Seeking Your Support

The following is a letter Paul sent out seeking support for a mission trip to Peru in September. I wanted to share so you can have an opportunity to be a part of the exciting trip Paul is taking.

Dear Fellow Servant in Christ,

            I am writing to you to seek your assistance in furthering the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I am privileged to have the opportunity to travel to Peru on September 19-29, 2012 with the purpose to share the gospel with the Urarinas of the Amazon River basin. The Kershaw Baptist Association has adopted 15 Urarina villages along the Rio Tigrillo for the next three years.  Some of these villages have no Christians and no Christian influence at all and desperately need to hear the saving power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I will be a part of a team of six.  We will be in the Amazon jungle traveling by boat and hiking to the villages. While we are there, we will be building relationships with the locals, discipling the ones who are Christians, and reaching out to some villages who have yet to hear the gospel.

            I seek your assistance in two different ways. First, I ask you to pray. Pray for the people that we will come in contact with as we travel and as we visit the Urarinas. Pray their hearts will be prepared to hear and accept the message of truth. Pray for us as we travel. This is not an easy trip. It will require a great deal of travel, physical exertion, and expense. Pray that we will remain healthy and in great shape in order to glorify God. Pray that we will be under the protection of God during this trip. Finally, I ask you to pray for the funding for this trip. I am confident that God will provide the funding needed to make this trip possible, and I ask you to give Him thanks and praise for His provision.
            Secondly, I ask you to pray about how God would use you to help provide the funding for this mission. I ask for your assistance not for me but for the furthering of the message of hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ in obedience to His commandments.
            I am excited to be able to have the opportunity to have a part in sharing the Gospel with a group of people who for the first time have the chance to hear the Gospel. There is no Bible in their language but through translators we are reading and delivering the powerful message of Christ. This is very primitive for a mission trip. However, lack of comfort is no hindrance for me in being able to bring glory to God by serving Him through this mission trip. I can’t wait to get back and report to you the work that God did through us and in us and the Uranian people. Thank you for your support!

Your brother in Christ,

 Paul Camp


If you feel lead to give to help Paul go on this trip, you can send a tax deductible gift to Bethany Westville Baptist Church 3100 Young's Park Rd. Westville, SC 29175.  On the memo line, note Paul Camp Peru Mission Trip. This trip costs approximately $4000 so any amount of money you give would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your support, not for the sake of Paul, but for the sake of the gospel. I want to express my gratitude for you faithfulness using the words Paul wrote to the Philippians. "I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now." (Phil. 1:3-5)


If you would like to read more about Kershaw Baptist Association adopting the Urarina villages click this link to read an article in the Baptist Courier.

Six

Me: Parker, how old are you?
Parker: Two
Me: How old are you going to be on your birthday? (which is eleven days away!)
Parker: Six

Parker is determined that he is going to be six on his birthday. We've had this conversation many times, and he always says six. Six is his favorite number right now. Whenever he can get a piece of candy, marshmallow, or some kind of little treat, he always negotiates for six. That little booger! I don't know what it is with the number six but I'm sure glad that he's only turning 3.

Ellis at 11 Months

Since my baby girl will be turning one in 2 days, I thought I better write her 11 month post. But before I do that, allow me to freak out a bit that my baby girl is turning one in 2 DAYS! 2 DAYS! and my baby girl will be TURNING ONE! Ok, I got that off my chest.

Ellis is growing and developing by leaps and bounds. I can't even blink or I'll miss something.

