We still work MMAP (Mobile Missionary Assistance Program) projects. In July we worked in Idaho and in July in Oregon.
Following is a letter that Betty sent to various friends and relatives in July.
Greetings from Round Lake Christian Camp.
We are both well and are way up in the mountains and quite isolated. This camp is about 20 miles from Sisters, OR which is about 20 miles from Bend, OR which is near the center of the state.
In 2003 a forest fire swept thru this place and burnt down all the camp buildings except one. So us MMAPers here are working on building new buildings and getting the camp back into full operation.
The fire’s results are still very obvious in this whole region. It burnt 90,692 acres so we can still see black burnt tree trunks for many miles when we drive this area.
When we first arrived here we only had a water hook-up for our motorhome so, not having electricity, we had to run the generator some times and “dry camp” for a few days. Marv and another MMAPer got the electricity connected and another group of volunteers from a local church came this last weekend and worked with them to make the sewer connections to the motor homes.
We have no cell phone or internet service here and that adds to the sense of isolation but we like it. It is very quiet and peaceful. We are parked facing Round Lake which is about 200 feet away and gives us a very nice view – except for a few burnt trees here and there.
Every evening deer come out and parade within 100 feet of our motorhome. The camp host and hostess put out fruit peelings and a block of salt which the deer like to lick. They finish the salt in a few days but then they keep coming back and looking for more. There are quite a few toads here and something – which we have not yet seen – which they call whistle pigs or ground chucks. We looked up those names on the Internet and found out that those names refer to woodchucks.
On our way to this camp from Idaho we spent three days in Bend, OR. We visited my niece, her husband, and two children while we were there. The niece is the daughter of my brother Joe who died in 1968.
This area reminds me of the New Mexico ranch I grew up on. Not the mountains and trees but the isolation and quietness and the afternoon winds. Also here we look at every car coming into the camp – which is rare – and guess who might be coming our way. One feature this camp doesn’t have that the ranch had was the baa baa baaing of the sheep.
