CYBERCOLUMN:
Phone home
___By Donna Van Cleve
___Jimmy and Isla are having such a good time, we rarely hear from them when they are away at camp. They love to get letters or e-mail, though, so I try to write them while they're there.
___Camp time means early rising, sometimes eating breakfast at the cafeteria and heading out for a day of fellowship and hard work. The girls and guys are usually separated for different projects, but they are all together again in the cafeteria at noon. The afternoon

DONNA VAN CLEVE

involves more sweat, conversation and laughter. They may have Bible studies or a worship service in the evenings if one is scheduled. And they almost always play games before bedtime.
___They have learned to appreciate the time they have at camp, knowing that a day will come when they will outgrow it. They told me about a couple of friends at camp who had to go home because of ill health. Everyone cried when they left.
___These friends were only in their 70s.
___My parents are a part of the Texas Baptist Men Campbuilders, and they usually spend eight months out of the year working at some of the 30 camps around Texas. They are a volunteer group between the ages of 55 and Methuselah that provide the labor for most any kind of construction or remodeling job. Camps are their primary focus, but they also have worked on churches, parsonages and other Christian ministry buildings. Campbuilders are able to save a ministry thousands of dollars on construction projects by doing the carpentry, electrical, plumbing and roofing work. And all the men will tell you that they would never work this hard for money, but they'll do it for the Lord.
___The women work just as hard on their own projects, too, if they aren't out helping the men at times with jobs like painting. Just as the men have their tool trailer, the women have their own trailer full of fabric and sewing machines. They make what they call "ugly quilts,"--pieced material sewn in the shape of a sleeping bag and lined with a blanket--which are given to the homeless. They also sew useful items to give to residents of nursing homes in the area around whatever camp they happen to be working. Another lady sews children's clothes, and she and her husband take them to Mexico each year.
___Most of the Campbuilders bring their travel trailers in which to live while at camp. With up to 40 campers, it looks like a boomtown has temporarily sprung up in each location.
___Dad says, "We eat together, we work together, we play together, and with the campers parked so close you can hear someone snoring, it's like we all sleep together."
___During the off season for Campbuilders, which is summer when camps are in full swing, some of the couples travel out of the state or country to help with other projects. I'm so glad my parents come home for the summer, though. We are thrilled that they are healthy enough to work with Campbuilders, but we sure miss them during the months they are gone. And just like our own kids were at camp, our parents aren't too good about checking in with us regularly. They're just having too much fun.
___They have made so many wonderful friends through Campbuilders, and they would recommend it to any retiree who would like to be involved in some of the hardest, most rewarding work they may ever experience.
___On the highway, you can usually recognize a Campbuilder camper by the sign on the spare tire in the back. If you see one, be sure to wave. It just might be my parents. And if you happen to talk to them, please tell them to phone home.


___Donna Van Cleve is director of the public library in Cotulla, a writer, wife, mother and member of First Baptist Church in Cotulla, where she is pianist.









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