Camp Day 1!!!

Today was day 1 I camp for our youth and day 1 of VBS for me and some of the other adults!! It was SUCH a fantastic day!! They were attentive and focused (for the most part);) and really grasped the truths we were teaching!!

During the students free time we cleaned the chapel really good so it would be ready for the next day! Then we too a little visit to the "wal-mart"... Or the equivalent! We were able to pick up some essentials like candy, cookies, and diet coke!! Haha!;) it is always an adventure going to a foreign country and shopping in their stores because they are soooo different!! I love it! Ha!

On our way back to camp we took a little detour through the city of Dinan and saw some of the downtown. It was a true medieval city back in the day so you can see the city walls, cobblestone streets, castles and the port. It is a very neat city full of history!!

We arrived back at camp and since I have had only about 13 hours of sleep since we left... A nap was eminent! How glorious it was... And now it's 1am and I can't sleep! Oh goodness!!;)

We at dinner which everything has been delicious and we waited for the much anticipated games of mufa pufa! Oh my golly! It was so fun to watch!! They ha all sorts of crazy games for the kids to play!! They have really embraced their team colors for the week and are building so many great friendships!!! Plus... Pastor Paul was dressed as a big chicken!! Don't worry we have way to many pictures and some video footage of this endeavor! It was hilarious!!

Fr the late night snack we had the one and only..... FRENCH FRIES! Haha! Why not right??

The weather has been overcast and a little drizzly at times but so cool! It's been a great change for us!!!

Tomorrow is day 2! Who knows what the future holds! Be praying for salvation and God to move in such mighty ways... That only HE can!!

Grace and peace!

Normandy

Bon jour!

Yesterday was mainly our travel day to Dinan but we made a stop in Normandy on the way!

All I have to say is that it was one of the most well done American memorials that I have been to. It was so overwhelming to see not only about 9000 crosses of soldiers that gave up their lives for our freedoms but to see names and dates they died! Some of them were yesterday's date! Some were unidentified! I thought it was a great reminder of how blessed we are as a nation and how we have to protect our rights so that those men who gave up everything would not do it in vain!

We also went to Omaha beach and saw where the thousands of soldiers would have come up! We were able to have a little bit of fun and see all the caters where the bombs were dropped and go into many of the bunkers! It made the events of D-Day and the days following more real!

While at omaha beach... We stuck our feet in the English channel and feel the freezing cold waters!! Brrrr...

Once we arrived in Dinan, we went to word of life's camp and jumped right in! Many of the students were all ready there and getting excited about all that they were going to be able to experience.

I was SOOOO proud of our youth! They jumped right in and were trying to get to know the French students, make conversation through the language barrier and really make connections with them! They have had a blast so far!!! And it's been really neat to see them grow and come out of their shell some!!

We have eaten some homemade crepes that are "shut your mouth" good! Ha!! The camp staff are so fun and so excited to share with students the truth and see lives changed!! And we are too!

Pray that as this week of camp goes on... Deeper relationships will be established between the adults in our team and our students, our students with other students, and ways we can encourage the missionaries here!!

We look forward to all of what God is doing and will continue to do this week!!;)

Danielle

Paris!!!

Well today has been a looooong day!! Hard to believe that it was just this morning (Paris time) that we arrived here in Paris! It feels like we've been here a couple of days!! Our day has been so full of seeing all of the hotspots of Paris! We have walked through Notre Dame and seen all the beauty of this old church. As beautiful as it is... It's sad that this place that was once known for a place to worship is now more of a tourist location to tour.

Our next stop was to head to the Louvre and tour the museum. How overwhelming it was to see all of those artifacts that are centuries old!! It was very surreal to see things from Napoleon's era and paintings such as the Mona Lisa!! The Louvre was so huge and we walked through most of it!! My legs got a WORK OUT!! Which was great since we were in a plane for so long AND due to the amount of French pastries and bread we are consuming. Holy! Moly!! The French know how to make some pastries!! I'm taking pics of all the goodness. So far... 2 crossiants, 1 strawberry tart (ah-mazing), and 1 strawberry and chocolate crepe!! They are slap your momma good!!!

