Friday, August 5, 2016

European Missions Part 1: Switzerland


    We wrapped up our mission trip about three weeks ago - ahhh, what a wonderful time it was. We spent our first week in Switzerland working at Euroventure. Our camp was nestled in the foothills of the Swiss Alps which made every day a breathtaking adventure. Literally, we walked outside to a gorgeous view every morning..... it never got old. :)
After a 10-hour flight to Germany we boarded a train to Switzerland
Beautiful view from the window of our train
We found this guy on a run to the store that first day. :D
American Staff at Euroventure
The night before camp began we had a short service outside with the team
Camp Begins! Everything set and ready to receive campers:




Registration
Campers begin to arrive (in the rain!):


That night, services get underway:
Our first "Camper of the Day" (basically you get called up to the stage and find yourself embarrassed in front of everyone while they sing you the "Camper of the Day" song. Haha!) 
O, and you get to pick who does dishes the next day. :D
The Music Team





Our Evening Speaker: Brandon Barnard
Our Morning Speaker: Dr. Tom Hufty
Drama Team

We met for services in the Kongress Saal - a historic building in town with this gorgeous view








We had 12 teams at Euroventure - I was on Team 4. Just loved my team of 12 girls!
(All of whom were 12 years old, except for 1 girl who was 11)

That first day we had game time to promote Team Unity - work together!







On the second day a large group went Canyoning
Matt & I went with a small group of kids that wanted to hike - we hiked up a nearby mountain

We found this fun apparatus that the kids loved!
On the third day, I woke up at 5AM (after very little sleep!) to go on a photo hike with this great group. We hoped to catch the sunrise from the mountain, which didn't happen - but we had a great time all the same!
Noah's photo shoot - about this time Jimmy was complaining that his feet were frozen!
I can only imagine..... that water was frigid. Kudos to him for helping out a friend. ;)







That night we had a chant competition between teams


I believe this team won the chant competition - this guy did an amazing parody of S.M. Lockridge's "That's My King" 
More games


My team: Team 4 - we roar!
Day 4: Team Time



In the afternoon we went with a large group of students up the mountain.
We rode the gondola and this image was taken during our journey up. 
And so was this one.
Once on top, we rode the Rodelbaun: an alpine coaster down the mountain. (You can see it in the background - barely!)
It's like a small flat board on wheels on a bobsled-type track. The kids had a blast and so did we! 
After that, we went for a hike - and took lots of pictures.
A few random images from our last night at camp:


Some of our girls on Team 4
Camp closed on the 5th day at Noon - we had a great time!
After goodbyes had been said and camp was basically deserted, we took a quick trip up First Mountain for an OBU Team Picture. The ride was gorgeous, awe-inspiring and hard to put into words. These pictures really don't do justice to the majestic beauty we were able to see.
Back Row: Chase, Laurel, Tara, Andrew & Matthew
Front Row: Me, Lauren, Amanda & Maddie




We didn't have a lot of time to spare on the mountain, so we made our stay brief and then literally RAN all the way back to camp, grabbed our bags in record time and RACED to the train station - hoping and praying that we would make our train. Tara had gone ahead to purchase tickets and we waited anxiously (trying to catch our breath) while she stood in line. Not 1 minute after we arrived at the station, we hopped aboard the train just before it departed, tickets in hand. 
A six-hour train ride and several connections later, we arrived safely back in Germany
The main train station in Frankfurt. We would spend the next week in this city. More adventures for another post. :)


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