Would you please support the work in France?

Here's the letter I promised - next I'll post a few pictures that were taken at the camp when I was there this summer. Love, Teddy

March 1, 2006

Dearest Friends and Family,

If you are getting this letter, it is because Ken and I know that you will want to hear about our upcoming trip to France at the end of this month. Many of you will remember that we have gone to the ‘Camp of the Peaks’ several times in the past to help with projects there or just to check on what others have done. (One year we even took our five kids over to ‘help’ for a week.) Anyway, thanks to many, many volunteers who have given of their time and resources, two of the four finished floors of the main camp building have been used for years to house campers. Various old ‘dormitory’ buildings on the property currently handle any overflow numbers. But thankfully there is a strong need for more bedroom space now, and a concentrated effort was begun last year on the unfinished fifth floor of this main building.

Thanks to last year’s efforts by team leaders, Bob and Jane Caldwell, and the myriad of workers then, the project is now approximately 2 months away from completion. Ken and I plan to help in any way we can (there will be cooking and cleaning, too, of course) for 6 of those 9 weeks. However, the project’s completion will require two things: prayer and funding. Without the finances for both supplies and the airfare/housing of volunteers, it will be impossible to finish this task. That’s why prayer is even more important than money. Would you please join us in asking God to lay it on the hearts of the people He needs to either give or go to France!?

Because you all know how much I love to write, I think you might forgive me if I share a fun story with you (it kind of goes along with this missionary stuff anyway).

Before Thanksgiving, I came across a manly looking piece of crosstitch fabric (it used to belong to my grandmother) – as well as a graph that reminded me so much of a dear friend, someone who is always selflessly doing things for others. Because this man is loved by so many people, I decided to propose that a small group of us work on this project rather than just myself. I was surprised at the positive reception of this idea and the smoothness & speed by which the work was passed from one pair of hands to another. Soon this crosstitch sampler will be framed and presented and people that see it won’t be able to tell that one person didn’t do the whole thing – truly (unless they look on the back and see all the signatures.)

Unfortunately, Ken and I may not be present when our friend receives this ‘work of art’ but that won’t matter. We will be able to imagine his delight just like we will be able to imagine the faces of the French campers who get to stay on the top floor for the first time this summer - in all those new beds. Naturally the camp project is a ‘bit’ grander than the fabric sampler I told you about – and the recipients are many as opposed to just one man, but I think you get the picture. In the work of the Lord, we can’t all be ‘stitchers’ but it is possible to show our love by giving to the cost of the ‘frame’. And we ALL get to sign our names – ‘stitchers’, ‘framers’ and pray-ers!

Thank you for the time you gave to read this letter and for anything you can do to help with the completion of the fifth floor at ‘Camp des Cimes’. Funds will be gladly accepted at Mitchell Road Presbyterian Church, 207 Mitchell Road, Greenville, SC 29615 – just mark ‘France team’ on your check. And God will answer your sincere prayers, I know.

Planning to keep you informed of His good work at the camp,
Marijke (& Ken) Baker