What happens when you get busy? You neglect to Blog!!

Greetings from sadly Winnipeg, MB-

Many faithful followers of the blog have commented that we dropped off the face of the earth half way through our trip- but the truth is that we got really busy with our mission projects, hanging out with our host family, Lynda and Phil and then before you know it we were back on a plane to Canada. (Then on to the Sonshine Festival for Isaya, Veronica, Micheal, Doug and Caroline).

So in our last week in serving in France the following events took place:

Tuesday we worked hard at the school. Demolition of the grade ten classroom floor was continued in the castle. In the end most of the floor needed to be removed and patched and then covered over with treated wood sheets that were glued and screwed into place- this floor is now ready to be covered with the schools preferred flooring. Tiling continued in the bathroom; the first panels of the pattern were completed and we moved into the corner with a blue and gray scheme (this area will have a stall door). Tiling, although rewarding, requires patience and precision- the latter being hard when the tiles are not all identical in size. We learned quickly that 20cm by 20cm does not mean they are all 20cm by 20cm! Painting the textured wallpaper was continued in the big classroom- all white which although is slightly bland makes the room very bright and airy.

Wednesday was Veronica’s 18th birthday and she worked most of the day with her birthday sash and crown- which did not impede her hard work at all! A few more trips to the hardware store to get glue, mortar, grout and then to return some un-used pieces of the treated flooring that we had for the grade ten classroom. Lynda provided very tasty lunch supplies (like she did every work day)- fresh bread, sliced meats, cheese and vegetables. Of course she made sure we got some fruit (watermelon was the favorite) and for our afternoon snack ice cream treats- the most interesting and much loved of which was ice cream bars that look and tasted like chocolate Mars bars but frozen! Late in the afternoon a very familiar face walked across the school yard- Pastor Brett! He was in Europe on his summer vacation and took time out to visit us and see some of the progress we had made. To allow us to get back to work Pastor Brett headed into town to do some architectural touring but he joined us for dinner at Richard and Loretta’s. In honor of Veronica’s very special birthday we had a cherry cake with the smoothest cream cheese icing and a Creamant (the local Alsass champagne) toast.

Thursday was a day off. Pastor Brett joined us for our trip to “The Viel Aland”. This special place is the sight of a large World War I cemetery and World War I trenches for both the German and French sides. This incredible place was sadly beautiful with its mountain vistas yet knowing that many had lost their lives. During the hike, on the top of the hill is a very large white cross, here Brett led us in prayer. Strange how this unflashy, low key place could stir up so much in all of us. We left the Viel Aland and journeyed down the winding road to Colmar. Colmar is a cute little city with many shops, museums and theaters. We enjoyed lunch on the patio, learned what “Formula du Jour” meant- basically the daily lunch or dinner special that include meat, a green vegetable, a carb and dessert. The people watching was enjoyable as was the surrounding- a classic cathedral across the street and a street market with goods from all corners of the earth. After a long day of sight seeing in the warm sun we said wished Brett the best for the rest of his holiday and made our way home for dinner.

Friday we went back to our projects with fresh eyes. Touch up painting was finished on the big classroom! The inside wall of classroom two was insulated and the stucco was started on the outside. The tiling continued to progress although the progress slowed considerably with the strange unevenness of the third wall. It was a long workday in the heat but we trudged through. Shirley Unger (full time GEM missionary at the office in Kanden) came to visit and stayed for a very tasty crêpe dinner. After dinner the team (with exception of Caroline who visited with Shirley) went up to the third floor of the house and helped Richard install and mud some drywall. Richard (and Loretta) were ecstatic that the team would bless them in such a special way. They worked for about 2.5 hours and accomplished what it would take Richard over a month to do on his own. His hope for the space is that it will have two dorm style rooms and a lounge so they can host other groups in the future. Both Richard and Loretta have beautiful servant hearts and are unbelievable hosts- if you are ever in the area look them up.

