Camp des Cimes

Trenton and Hailey have spent many summers and even a full year working Camp des Cimes from 2022-2023 with plans to return to work there full-time in the near future as missionaries with Greater Europe Mission.

Camp des Cimes (or Camp of the Peaks in English) is a Christian camp and retreat center in the French Alps with the mission to be a “haven in the mountains of France for God to save the lost and strengthen the found.” Camp des Cimes is a part of Greater Europe Mission and hosts camps for a variety of age groups including children, high school students, young adults, and families. A typical day at Camp des Cimes in the summer is filled with good food, community, worship, spiritual messages and discussions, arts projects, sports, and lots of games and group activities. We also take plenty of time to admire God’s work in the nature around us by going on hikes and outings nearby. Some of the summer camps are English camps, as well, so we bring in American counselors each year to speak English with our French campers. Winter camps are similar except that many of the families choose to go skiing during the day since our camp is located near a few different ski stations.

Outside of the summer and winter camps, we host many Christian groups including churches, missionary teams, and college campus ministries for shorter retreats. One of our goals is to strengthen the local church in France by providing a space that they can use to rest and draw near to God, enabling them to go home spiritually refreshed.

The Spiritual State of France

Although historically Catholic, modern day France consists of a majority who do not profess to believe in any religion. This number is even smaller among Protestant Christians, with only 1.2% of the French population identifying as Evangelical Christians. We have a huge heart for the people of France and believe that the seeds need just to be sown and that those who already believe be nurtured.

We have witnessed the great work that Camp des Cimes is doing in the lives of many French people. This place provides a welcoming and loving environment for existing believers. Many of these people do not have strong Christian communities to return home to, so camp serves as a place for them to be enriched with community and challenged to grow. Camp des Cimes also welcomes non-believers, giving them a safe place to learn about the truth of the Gospel and to ask open and honest questions without fear of judgement.

Our Roles

For the camp sessions, Trenton and Hailey are very hands on as both leaders and camp counselors. This can mean so many different things between the two of us including planning games and activities, teaching the Word, leading discussion groups, teaching mini-English lessons, playing in the worship band, leading art workshops, guiding our American counselors and volunteers, and most importantly spending time cultivating relationships with campers.

Throughout the rest of the year, when we are not hosting our own camps, Camp des Cimes serves as a retreat center for various Christian groups. With our team, we prepare the spaces to host these groups, clean when they leave, and sometimes cook and serve meals. From time to time, our team takes on bigger renovation projects, too. For example, during our time at the camp, we helped to completely renovate and install bathrooms in one of our centuries-old buildings. Outside of those team projects, Trenton is in charge of upkeep of the camp grounds and helps with regular building maintenance. Hailey does administrative work, taking care of the camp registrations and invoices and running the camp’s social media pages.

As we look toward our future of working full-time at Camp des Cimes, we are excited to engage in more year-round discipleship with our campers and minister to our local community through neighbors, clubs, and the local church.

Reach Out

If you’d like to learn more about our mission or set up a time to talk, please reach out to us! You can reach us at either hailey.pullin@gemission.org or trenton.slagle@gemission.org. We would love to talk with you!