Mullet Mission Trip

I have decided that this is a Mullet Mission Trip. (I coined the phrase myself! I should get paid for my genius!) I'm calling it a Mullet Mission Trip because it's business in the front and party in the back. I work hard in the day doing what needs to be done around camp, and then I spend the evenings making new friends, playing games, and building strong friendships with people who have been all over the world! I have the business, I have the party... but unlike a mullet, I won't regret this in five years!

BUSINESS:

Each day has been busy with different jobs around Camp des Cimes (french for Camp of the Peaks). I have learned a plethora of new skills. In the almost two weeks that I have been here I have served food, mopped floors, deep-cleaned the big kitchen (de-greasing, mopping, polishing, and cleaning every inch we can reach!), cleaned bathrooms/bedrooms/windows, cleared cobwebs, planted flowers, hauled wood, shoveled gravel, spread dirt, planted grass, and organized the library. I wake up in the morning not knowing what I will be doing until I go down for the morning meeting and get my assignment. 

One thing that I like about French culture is that it's common to take a two hour lunch. Most businesses, at least in the valley where I'm at, will close between 12-2pm to go home for lunch with family. My work day starts at 9, breaks at 12, and continues from just after 2 to around 5:30. I actually have time to eat my food! After lunch conversations and clean-up I sometimes have time to check my e-mails or type out a bit more of a blog post.

Right now we have a 7-person work team from Canada with us. As Al, one of the men on the team, put it, they are all "on the wrong side of 65." The team is here through Greater Europe Mission (GEM) and each has crazy cool stories of all of the places they have been. The oldest on the team, Chester, is 85 years old and on his 54th mission trip! When Merlie, one of the ladies, tells me stories of her adventures, each story takes place in a different country! Most of them didn't get into missions until after their kids moved out of the house. Morgan (the other intern) and I have meals with the Canadians. They are staying in the chalet which is a short hike up from the main building. (By "hike" I mean that we are well out of breath by the time we get to the top of the hill... and most likely breaking a sweat... it's a workout to get anywhere on this mountain.) The delicious home-cooked meals are worth the hike!


Here I am with the Canadian team and my fellow intern. From left to right: Chester, Morgan (the other intern), Phil, Linda, Al, Marlene, Margaret, and Merlie. After I took the shot, Margaret proclaimed excitedly, "That was my first selfie!"

PARTY:

One of my main goals for this 10-week internship is to meet as many missionaries as I can and learn from their experiences. God has overwhelmingly answered this prayer! Daily I interact with four long-term missionaries who help run this camp- Lynn, Marc, Dan, and Eric. Some days I even get to work with Lynn and Marc's wives- Rose and Elizabeth. I hope to have time later to go into detail about their histories in missions and how God brought them all to Camp des Cimes. Dan's wife is the only one among them who is truly French. 

Marc and Elizabeth still have a 13-year-old daughter that they are raising in France. They invited us over for dinner on Friday and took us to church with them in Grenoble (an hour's drive away) on Sunday. Marc, having been raised as a missionary kid in France and then moving back as an adult missionary, has a lot of insight into what can help or hurt missions.  I have had conversations with him about short term teams, about raising support, and a lot about the realities of missionary work. Each project, person, and location looks different. Marc has helped me put a lot of things into perspective.

It seems like every day I have 10 good conversations with different people about missions. As I typed this post, a missionary from Grenoble came and sat down next to me. He brought a work team for the day. We had a small conversation about the spiritual climate of this country and whether programs like Awana would be appreciated or not. I could go on and on about how God is using each person I meet to teach me more about who He is and who He wants me to be. This is a rich time in my life where every day is evident how God is shaping me to be more like Jesus.