This has been such an incredible month, I just had to put
it in writing. Not even sure where to begin. After the holidays back in
Wisconsin with family & friends, we returned to French Camp, Mississippi,
where our motor home was parked in our absence. As great as our first
experience at French Camp was in November; this second time around has been
even better.
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| Jan French Camp VMM Work Crew |
We begin each work day (Mon-Thur) with a group devotional
with each couple rotating turns. However, this month one of the couples showed
a powerful video for their devotion and the group voted to watch the remaining
nine dvds (one each morning) which would fill all our devotional times. The
name of the series is “From DREAM to DESTINY” and presented by Robert Morris of
Gateway Church out of Dallas TX. The series is based on the life of Joseph and
how he had to go through ten character tests to take him from his dream to his
destiny. Here are the ten: The Pride Test, Pit Test, Palace Test, Purity Test,
Prison Test, Prophetic Test, Power Test, Prosperity Test, Pardon Test, &
Purpose Test. Overall, really good teaching. Challenging and convicting.
Encouraging and enlightening. Loved it!
This time there wasn’t as much work to do for the ladies
as there was in November; unless you like hand stitching Bible verses on
placemats. I’m sorry but that is something I’m really not very fond of doing;
it’s hard on my hands, my eyes, and my back side. The good news is, the ladies
are never required to do any of the work available to us. So, I helped with the
few mailings they had and spent a lot of time getting quarterly and yearend
payroll forms and other reports completed for both His House & The Greenway
House. I am so very happy that these payroll forms were my last bit of work for
The Greenway House. I enjoyed the work, but it was time to let that one go. Really
has taken a load off already!
This left more time for some lady outings. We had three
tea parties. That’s right…three tea parties. I can’t tell you the last time (if
ever) I went to a grownup tea party. One of the ladies on this project doesn’t
have any particular hobby (so she says), she just likes having ladies in for
tea & popovers or tea & scones. We did one of each. The third tea party
took us to Starkville (home of Mississippi State) to Three Generations Tea
Room. We each got to pick out the tea cup we wanted to use. I loved the house
tea, but don’t ask me what it was as I can’t remember. We also had a delicious
lunch; mine was chicken salad and (lots of) fresh fruit. A few of the couples travelled one Sunday to Sweet Canaan Church of God in Christ in Lexington, MS. A few years ago, one of the couples that went on Sunday, was part of a team that helped build this church. It was quite the experience. It was quite apparent that we were visitors to this church but we were welcomed and greeted as old friends. I must say it was a service very different than what most of us are used to but we were very much aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit and the power of God in that service.
Another outing took us to the Greater Pentecostal Church
of God in Christ in Greenwood MS for a conference “Conducting Ourselves as
Godly Women.” Powerful praise and worship, good teaching, followed by a
delicious lunch of fried & baked chicken, meatballs, potato salad, pasta
salad, lettuce salad, green beans, pound cake, caramel cake, and sweet potato
pie. They sure know how to serve up some good food. But be assured, the food
was not the highlight…the conference and ladies present were the highlight. One
of the talk themes was “I am a woman of distinction destined to make a
difference.” Good stuff!
Our first Sunday morning in French Camp we attended the
church on campus, French Camp Presbyterian Church, where we also attended
Sunday School. During the class, and I can’t remember what precipitated the
invitation, but Bill & I were invited by the house mother to drop by and
visit the Griffin House and the girls who live there. For those of you who
don’t know, French Camp is a Christian Academy for 7th to 12th
graders who primarily come from difficult family or life situations. Students
(as many as 16) live in “individual” homes with house parents. We were
delighted to have the opportunity to engage in the lives of some of the
students. Up until this point, there were mainly two girls and one boy that we
have gotten acquainted with during our time here. How that happened is a story
for another time. I’m happy to say that one of the girls we had already
befriended, lives in the Griffin House. We ate dinner with them one evening in
the cafeteria (each house has a designated area to sit together for dinner;
lunch time they can sit anywhere) and then walked over to their house to hang
out for the evening. There are twelve girls in this house ranging in age from
seven to eighteen. Some of the girls are new (been there two weeks) and others
have been there four, five, even, seven years. It was a Wednesday evening which
is the evening designated for a home Bible study hour and so we participated in
that as well. We couldn’t help but notice the many many many crosses hanging on
the walls in the family room and when asked about them we were told that they
started out with a few crosses and the numbers just grew as people came to
visit they brought crosses. From time to time, one of those crosses would be
given to a visitor or guest. Needless to say, the following Sunday the house
mother, brought me one of the crosses that I had admired. She even had each of
the girls sign the back of the cross. This really touched my heart. Thank you,
Jesus. Since then we’ve been invited by some of the girls themselves to sit
with them at dinner and at the event in the following paragraph.
