Le château le Solier

Packing Party

We had a very successful Packing Party last night. First came pizza and some Reformation history. Then we all watched the English dvd of the skit we will do. It's very clever and funny. But the jokes don't translate into French. Most of them are based on American puns. Oh, well!
The kids will enjoy it anyway. Jessica Parks ( in the black) will be one of our actresses and I will be an old river woman in the Rainforest.

Everyone brought a second suitcase. Dawn and Janie directed the packing of the snacks, craft supplies, brownie mixes and music notebooks. We bring brownie mixes because the French don't have them there, but they like them. ( It's chocolate, what's not to like?) After our concerts, outreaches and the final VBS program for the parents, we offer une collation ( a snack) of Brownies. It's always a hit!!

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Here's the flyer that is going out in Marseille to invite the kids to VBS. Pray that many will come! Pray that the ones from last year will invite their friends.

Translating the skits and Bible lessons

Every morning starts with a skit. Voici Bobbi, Sean, Terri & Yaritza. Pray for me as I translate it into French and as we act it out for the kids. Pray that they understand our French, laugh with it and comprehend the message of God's Love.

Shopping Spree

This year Dawn is in charge of le Goûter ( Snack) and Janie is in charge of le Bricolage ( craft), so they went searching for ideas at the Dollar Store. We are so blessed to have inexpensive products here in the US! They bought les casquettes ( caps), les sacs ( tote bags) and many other things to decorate. Now we have to take it all over in suitcases. In addition, they bought paper plates, napkins and cups. These are items are very expensive in France. Our first few days will be at Le Château Le Solier. We call this "Castle camping" because we have the lodging for free, but we have to provide our own meals and our own eating utensils. Pray that we can fit all this stuff in extra suitcases to take over and that we won't have to pay too much at the airport. Our last meeting and packing party is June 23rd.

VBS Assignments

These change with time, but please pray for the following people in the following jobs:

	Marseille	Saint Paul
Actor 1	J deHoog	Katie
Actor 2	Dominique	Dominique
Actor 3	Christine	Christine
Actor 4	Jessica P	Jessica
Skit Director	Kelly	Kelly
Bible Teacher, 5-7 year olds	Colleen	Colleen
Assistant Teacher, 5-7 year olds	Jessica P	Katie B
Assistant Teacher, 5-7 year olds	Maureen O	Maureen O
Bible Teacher, 8-10 yr olds	Dominique	Dominique
Assistant Teacher, 8-10 yr olds	Kelly	Kelly
Assistant Teacher, 8-10 yr olds	Jonathan dH	A Orozco
	Charis	Charis
Bible Teacher, 11-13 yr olds	Mme S	Emily Thomas
Assistant Teacher, 11-13 yr olds	Stephanie G	Christine
Assistant Teacher, 11-13 yr olds	Christine	E Orozco
Music Leader	Kelly	Kelly
Music Assistant 1	Ailsa Lyon	Charis
Music Assistant 2	Christine	Christine
Snack Leader	Dawn T	Terry B
Snack Assistant 1	Juliet C	Marie O
Snack Assistant 2	Terry B

The backdrop

Charis and her church painted this awesome jungle design for the backdrop of our skits. The kids will love it!

The adults

Left to right is:

Grandpère Fred - la science
Dawn Taylor - le goûter ( snacks)
Moi
Charis Gibbs - une animatrice ( counselor)
Janie Reilly - le bricolage ( crafts)
Jennifer Hechtman - le bricolage ( 2nd week)

Meeting June 1st

We had a great planning meeting last night. Each leader got her VBS booklet and began planning the crafts, snacks and sports. We discussed how to prepare a testimony and I did a little skit with Phillip to show how important it is not to use Christian clichés or American slang. Each member of our team should be ready with their testimony. Even if we don't use it before a large group, we can share it one on one.
We took a cross-cultural questionnaire to see how we will interact as a team and in a foreign culture. 8 of our 10 team members are event oriented and people oriented. That makes for a great mission experience! Two of us ( Carol and myself) are more time and task oriented. So, if there are clashes on the team....we will know why! It also explains why I enjoy planning and preparing for the mission on this side of the ocean....but have trouble relaxing and enjoying the moment on the other side.
Pray for us as we plan our activity centers, as I translate the skits and Bible lessons and as we shop. We will be taking several bags of supplies with us.