Six weeks, three service opportunities, two French camps 

by Debby Chasteen

In May and June, Russ and I had the joy of serving in three different roles at two different camps in France. If I were an artist illustrating our three serving opportunities, I would draw a hardhat (construction), a bandana (service team), and a chef’s hat (head cook and sous-chef). Too bad I can’t draw! But you get the picture! 

For the first project, we joined forces with 10 volunteers from the US and four GEM Teams staff members. Kim Garrity led the troops! Our team of 14 spent a week at La Pastorale, a camp in the hill country an hour north of Marseille, working on a combination of projects.

One group worked on creating a walkway across the property, two other team members hammer-drilled holes in boulders to put up a fence on the inclined part of the walkway, our team of four waterproofed the newly installed drywall of the outdoor showers, restrooms and changing rooms, for campers using the swimming pool. Then we “glued” ceramic tiles (120×60 cm!) on the walls. The last group cut a trench and poured concrete to install a sliding metal gate at each end of the property.

 It was exhausting work but such a joy to support our French brothers and sisters in their vision of reaching the children and young people of France with the Gospel. We loved meeting and working alongside the French staff and volunteers from the church in Marseille. Every evening we had “story time” with the French director who shared fascinating and miraculous stories of how this beautiful place became the camp it is today. Built as a hotel to house nickel miners, this placed also served as a refuge to Jews and the French hiding from the Nazis from 1939 to 1945, during the dark days of World War II. I had the joy of serving as translator for “story time” and whenever else I was needed. 

After a week’s vacation, Russ and I headed to Camp des Cimes, the camp my parents, Harley and Betty Smith, and another missionary couple, Ron and Doris Hoyle, founded in 1967.  Our first week there we led a service team of five college-age girls in setting tables, serving meals, cleaning up after meals (running the industrial dishwasher, scrubbing pots and pans), cleaning the kitchen and dining-room, and cleaning the restrooms and showers in the whole “Grand Chalet.”  Our role was to serve the men participating in the GEM men’s retreat. Their regular thanks and words of appreciation made all the hard work worthwhile! 

For our second Camp des Cimes camp, I served as head cook and Russ was my sous-chef. A special unplanned treat was learning that Parker, a young woman I mentored during her years as a student at Grand Canyon University, had volunteered and would be partnering with us in the kitchen!

She has been teaching at a Christian school in Pristina, Kosovo for the last few years. We were both thrilled!  We worked hard preparing meals for the Young Adults English Camp, feeding around 45 hungry campers and staff members! This too is intense work, but what a joy and privilege to sit down at meals and overhear their conversations about their walk with Christ, about theology, and about some of their hopes and dreams for their lives and ministries. The amazing thing was hearing these French young adults converse almost fluently in English! They were eager to worship, fellowship, and hear from God’s Word in a language not their own!

The Lord really encouraged me at this ten-day camp!  As an MK from France, this was miraculous to me.  When I was growing up in the 60’s and 70’s, I had no Christian friends except fellow MK’s, and I was always the only follower of Christ in my class and often in my entire school. I rejoice at the changes in France: more Gospel-preaching churches, retreats, camps, radio programming, online resources, concerts, and seminars, all geared toward multiplying disciples and growing Christ’s Church.

It’s a privilege to have opportunities to contribute to building the Kingdom in France, my heart home!