Happenings in France

Hi friends! It has been another amazing week in France! We moved back into our rooms upstairs, which is nice. We had some amazing weather this week--very springy. We had a BBQ for one of the guys who has been helping out at the base and left to head to his next venture in life. It was fun to hang out with the base folk. I played with a couple of the kids most of the time, which was really fun. Kate, who is four years old and has adorable red hair, is my new friend. I will post pictures of our adventures if facebook ever decides to cooperate...

When we went to church this weekend, Liz, Brea, and I helped with the Sunday school kids--so much fun! We taught them Father Abraham and then took them to the park to play outside. After church, we decided to get lunch at the pizza/kebab restaurant in town. One of the ladies from church (who happens to be a primary school music teacher) saw us in the restaurant and gave us a bunch of certificates to pay for our whole lunch!!! SO NICE! We came back that afternoon and hung out in the beautiful sunshine at the base. It was pretty much the perfect day.

On Monday of this week, we went to Reims and Epernay, which are north of Le Gault. Reims has a huge cathedral where the kings of France used to be crowned, and Epernay is the champagne capital of France. We toured some churches in Reims, walked around the city, and ate morning tea at a really delicious bakery. We saw a street magician who must have been working on his portfolio because he had a video camera following him around. He was pretty good, but not as good as Heath Page (for any of my CSIN friends who know who that is....). When we went to Epernay, we toured the Mercier champagne factory, which was really interesting. They take you on this lazer-guided tram tour of their underground factory and tell you about the whole champagne making process, which is incredibly intricate. I bought a bottle of champagne that I am excited to crack open as soon as DTS is over... ;-}

This week, I got to babysit Yannick, the son of a couple from the base. He is a little guy--maybe around two years old, and he is SO CUTE!!! We ate lunch, read heaps of stories, and played with a stuffed Babar while we should have been napping. We also had a CRAAAAAZY thunder storm that almost felt like a tornado with how windy it was! We had way too much fun--I'll try to put up some of the videos I took of the lightning--it was pretty unbelievable!

Last night, Eliane, Brea, and I went to a home group that was totally awesome! The group is mostly non-Christians; neighbors and friends of the family who runs it. We played some worship songs, did a sign language performance, and Brea and I shared our testimonies. It was a really powerful time--I saw tears in people's eyes while Brea and I were speaking. The people were incredibly warm and hospitable, and we had a great time getting to know them and sharing with them. I am excited for how God is going to use what we shared last night to touch those people's lives.

Other than that, it's business as usual here! We're getting ready to leave for Africa on Monday! It's coming SO SOON! We're all really excited. I'm not excited to pack again, but I am excited to move on to the next adventure God has for us. We'll be spending a few weeks in the north working with some ministries there, and then we're going into the mountains for 6 days, which is going to be hard, but amazing! I'll try to get as much internet/Skype time in as I can this week, because we're probably not going to have as reliable internet in Africa as we do here. Still trying to upload my pictures. I think I've given up on Facebook, so I'm trying Photobucket, but I'm worried that I'll go over my limit because I take too many pictures!!!

Love you and miss you all!