After the Lourve... We headed over to the Effiel tower! Our hope was to be able to tour the tour and go up to the top but the line was at least 3 hours long! As I'm writing this... We would have still been in line if we would have done it!! Although it was unfortunate we couldn't go up it we took that time to do many photo ops and also take a boat ride on the Seine river to view Paris at dusk from the river perspective! It was very relaxing and was a great impromptu activity for us!! Last... We ended the night right with a crepe from a road side stand!! Yummmmmmmo!! I may have to be rolled out of Paris!! Good thing they walk everywhere!!;)

As we close our first night and fun day to bond as a team and just explore. We also recognize how much this city and country needs to hear the gospel! Please join us in praying for us tonight and tomorrow as we prepare for this weeks VBS, the youth get set for camp, Pastor Paul prepares to speak at camp and our day to visit Normandy.

We are so thankful for God's provision so far in safety and health. God is good... All the time! And we look forward to a week of sharing all that he is doing in our lives!!!

Love y'all!

Bonne nuit!! (good night)

Danielle

Isaiah 55:8-13

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the Lord's renown,
for an everlasting sign,
that will endure forever." (Isaiah 55:8-13 NIV)


This is our prayer Lord! That your Word will water the earth and accomplish what YOU desire!! Go before us Lord!!

Mission France!

Hey Y'all~


Here we go!!! We head out tomorrow for Mission de voyage in France!!! Please be in prayer! I copied and pasted some areas (from my Russia trip) that we need prayer in during our trip starting tomorrow through July 14th! Would you please be praying for all of the specifics!! 


We will be working with Miguel Mendoza at Word of Life Camp in Dinan, France! Please pray as Pastor Paul is the camp pastor this week! Pray that the Word would be spoken clearly into the hearts of those students and that they will hear and know the Truth this week! Our students will be attending this camp and they have such an important job this week! Pray that they would build relationships with those students and be able to share their story of what Christ has done in their lives and as a result... lives will be changed! They have more of an impact than anyone else on this trip... so they need a LOT of prayers!! The rest of the adults will be doing Vacation Bible School for the missionaries children. Pray that we will be a blessing to them this week as we look after their babies and also teach them truths from the Bible!! We cannot wait to see all that God is going to do this week in Dinan, France!! 

Basic needs:

~ Safety in travel: flights to be uneventful, pilots and drivers to be alert, pray we go through customs smoothly, pray for luggage to arrive the same time we do! :) (Deut. 1:30)

~Time zone adjustments- France is 6 hours ahead of us! (Ps 62:5)

~Health- Pray that each member will have strong immune systems and be healthy for the entire trip. Pray specifically that my food allergies won’t be an issue while eating different things. (Jer. 17:14)

~Opportunities to encourage the students there, the missionaries, their families and the Word of Life staff. May we be a blessing to them. (Eph 3:14-21)

~Divine appointments with French students/kids to share the Gospel; Pray for salvation, seeds to be planted and some watered! Pray for revival in the hearts of the French. Pray they see Jesus in us. (Prov 25:11)

~Spiritual Warfare: Satan wants us to not be effective. Pray Eph 6:10-20! For us to put on our armor, and protection of our minds, hearts and relationships amongst each other.