Another huge blessing of our being at French Camp during
January is that we were able to see the Horse Whisperer in action. His name is Lee
Sterrett and he does an amazing job of using the breaking in and training of
horses as an analogy from a Biblical perspective that the students can relate
to. He showed a young colt that was extremely stubborn and rebellious; one who
didn’t want to listen and submit to authority. He talked along those lines
quite a bit and the colt did an excellent job of making the point. Then because
the colt wouldn’t consistently listen and follow, he used a “peer,” an older
and wiser horse, to show the colt the way. The analogy and Scripture that this
man used while riding and training a very stubborn horse was powerful. We
continue to pray that God moved and will continue to move mightily in the
hearts of the students. This truly is a
remarkable place.
So much to be thankful for and for the first time since
being on the road, I actually had (made) time to make some cards. The first one
I made, was for my good friend Roy and his wife, Rosemary. Roy is the kind man
who has been helping me with my dulcimer playing. He and his wife also host a
cookout each month for our organization (Volunteer Mobile Missionaries)
volunteers. This month was no exception. They are such dear sweet hospitable
giving people. The second card was to thank the Griffin House girls for the
cross and for sharing their time with us. Another card went to our crew ladies
for this project. At the end of every project, all the couples gather together
to reflect on our time together and to pray. Love this!
Another ladies outing was a trip to Ackerman. A small
town less than a half hour away. It has a fabric store (that so many of the
ladies love) that goes on forever. I’ve never seen so much fabric in one place.
Even if you’re not looking to buy anything, it’s still fun to be amazed at
what’s all there. I particularly wanted to go and show a boutique to one of the
ladies. A store with hip clothes and lots of fringe…I love fringe. Check out
the outfit I found, but didn’t buy, but sure had fun trying it on. Brought back
some fun memories. (I'd include a picture but I can't get it to come out right side up.)
One more ladies outing was a luncheon held at French Camp
Academy’s President’s home. His wife loves to entertain and she was hosting a
luncheon for the ladies of the church to come, meet, and hear Lauren speak on
her experience as a missionary and pastor’s wife now serving in Wales. We have
made so many friends and have been taken in by the residents of French Camp
that they consider us part of their family. We are so blessed.
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| Before |
Enough about the ladies; some of you are probably asking,
if the men do anything? Well, yes, as a matter of fact they do quite a bit. Bill
really enjoys working with the guys. They have been working very hard (in all
sorts of varying weather conditions) replacing old and building new shutters
for cabins at the Camp of the Rising Sun (which is another ministry of French
Camp Academy). Bill has come home most nights very tired but very satisfied and
pleased with the amount of work that was accomplished and the camaraderie of
his co-workers. (I asked Bill to tell me more so I could report things from his
perspective but he had nothing to add. I tried!)
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| During |
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| After |
Bill also had a golf day with two of the four guys on
this project. Their first attempt to go golfing was squashed because it had
rained so much the two days before that it would have been way to wet to enjoy
a day on the golf course. Their second attempt, although dry, was a bit cold
and windy but they braved it anyway as it was the last Saturday before we were
planning to pull out. Bill was okay with not going but the other two guys
persuaded him to go. According to Bill, they did have a good time,in spite of
the cold windy weather.
We also had a lot of fun doing things with one or more of
the couples; we went canoeing on the beautiful lake at Camp of the Rising Sun,
had a bags (cornhole, to some of you) tournament among all five couples,
enjoyed the monthly steak night at the French Camp Historic District Café
followed by a night-time presentation at the Rainwater Observatory (also a
ministry of French Camp Academy), and tried out a Mexican and an Italian
restaurant in nearby towns. I even went horseback riding in the arena (for 15
minutes) with some of the young girls from Griffin House. I think horses are so
beautiful and so desperately want to ride, if only, I wasn’t so scared.
Hopefully, when we’re back here in the fall, I’ll have more opportunities to
ride so I can get more experience and gather some confidence.
Our final fun time was Sunday afternoon…today actually.
We had invited the girls from the Griffin House to “our” place for some botchie
ball and bags; but first they asked us to join them on a walk “up the
mountain.” It was a beautiful hike, about a mile and a quarter each way through
the woods and hills of French Camp. Love being able to interact with these
girls and their house parents. We’ve all become good friends. They were all
excited to see our home and I was delighted to show it to them. After lots of
hugs, we said our good byes, for tomorrow we leave this beautiful place. 
It’s going to be very difficult to leave but we are so
very excited to head to Rosebud TX for our next project at Wilderness Ridge. Can’t
wait to see and experience what God has for us next. Blessings everyone!!!