• Stats: 17 lbs 1.5 oz! She packed on 28 ounces in 21 days at the beginning of the month which put her back on the growth curve. Yay for the 5th percentile. She has been packing on the weight since then so I'm curious to see what she will be at her 12 month check up.
• She can now pull up like at pro. At first, she could get her self up, but she was scared to drop back down. She would fuss and I would come save her. She finally got the hang of it and can pull up and sit down without problems.
• She has been crusing around the furniture. She will also walk behind her push walker thingy. I'm sure it won't be long and she'll be walking. I have to admit that makes me kinda sad. She's growing up.
• She has stood up, completely on her own, out in the middle of the floor for a few seconds one time. I freaked out when I saw her do it. She often will stop in the middle of crawling and push her butt in the air like she wants to stand up.
• She now says mama, dada, baby, kitty (she says it in a very high pitched voice and the t sounds aren't completely distinct, but you know that's what she's saying), nigh nigh (night night). I have heard her say no copying Parker. Her brother is already causing trouble! Haha!
• She likes to copy sounds we make. I would write them out but it's kinda hard to translate silly sounds into words.
• She will occasionally blow kisses. She will hold her hand on her mouth and blow out to where it makes a kinda pooting sound. I know that doesn't sound cute but like I said it's hard to put sounds into words.
• She will play Peek-a-boo and she will cover up her eyes and go "peee" in a squealy voice.
• She still only has her bottom 2 teeth, but her top gums are so swollen. Maybe soon those top teeth will finally make their appearance.
• She spooks really easily. For instance, at Chick-fil-a one day, the cow came around and she freaked out.  Another time, she was around a cat that was the "I'm friendly, but I could bite you without a moment's notice" type. After rubbing around her stroller, it stretched up to get closer to her and she freaked out. I can foresee Halloween being terrifying for her.
• She likes to put things inside of things while playing like she likes to put balls inside cups.
• She really enjoys eating table food. I have to watch her to make sure she doesn't put too much in at one time. Although when she's full, she'll start tossing food overboard.
• She likes to nod her head but when she does she also lifts her eyebrows. It's too cute.
• She can get a little attitude with you if you take something from her that she really wants!
• When she's waiting on her food, she will squeal to let you know to hurry up.
• She sleeps with her butt up in the air. Again, so cute!
• She is making the transition to one nap much to my dismay. There are days where she will still take 2 naps, but most day now she only takes one.
• She loves to play in Parker's room. Sometimes this means arguments between her and Parker when she gets into something that he's playing with.
• She is so smiley and laughs very easily. She gives good hugs and kisses and is just oh so lovable!

Of course I may be a little biased when I saw this but she is just the most precious little girl ever! She continues to bring so much joy into our lives. I don't know how it is possible but I love her more every day.

$5,000 a Week Forever

I saw a commercial for a Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes to win $5,000 a week forever. That sounds really nice, so I went online and filled out an entry. The odds of winning are like 1 in a billion something, so if we win it will totally be a God thing. Of course, if the odds were 1 in 2 it would still be a God thing.
Anyway, to the point of this post. After I filled out the entry, I started thinking about what I would do if we won. My first thought would be that Paul wouldn't have to work while he was at seminary, so he could totally focus on his studies and still have lots of family time. My second thought was we would be able to do so much to bless other people.
I have been thinking a lot lately about how God has been changing me and molding me more toward becoming like Christ over the past year and a half. I was thinking about those thoughts I had about winning the PCH sweepstakes, and it hit me how much God has been teaching me to completely trust Him.
 A year or so ago my thoughts would have been to save a lot of that money to create a nice security blanket for emergencies. I would have thought about how we could afford to have a second car again...a brand new car. I would have thought that I could replace our old, hand me down furniture with pieces that actually matched and that I could pick out from the thousands of options out there. But most of all I could feel secure.
As I was contrasting my thoughts, I was just so humbled that I had to retreat to my room and cry. Cry tears of shame, sorrow, joy, and peace. My Savior loves me so much that He walked hand and hand with me through some of the toughest, most confusing times of my life in order to teach me that He is all that I need, that He is the only security there is. I think about the line in "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" that says "and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace." Oh, how true those words spring up from my soul! There is nothing in this world that satisfies me like Jesus...especially the financial security that I had long craved. I KNOW that God will take care of us and the way He does that may not be easy but it will always be good and perfect.
Whether we win or not doesn't matter. I just love that God is all that I need, and now I know that in the deepest part of my soul.

God Bless America

As we celebrate our nation's independence, one might often hear someone say or sing "God bless America," but what does that really mean? I've been thinking about that a lot the past few days. We all love God's blessings- family, friends, health, safety, prosperity. America has definately experienced great blessings from God.

