The holiday season has kicked off at Les Courmettes, starting with the second edition of the gospel holiday led by Ony Noémie Rajaobelina, followed by the ‘Active Spring’ holiday with A Rocha Netherlands. Helen, an ambassador who took part in both holidays, tells us about her experience.
GOSPEL GETAWAY: a gospel holiday in the heart of the countryside
What a wonderful week we had at the Domaine des Courmettes this year! There were 17 of us on the course, including four people who came up every day to join us. Our leader, Ony, once again taught us 12 gospel songs to perform at the concert scheduled for Friday evening in Pont du Loup. What a challenge! This year, we had the privilege of being accompanied by Ludvic, a talented pianist who is used to working with Ony.
The rehearsals took place in a lovely atmosphere full of joy and dedication, helping each of us to exceed our initial abilities. Some discovered how to improvise, others dared to sing solo – all with great joy. What a shame that the audience at the concert was much smaller than last year – but that’s a minor detail compared to the obvious pleasure everyone took in listening and taking part!
Of course, the A Rocha team on site gave us a warm welcome, looked after us, and treated us not only to delicious food, but also to wonderful moments of discovery and learning about what goes on at the estate – a tour of the ponds, a night-time outing, ‘Courmettes’ board games, line dancing, exploring the vegetable garden and the new sensory trail, and a guided walk along the oak trail. We even took a trip down memory lane with some old films from the 1950s shot on the estate. What’s more, we had time to get to know one another better and to relax.
Yes, the gospel songs are still ringing in our ears, bringing back all those wonderful moments we shared together. Thank you to Ony for his musical talent and leadership, thank you to Ludvic for agreeing to come down south, thank you again to the whole A Rocha team, and thank you to the prayer group that Ony brought together to support us throughout the week. And a huge thank you to our Lord Jesus who, in his goodness and great grace, blessed us throughout this gospel retreat.
An active spring with A Rocha Netherlands
There were about thirty of us taking part in this ‘active’ week, the majority of whom were Dutch-speaking. Fortunately, we were able to communicate with one another in English – and that’s what encouraged a few ‘non-Dutch speakers’ to join us.
The week was packed with work, Bible study and prayer, and relaxation. The team at the Estate gave us a warm welcome and guided us through various discoveries – the scientific monitoring programmes, the history of the site, learning a bit more about the trees, and so on. We then found out what the 25 different local groups of A Rocha Netherlands do, which was very encouraging and inspiring.
On the work front, we painted some windows and a French door, sorted out a problem with water running onto the car park, repaired some roof tiles, tilled new plots in the vegetable garden, cleared and burnt brushwood around the house, built platforms to allow painters from Switzerland to ‘redecorate’ the facades of the concrete water tanks visible from the access road to the estate, created insect hotels and nesting boxes, and made decorations using lavender and scraps of fabric.
For my part, I was moved on the last day when our Dutch friends formed a circle around the A Rocha team at the estate to bless them with a song, and to thank the Lord, each in turn, for something that had made an impression on them during their stay: one for discovering an orchid on the site that he had been searching for for years, another for witnessing around fifty vultures gathering around a sheep’s carcass, another for the beauty of the site, for the joy of being together, for the discovery of wonderful moths – and so on. Clearly, this week has left its mark on each person in one way or another. The Lord has truly blessed us, and granted us weather that allowed us to do so much.