Urgent Financial Need
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Camp Lake Stephens Needs You!This summer Camp Lake Stephens celebrated 66 incredible years of ministry! We celebrate every changed life, every call to the ministry, and every person who has experienced God’s love through the ministry of Camp Lake Stephens!This morning I am reminded of my experience as a camper here at Camp Lake Stephens. It was here that I accepted Christ and received my call into the ministry and for both I will be forever thankful. So many of you have similar stories about the role Camp Lake Stephens has played in your faith journey. Still, hundreds of campers each summer have these same experiences and it is so important that we work together to insure that this tradition continues for another 66 years. Unfortunately, Camp Lake Stephens is facing a financial crises that threatens its ability to survive financially. We celebrate the action of our Annual Conference this past summer to partially restore our funding in 2013. However, we face another 10% cut in 2012. This will bring our total funding cut to 50%, which means next year camp will receive $80,000.00 less in funding than it did just five years ago. In preparation for these additional cuts we have cut staff, frozen salaries, cut expenses everywhere possible, and our Board has just approved necessary price increases for 2012 (see NOTE below). Unfortunately, these efforts will not be enough. In order for Camp Lake Stephens to keep our doors open we need to raise $100,000.00 in the next 6-8 months. These funds would provide us with the cash flow needed to meet our basic obligations until our summer camp revenue comes in next summer. If we can survive the next 13-14 months we will be well on the road to financial sustainability. Unfortunately, we presently do not have the funds to meet our financial obligations to make it to the end of the year. Over the years Camp Lake Stephens has played and continues to play a vital role in the life of the United Methodist Church in Mississippi. If your life has been touched by the ministry of Camp Lake Stephens I hope you will seriously consider partnering with us so we can continue to minister to the children, youth, and adults of North Mississippi. I make myself and all our staff available to come talk to you or your church about the ministry of Camp Lake Stephens and ways we can partner with each other. Please send your Tax-Deductible gifts to: Camp Lake Stephens |