~Events: Our youth and Marisol will be going to youth camp (Pastor Paul will be speaking), the rest of us will be doing VBS with the kids! Pray that each is a sweet time of fellowship. We will also be doing whatever else is needed (construction, etc.) (1 Peter 2:5, 9)

~Pray for other team members: Suzanne Beville, Danielle Bockus, Marisol Clouse, Jemima Germain, CherylAnn Haley, Robin Jackson, David Kretschmar, Vanessa Lockwood, Caleb Purvis, Kimberly Purvis, Luke Purvis, Micah Purvis, Noah Purvis, Paul Purvis, Kayla Schieleit, Jill Shelton, David Twiddy, Kimberly Twiddy, David Allen Twiddy, Sarah Tyner(Col 1:9-12)

Families: Pray for our families back home that they will be safe and all of their needs will be tended to! :)

We cannot thank you enough for being prayer warriors this week!! :)

In Christ Alone,

Danielle

Changes

My goodness! It's been awhile! There is so much to "talk" about that this may need to be in several blog posts!

First off... I have been taking on some new challenges/adventures over the course of the last couple of months! BIG challenges and adventures!! If you haven't heard... I have accepted a 1st grade teaching at First Baptist Academy in Naples, FL! I am oh so excited to have been offered this position with such a fantastic school!

I am a product of being in a Christian school for most of my life and after teaching in the public school system for 5 years... I am SOOOO ready to teach not only life skills and content.... but those things with a Biblical worldview perspective! I would not change anything about the past 5 years... ANYTHING! I have grown as a professional and have learned so many life lessons that are priceless. However... I have been so restless for the past 2 years with what was next! I know I'm called to ministry... and know where my passions and loves are at... and this next phase allows me to do more of that... teaching won't just be a job/mission field anymore... it will be a mission field to help families raise up godly kids who love Jesus with all of their being and want follow HIM with their lives! I am STOKED!!!

So... with that said... it's totally official! My name is on the door!!!;)

Some other areas of change are my address!!! I have officially moved all of my earthly possessions to my new townhouse that is only about 3.5 miles from church/school! It is beautiful and I still am in disbelief at the Lord's provision in this!! I will have plenty of space for visitors... so COME VISIT!!! :) Pictures will come when my decor placement is complete!!! I still have some work to do!! :) But don't worry... they're coming! I'll have to do a blog "home tour"! HA!

So... with that said... please be in prayer as July is my transition month! I'll be split between Tampa and Naples for the month of July with a mission trip to France thrown in the mix too!! :) Life is changing oh so fast!!! But I know that God has a plan... and obedience is a MUST!!!

Oh goodness!!

Ok y'all!! This happened!!! Are you impressed?!?!

Can You Give Me A Hand?

So far we've had such a wonderful time here in Russia!! We've been in one school, one military school, a linguistic center and the orphanage! In most of those places we've been able to be very open in sharing the Gospel!! We're praying for hearts to be receptive to what were sharing!!

Also.. This is for Renee... Abbie has tried many Russian foods with some success and many unsuccess! Pray today... We're eating a TRUE Russian meal at lunch time!!!:)

Man plans their ways... But it is the Lord who directs your path!

Boy... When I reflected on that verse before this trip... I asked the Lord to guide and direct our path as He saw fit! And that He did!! :) We were supposed to have left Germany at around 755 and we ended up leaving at 915!! The pilot didn't feel comfortable flying that particular plane into the kind of weather that Ekat was experiencing! So we waited! We finally got into the plane and flew the 5 hours to Ekat!! It took me awhile to wind down so I played some puzzles and chatted with Bailey on that flight! We both finally fell asleep for about and hour and half and woke up to the pilot making the all call that due to fog we were having to wait to land! We circled Ekat for approximately 30-40 minutes THEN had to fly about 40 minutes away to Ufa! When we landed there they were having heavy snow so we had to wait till they de-iced the plane! For which they had no de-icing stuff?!? How does an airport in winter in RUSSIA not have de-icing materials!!??? Well alrighty then!! Haha!!

Once we waited there about 4 hours on the plane... They just decided to go ahead due to the many delays to go try to fly back Ekat!! We finally arrived in Ekat at about 1130!!

As soon as you land you have to get all your documents in order and go through passport control! There were about 2 full planes from Beijing and another country and we girls were being made pretty uncomfortable! The nice passport control lady told all these men to let us go ahead and leave us alone so after a little over an hour we it through passport control to get our luggage! Then through the final security to FINALLY see Jesse and Olga our sweet translator!!

