not played here at all!

Everyday at camp, they focused on a different city in America.  Then they would learn things about that city.  On the New York day, Claire taught them a hip hop dance! 

This sweet boy was a big fan of all the intern girls.

I got to talk with some of the moms at the end of the week and I heard over and over again how much fun the kids had.  You can continue to pray for these kids and the families.  It was a lot of work but it seems very successful.  God is working even if it was not a "VBS" type of camp.  I know the kids felt loved:)  I know my husband was wiped out every night, too!  I heard some comments about how great he was with the kids.  I wish I could have been more involved, but I had an important job to do...

I was the entertainment director for this girl....

and this boy!

They kept me running around all week.  We made several trips to the beach and the park and even rented go-cart bike things one afternoon!

That was a fun adventure!

Towards the end of the week, we started preparing for Isaac's birthday!  The boy is hard to buy for so we took a few adventures to toy stores, but the best thing he got for his birthday was a trip to the...

WATER PARK!!! 

 He told me several times that day that it was the funnest birthday ever! 

We took Pete and Ruth's daughter, Mary Ellen with us.  She is a year older than Cooper.

The boy does not really like cake, which is good because a cake mix is pretty hard to find here.  He did get ice cram at the park and later I made him a big chocolate chip cookie and put a couple candles in it!

I can't believe he is 9 now!

The past 2 weeks we have gone to the English church that meets on Sunday night.  Our home church meets at night so we love it!  Last Sunday, Cooper had a fever so Kevin stayed home and I went.  It was the first church service I have understood in a month, so it was a breath of fresh air.  I did enjoy going to the French churches, but it is so hard to sit through if you do not know the language.  It is hard to get my boys to sit through an English church service, much less a service all in French.  I am happy we have had these experiences here this summer, though.  I am praying it will open all of our eyes more fully to the beauty of how God has made people and cultures so different.  Each culture has some wonderful things to bring to God and the world around us.

  I have been thinking about that idea tonight, because I did not get to go to church because Cooper had an upset belly.  Kevin took the other two and I stayed here and listened to a great Tim Keller sermon on "Culture".  He was talking about cultivating is like culture where you take the raw materials you have been given(like in a garden) and use them to make something beautiful.  He talked about using your gifts and knowledge to do something, like taking a music for example.  You take the raw material of notes and put them together to make a song.  "Cultural activity means to take the raw material and draw out the enormous potential for the good of human beings and human activity."  I love this idea and the many ways that it fleshes out with people and their gifts.    One of the things I think the French are very good at here is food and entertaining.  It is an art.  You do not just grab a quick bite, but you feast for hours.  

This week all 3 kids will be in an English camp everyday all day we hope..pray for no more sickness.  Kevin and I could use some time together to eat a meal and have some exciting adventures without the 3 children who have been with us 24/7 for a month:)

We are starting to talk about coming home in a few weeks!  crazy!  The kids really miss their puppy.  I miss zumba and friends/family and Baja.  Kevin really misses air conditioning!  

Good night from France!

Week 4 in Marseille, France

If I had to come up with a subtitle, this week would be called the "Sick Week."

We started out last Monday planning for the English camp at our place.  We decided we had to go by supplies at a place that was close to the Ikea.  This seemed like it was going to be a very fun afternoon, because I love Ikea and I knew some of the supplies would be there and at a good price.  So we started making our way there.  Of course we had to take a Tram/Metro and Bus there, like we do most days.  This area of town was about as far away as we had gone though.  Everything seemed fine most of the afternoon, but Mei did not eat much lunch.  After our time at Ikea, we made our way down to the "Giant Casino."  the Casino here is not a place to gamble, it is their store like Super Walmart.  By this time, Mei started complaining that her belly was hurting so I sat at the front of the store on a bench and a bag of stuff from ikea.  One of the interns that is here long term had just moved apartments and had bought a big mixing bowl at Ikea.  It was in my bag so I got it out and put it on the bench next to us just in case.  Then I called our missionary team leader to talk about a few details while we waited. Amelia was on my lap facing me and I was only on the phone 5-6 min when I noticed that now the bowl was in between the two of us.  I had to cut him off because then she started throwing up in the bowl..in the grocery store and no one on the team was around.  So I waited til she seemed done and picked up the bowl of yuck and carried it to the toilet with her.  I called Kevin in the store to get a roll of paper towels for the long ride home on public transportation.  It was a long ride home.  We had to wait at the bus stop in the hot sun, then hop on the metro.  It was a day I really would have loved my car here to not have to wait with a sick kid, but we survived.  I am thankful that when she threw up on the bus in the bowl, it did not start a chain reaction of throw up with a packed bus!

We stayed close to home for a few days after that to let her recover.  I could not have been more thankful for the apartment with the boys, movies, ect for those days.  I big blessing to us!

On Thursday, we finally felt like she was back to normal and we could go to the beach.  Kevin was still busy all week planning with the interns, but he was able to meet us later in the day at the beach.

The wind was crazy this day and those windsurfers were racing back and forth on the Sea so fast that their sails looked like little bug wings racing on top of the water.  Marseille has this big wind from the North that swoops down certain times of the year and when it does it bangs open windows and causes all kinds of problems.  These surfers love it and my kids were enjoying the waves where it is normally very calm.

 We stayed down there and had dinner at a McDs kind of place called "Quick Burger".  I found a place on the beach that served real pancakes and syrup!  Then we rode the Ferris Wheel on the beach, at least 3 out of 5 of us did.  Isaac inherited his fear of heights from his dad!

We had a very beautiful view of Marseille from up here!  We could see for miles in all directions.  There was a loud howl from the wind up top, which was kinda crazy!  I really want to go back and ride it at night with the kids, but since it is not really dark til 9:30 or 10pm I am not sure that will happen this summer!

After dinner, it was time for a big concert to start on the beach so we stopped by.  This is a big deal for Marseille.  It is the first time there has been any evangelistic out in the open.  The church we are helping had a booth and the interns helped with kid activities and prayer team.  The French love "gospel" music so there was a draw for the unchurched to come check it out.  Lots of music and there was a preacher that gave a message.  Please pray for the good news of Jesus to take root in the hearts from last weekend.  It is sad to think about this very large city and the very small handful of churches that do not get filled up on Sunday mornings.  It is amazing to think about the martyrs that died in this region years ago and the rich church history.  

Here is Cooper in sumo dress up in the kids activities.  Our kids enjoyed the activities Friday am while our interns were there.

  Kevin and I even slipped away for an hour to grab a quick lunch while the interns hung out with the kids for a few more minutes.  It is a good thing we slipped away, because when the kids got back, Cooper had spiked a fever!!  So from Friday mid-day through the whole weekend, Cooper had a fever.  He never got sick like Mei.  Not sure if it was the same thing, but praying everyone is fine now and we have no more of that.

One more thing I did last week was go back to our other apartment and make sure it was all clean and the sheets were dry, ect.  i also took my camera to take some pictures of the place and area where we spent the first weeks.  

Please pray for our English camp that is going on this week.  Cooper gets to be a part of it because it is a jr. high camp.  Kevin is working hard with the interns all week.  Pray for strength for them.  I am just hanging out with the other two kids going to the beach, park, ect.