France Team Update #2

Thank you for praying! The team made it to France… tired and without our checked bins, but filled with joyful anticipation for the week ahead!

We were greeted at the airport by Michele (GO staff), Viviane, and Eric (from the local team, also with Teach Beyond), and have been warmly welcomed and cared for ever since.

We settled into our accommodations, and thankfully our bins arrived from Amsterdam while we were spending time with Michele, who helped us navigate getting them from the airport! We got acquainted with the area a bit and walked to a local festival (July 14th is a national holiday, but some villages are celebrating over the weekend) to keep us moving and adjusting to the time change. We were too tired to stay until the fireworks started at 11:00 p.m., so it was an especially fun sight (in our PJs) to see them from a bedroom window for those of us who were still awake.

Sunday morning, we joined around 60 of our brothers and sisters from Saint Louis for a worship service. There are just three evangelical churches in the region, and during the summertime they all gather together, rotating between their locations. The pastor said that even though the U.S. is out of the World Cup, we should still be warmly welcomed. 😉 Not speaking French limits our ability to communicate, but it also showed us the ways language differences aren’t a barrier –  the encouragement from a gentleman who exuded joy, recognizing a favorite song being sung in French and worshipping the same God, partaking in communion together, and Christ-centered fellowship that unites across cultures.

We toured the school where we’ll be doing the English camp and met more Teach Beyond staff and volunteers (who will also be doing a work project at another school). We talked through preparations for tomorrow (Monday) and then enjoyed some time in nearby Basel, Switzerland (keeping us moving and not asleep when our bodies really thought it should be bedtime in the early afternoon). We especially enjoyed getting a peek at the history, architecture, and beautiful views of the Alsace region by making the trek up a ton of tiny stairs in a cathedral.

We all headed to Eric and Viviane’s home for the kickoff meeting for English camp, where we enjoyed a meal together in the shade of their backyard and heard from Jeff (France director) about the purpose of English camps and the vision & mission of Teach Beyond. True to French culture, we lingered around the table quite a while, praying for the week ahead and enjoying getting to know one another more. It’s been sweet to recognize and hug the ladies in person whom I’ve only known online until now and yet already feel so connected with (hours spent on Zoom praying together and preparing for this week).

Please be praying for our team as we begin English camp! Pray for continued flexibility and great team unity as we step into different needs and roles, for quick connections with the participants (it is more of a multi-generational group than we anticipated), for energy & endurance in the heat, and for it to be a sweet time of learning together and an encouragement to the local believers. It is humbling and encouraging to hear the impact our simple act of coming has.

– Jenn Eisenzimmer, for the team