WHEW!!!

Needles to say... We were exhausted!!

Through all of that... We knew that for whatever the reason or reasons there may be... The Lord directed our path!! We had plans for Sunday!! That changed! We were supposed to head to the church right after we landed... And we finally were able to get out of the airport after this church service had ended!! We know that everything happens for a reason and is ultimately for a greater purpose!!!

We are thankful for the Lord's protection, His provision, and His plan! And we're thankful to finally be out of an airplane... And to finally get some rest!

After a sweet time of fellowship with Pavel last night we were able to get some sleep!! I had never been so thankful for a bed!! After 53 hours of being awake with 5 hours intermittently being asleep... We rested!! Thank you Jesus!!!

Hallo!

That's 'hello' in German! We have had a fantastic time just being tourists in Frankfurt and Rüdensheim!

It started off with a great transatlantic flight that was uneventful!! Just the way I like it!! I had one 'wheres my passport scare' but that's it!

We rented a car and rode up the Rhine River to Rüdensheim and had to cross the river on a car ferry!! Real fun!! After we crossed the river we went to some little shops, looked at a really old church and ate lunch! We went back to the little place from last year with a quaint outside seating area! Marc, Wally and Bailey got wiener schnitzel and Abbie and I got waffles! Abbie loved the waffle but not the applesauce and ice cream on it!! For the record... It was SOOOO yummy!!

We rode up along the river and looked at all of these amazing castles that have been raided by Napoleon! Ibises the term 'we' loosely... Due to the fact that my narcolepsy had taken full effect... Along with Abbie and Bailey! Haha!! Wally experienced it too... And just about got whiplash from it!!

We are now waiting for our next flight from Frankfurt to Ekaterinburg! Pray for safety while traveling and rest! When we get to Ekat... We hit the ground running!!!;)

Landed in Philly...

Go ahead... You know you wanna sing the Fresh Prince of Belair theme song!! Haha!!

We've landed and everyone is doing great! Abbie was anxious prior to boarding but was totally fine once she got up!! Wahoo!!

We did experience one road block prior to boarding! The plane ran out of room for carry-ons!! One of my biggest fears!! All I could think of is don't flip out like Ben Stiller did in the movie Meet the Parents! Haha! Thankfully I took out the essentials... My clothes for Germany... Toothbrush... An of course Danielle friendly snacks!!;) and threw it in my pillowcase!!:) I will find a way!!!:)

When we got on the plane... There were about 15 half full or completely empty overhead compartments!!

Oh well...

On another note... Flat Stanley has been to Philly!!

The joys of being a teacher!!

We're now off!! Auf Wiedersehen!!

Pray Pray Pray!!!

Hello Everyone!!!

I just wanted to ask each of you all to be praying for the Russia team this week. We are heading back to Ekaterinburg, Russia and Nizhny Tagil (Yes!! That’s spelled correctly!!) :) to serve the local blind community, orphanages, teach English, and minister to local Russian Baptist Churches. I apologize in advance for the length of this post... but figured this was the easiest way to get people to PRAY! I hope to be able to update while I'm there... depending on internet availability! :) If not... you'll get THE update when we return! 

A little history of Ekaterinburg:

It is a city of 2.5 million people and it’s located 1000 miles east of Moscow in the Ural Mountain region of Russia (If you look on a globe or a map… it’s right at the Europe-Asia border). Less than 2% of the population is Christian.

Nizhny Tagil is a city of 400,000 people with only 1 small Baptist church (25 people) outside of the city.

There are many specific prayer needs that we would love to be lifted up throughout this week.