However, America is no longer one nation UNDER GOD. We have fallen so far from the biblical principles of which this nation was founded. It's awful! I just don't understand why God still has His protective hand around America. He has every right to just turn us over to our sinful desires and let us self-destruct.

I don't expect nonbelievers to live according to God's commands. They are doing what they are supposed to be doing, living according to the flesh. But Christians, people who have devoted their lives to a merciful Savior, should be living sold out expressing their love both with words and actions to Jesus Christ and the people He died to save.

There will come a day when the church will be persecuted in America. I'm not talking about the can't pray in schools kinda thing. I'm talking about real persecution. But then, maybe God will truly be blessing America. If the American church is persecuted, then we will see true Christians take a stand for their faith. The pretenders will slink away and not make a squeak. History shows that when the church is persecuted, growth happens. The Kingdom ignites like a wild fire.

What if God's blessings for America is for people to loose their right to buy goods and services because of their faith in Him? What if God's blessings for America means you can't provide food, clothes, and shelter for your family because no one will hire you because of your faith in Him? What if God's blessings for America is for you to be tortured until death in order for your persecutors to try to get you to denouce your faith in the God you serve?

That may seem far-fetched as you sit in your cozy home surrounded by your loved ones as you reflect on your day enjoying the safe blessings from God. It's hard to say this, but I would rather have the blessings of persecution that would cause the Kingdom of God to grow and flourish while the ones who just fill a pew on Sunday fade away or denouce their faith in God. I would rather face death for the name of Jesus Christ in order for America to see the true church of God hold high the majesty and glory of the one true King than for things to continue on in its current state. So, as I celebrate the independence of this amazing country knowing that true freedom can only be found in complete surrender to Jesus Christ, I want to reiterate the familiar sentiment with a different state of mind. May God bless America!

Spaghetti and What?!?

While watching the latest Olive Garden commercial about the 4 course special, they explain that one of their entrees to choose from is spaghetti and meatballs.

Parker: I want bootballs.
Me: You do? Those meatballs look good don't they?
Parker: Uh huh...I want bootballs.

I'm not sure how delicious bootballs would be but Parker really wants some. We've had the above conversation several times. So, today I opened one of those nasty (ok they aren't terrible, but when I think about how unhealthy they are I just think nasty) cans of Aldi brand spaghetti rings and meatballs. You really can't compare the two, but Parker really enjoyed his "bootballs."

By the way, Ellis was not impressed with the spaghetti and meatballs. Apparently, she has a sophisticated palate and is holding out for the good stuff.

Little Chef

Parker loves to be in the kitchen with me, and he loves to help me cook. To be honest, I'm not always welcoming to these loves of his. Certain meals just aren't condusive to having little toddler helping hands, and therefore, I can get a little stressed and just maybe a little irritated and just maybe I might raise my voice at him.

Anyway, today I let him help me make super. We made pizzas using tortillas. This was an easy meal for us since Paul was working this evening, and this was a perfect meal for Parker to help me make. He helped me stir the sauce. [This is a little free information here. I make my own pizza sauce using tomato paste. I just add water, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, sugar, and italian seasoning and you have it. Whenver I have left over tomato paste, I freeze it in ice cube trays so when you need a little bit for a recipe you have it there without having to open another can. These were also handy for making pizza sauce for two mini pizzas.] He put it on our "dough." Then, we had fun topping. He put his pepperonis in the shape of a Mickey head and adding some olives, mushrooms, and onions.

There was a moment when we were putting together our pizzas that I thought about one of my prayers of that morning. I prayed for God to help me be a good mother and to have a good attitude toward my children no matter what they do. There were moments that day when Parker was doing something that he shouldn't be doing where I could have handle the situation by yelling at him, but God helped me to diffuse the situation and to reroute him to good behavior. Blessings from God! God helped me to show grace to my baby boy and to love him unconditionally. Then, there I was enjoying this sweet moment cooking in the kitchen with my little chef. I couldn't have answered that prayer better by orchestrating my day myself.