Saturday, our last official work day. While most of the team was steadily working in the heat on the outside of classroom two, Caroline, Isaya, David and Mike continued to tile and grout the seemingly endless bathroom. Being our last work day we wrapped up at about 3pm to clean tools and load the truck. All hands were put on deck (or at least all that could fit) to finish the tiling in the bathroom- which we did complete! Lynda returned the “Refector” (where we had team meetings, devotions and ate lunch every day) to normal and when all was cleaned up we returned to the house to relax and get ready for the appreciation dinner. Now a lesson that we all learned in France is that not all public spaces and restaurants have air conditioning- including the restaurant that our appreciation dinner was at. The whole time we were in France we were blessed with warm sunny weather- some days even a little too hot and Saturday was one of those days were the mercury soared to about 35*C. Sitting in the hotel restaurant not even the open windows provided a breeze and our “good” cloths quickly became wet with perspiration. The heat, however, did not change the festive mood of the evening as the team was presented with Euro Team completion certificates from Phil and Lynda and thank you notes from the school’s founder Manuella- even a few tears were shed.

Sunday we loaded up and went to church at the Black Forest Academy in Kanden, Germany. The academy is home to many missionary children during the school year and the towns surrounding Kanden have many residents who are full time missionaries. The service was all English and the message was very powerful. After church we went back to the GEM Barn- which is the head office in for GEM in Europe. Shirley gave us the tour of the 200 year old barn which has been transformed into offices and apartments. We had the opportunity to call home- but it was 5am in Winnipeg so most didn’t want to wake up their families. We unloaded the tools into the basement and then split up for lunch. Some enjoyed Chinese and other Italian- you would think we would opt for schnitzel! Phil led a hike up the mountain but most of us relaxed in the town square (and ate Ice cream!). On our way back to France Phil took a short detour to show us where he and Lynda had come before our arrival to pray for each of us. This was very special… leading to a few more tears! When we got home we set to work packing our bags and loading them into the truck for our early morning departure to the Mulhouse train station.

Monday- we were up with the birds- or maybe before! We said our goodbyes to Richard and Loretta and traveled for the last time the road between Buhl and Guebwiller before heading on to Mulhouse to catch our train to Paris. The high speed train took us all the way into Paris and from there we caught the metro to another station and then the RER (a commuter train) to the hotel at the airport. We quickly learned the value of packing light as the stations and turnstiles are not made for luggage! We checked into the hotel, freshened up and then headed back to the city center by RER and metro. Richard and Phil had both suggested the “hop on-hop off bus” to see the sights so that is what we did. This allowed us to see some of the beauty and architecture of Paris including the Louve, the Arc de Triumph, Notre Dame, and of course the Tour de Eiffel (Eiffel Tower)! After the bus we caught a boat that went around the island of Paris- giving a neat view of Notre Dame and Parisian life, as well as 21 unique bridges. We had a lovely dinner at “the weekend restaurant” and then traveled back to the hotel by metro and RER (again). Full, exhausted and all packed up we fell into bed.

Tuesday was departure day. Again we were up early as our shuttle to the airport left at 5am. We were sailing over France to London at 7:30 then after bidding goodbye to Charissa and Nicole and a short layover we were Toronto bound. Back on Canadian soil we cleared customs (with no problems) and checked in for the final leg of our trip to Winnipeg. Exhausted we got to Winnipeg at about 8:40pm (which for us was 3:40am) and were greeted by family, friends, and Pastor Ken!

Home:

We had an unbelievable 16 days in France. We worked hard, learned lots and came home changed. We saw first hand the grace, faithfulness, and passion of people who serve Christ with their whole hearts and blessings that have been poured out on them. We fellowshipped with people wise beyond their years who blessed us with kind words, encouragement, and prayer and we saw what God has done and is doing in France and know that His steady hand is there.

This experience would not have been possible without the love, support and prayers of our families, friends and Church family and for this we are so grateful. Thank you for allowing us to serve, for pushing us forward and for believing in what God had called us to do- you are very much a part of the team.




The next blog update will be in mid -September and October when we will have reflections from the members of the team. If you are in the Winnipeg area we will be speaking about our trip on October 17th at St. Aidan’s 8:30am and 10am service.