Basic needs:

~ Safety in travel: long plane rides, pilots and drivers to be alert, pray we go through customs smoothly, pray for luggage to arrive the same time we do! :) (Deut. 1:30)

~Time zone adjustments (flip flopping days and nights!) (Ps 62:5)

~Health- Pray that each member will have strong immune systems and be healthy for the entire trip. Pray that my food allergies won’t be an issue while eating different things. (Jer. 17:14)

~Opportunities to encourage the believers there and the missionaries that we will be working with (Eph 3:14-21)

~Divine appointments with Russians to share the Gospel; Pray for salvation, seeds to be planted and some watered! Pray for revival in the hearts of Russians. Pray they see Jesus in us. (Prov 25:11)

~Spiritual Warfare: Satan wants us to not be effective. Pray Eph 6:10-20! For us to put on our armor, and protection of our minds, hearts and relationships amongst each other.

~Events: working in orphanages, blind community, teaching English, meeting college students- pray that each is a sweet time of fellowship. (1 Peter 2:5, 9)

~Pray for other team members: Bailey Gray, Marc Roath, Wally Blain, and Abbie Blain (Col 1:9-12)

Daily Schedule: (Remember we are a half a day ahead of you!! :)

Friday and Saturday (3/09-3/10): Pray for travel mercies! We also have a long layover in Frankfurt, Germany! We will be exploring the area!! AND I won’t have to drive stick-shift on the Autobahn!!

Last year... me clinging to the car... I mean giving PRAISE to GOD after I drove a stick shift for the FIRST TIME EVER... and my FIRST TIME EVER driving in a foreign country and with different road signs... and the German inspector man said I was a great driver considering most Americans bring the cars back beat up! :) That is seriously a GOD thing! haha!

Sunday (3/11): Arriving in Ekaterinburg today!! We are driving from Ekat to Nizhny Tagil and will be attending the Russian Baptist church. We will be getting to know/encourage members there! Also… please pray as I help to lead in worship today!

 You're the God of this city... You're the King of these People...

 You're the Lord of this nation... You Are!

 You're the Light in this darkness... You're the Hope to the hopeless... You're the Peace to the restless... You are.

Monday (3/12)- Russian cultural training- getting to know the history of Russians- this is VERY important time for team members (especially first time teammates)! We cannot meet the needs of the Russians without understanding who they are and their past. My first trip to Russia, this was the time where my eyes were opened to this being a place not like other mission opportunities. Their history plays a vital role in how they view God. We’re also visiting an orphanage today, taking a historical tour and meeting with some English school students.

Tuesday (3/13)- Visiting the orphanage and sharing with college students. Pray that we will be able to get to know them some and be able to share the THE TRUTH! Also pray that I will be able to connect and share with some of the girls that I met last year!

English school students!!!

At the holy place...

Wednesday (3/14)- Nizhny Tagil- visiting the orphanages and meeting with the English students.

The blind community in Nizhny Tagil, Russia.

Thursday (3/15)- Travelling back to Ekat and stopping to learn more about the Russian culture.

Left: Church on the Blood- Russian Orthodox Church

Right: A holy place where the Romanov family were buried. I forget the actual name! :/

Friday (3/16)- We are have a scrapbooking/ card making party with local English learners/teachers. Pray for great conversations and opportunities to share what Christ as done for us!

Sweet time of fellowship with the English teachers in Ekat!

Saturday (3/17)- Ekaterinburg- We will be meeting with English teachers and having a fun day!!

Am I in Narnia?!?!

Sunday (3/18)- Traveling home! :) Pray for easy adjustment in transitioning back to work/school/families.

This will be me... for the first 3 days after coming back to EST! PLEASE PRAY!! :)

Your prayers are VITAL! Thank you in advance for diligently praying each day for lives to be changed and souls saved! Please let me know how I can be praying for you!

"The Lord has put his Spirit in me, because he appointed me to tell the Good News to the poor. He has sent me to tell the captives they are free and to tell the blind that they can see again. God sent me to free those who have been treated unfairly and to announce the time when the Lord will show his kindness."- Luke 4:18

To God be ALL the Glory,

Danielle