Horst Kamps 1932 – 2011

Mein Vater Horst Kamps kam aus einfachen Verhältnissen. Er wuchs am Stadtrand von Rostock an der Ostseeküste auf und kam später nach Berlin, wo er lange Jahre als Fliesen- und Mosaikleger arbeitete. Er trat mit 29 Jahren dem bekannten Arbeiterkunstverein „Studio Otto Nagel“ in Berlin bei. Dort beschäftigte er sich in seiner Freizeit mit der Malerei, er probierte sich in verschiedenen Maltechniken aus und schuf im Laufe der Jahre eine Reihe von schönen Bildern, Aquarellen, Ölbildern, Pastellen, mit denen er viele Verwandte und Freunde beschenkte. Am liebsten malte er Blumen und Landschaften. 

1983 stand sein Leben auf des Messers Schneide: Seine schwere Herzkrankheit brachte ihn im Alter von 51 Jahren dem Tode sehr nahe, und nur durch eine Operation und zwei neue Herzklappen konnte er gerettet werden. Nun wurden ihm gewissermaßen 28 Jahre Leben geschenkt, Zeit, für die seine Familie sehr dankbar ist.

Es war ihm immer ein Bedürfnis, Menschen in Not zu helfen, so wie er es in seiner Familie erlebt hatte. Obwohl in seiner Kindheit, während der Zeit des Zweiten Weltkrieges, der Familie an allen Ecken und Enden fehlte, sie mit vielen Kindern nur in einem winzig kleinen Häuschen wohnten, halfen sie denen, die noch weniger hatten. Später spendete er bei Naturkatastrophen wie Erdbeben und Überschwemmungen, um die Not zu lindern. Deshalb ist es in seinem Sinne, wenn wir mit Tabitha Cambodia einer Familie in Kambodscha mit dem Bau eines Brunnens helfen und die Kinder gesund aufwachsen können. Anstelle von Blumen bitten wir um eine Spende für einen Brunnen. (siehe Beispiel)

(by Marina Scholz, Horst's Daughter)

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

My father Horst Kamps was came from humble circumstances. He grew up on the outskirts of Rostock along the shore of the Ostsee (East Sea) and came later to Berlin, where he worked many years laying tile. At the age of 29 he joined the well known blue collar art club “Studio Otto Nagel” in Berlin. There he spent his free time with painting. He experimented with several painting techniques and created during the course of his life many beautiful pictures, watercolors, oil paintings, pastels. He passed them on as presents to many relatives and friends. His favorite was painting flowers and landscapes.

In 1983 his life was in danger. Severe heart disease at the age of 51 brought him close to death. He was saved through surgery which provided him with two new heart valves. His family was grateful for the additional 28 years of life this surgery provided him. He always wanted to help people in their difficulties, such as he experienced with his own family. As a child, when his own family had not enough and his parents lived with many children in a tiny home, they always helped those that had even less. Later he always donated to victims of natural disasters like earthquakes and floods, to lessen the needs.

Thus it would be his wish, to donate a water well to a family in Cambodia through Tabitha Cambodia to assure their children will grow up healthy through having a clean water source.

In place of flowers, the family asks for donations toward a water well which will carry a plaque in memory of Horst Kamps. In the US, you may donate online with a visa card drawn from US Banks, in Germany please contact his daughter Marina Scholz. Upon completion of the water well in memory of Host Kamps, we will post a picture on his website. In lieu of flowers please make a donation to a well. (see example)

(by Marina Scholz, Horst's Daughter)

In Memory of Gavin Link

He felt their deep goodness and he understood that they blessed him far more than he could ever hope to be able to bless them. But he wanted to try.

During the year before he died, Gavin worked to help provide home care for a young mentally and physically handicapped boy. The little boy lived with his mom and grandma, and because there was no dad or grandpa in the picture, they’d sometimes ask Gav to help out with various ‘guy jobs’ around the place. He was always happy to be able to pitch in, and as the boy's mom told me in a note she sent after she learned that Gavin had passed away, he’d never let them pay him for this extra work. This didn’t surprise me. It was just Gavin. Whether it was scooping up the homeless guys on the beach and helping them get a meal or to a church service, or racing home through the pouring rain to grab someone else an umbrella, or simply taking the time to stop and sit with someone who needed an ear, he was always searching for a chance to serve in whatever way he could find. So, when this little boy's mom asked Gav if he’d clean some junk out of a corner of their garage, I’m sure he was happy to be able to do it. Only this time, after he finished up, he wondered if they might be willing to ‘pay’ him. He’d found something he hoped they’d let him keep. It was a dog-eared, smudged little card that held the Prayer of St Francis of Assisi.

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is darkness, light,
Where there is sadness, joy.

Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved, as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive . . .

And it is in dying . . . that we are born to eternal life.

From that day on, Gavin carried that little card with him everywhere. Other than his Scriptures, I think it was his most loved possession.

One afternoon in the heat and bustle of the chaotic streets of Seam Reap (Angkor Wat), he and I got separated while searching for a place to eat lunch. I tried not to get too frantic and traced my way back through the string of restaurants we’d walked past. I laughed with relief when I finally spotted him. There he sat at a linen covered restaurant table, with a ragged little tuk-tuk driver he’d found and brought in from the street. The two of them were laughing and talking as easily as if they’d been friends for a hundred years. He’d bought the man lunch and was sitting with him while he ate (he’d only had enough to pay for one meal), trying to give the driver ideas for how he might be able to attract more tourists than the other tuk-tuk drivers. I still smile when I think of that beautiful sight. Gav’s face was literally shining with joy.

Gavin loved Cambodia. He loved the Khmer people from every corner of his beautiful heart. He felt their deep goodness and he understood that they blessed him far more than he could ever hope to be able to bless them. But he wanted to try. He worked and saved and the following summer, returned to Phnom Penn to build homes with Margret and the Tabitha team. He dreamed of going back to serve again and again, but by the time the next building team left for Cambodia, he was already gone.

Every time a new ‘Tabitha’ home rises up in one of those Khmer villages, I’m sure Gavin watches and helps—in whatever ways angels can. I can only imagine he weeps to think that we would even consider doing such loving service in his memory.

And I am certain, with each donation, each new home raised, each Khmer life touched for good, he gratefully whispers, “Thank you, my friends.” And so do I.

(by Annie Link, Gavin's Mother)

In Memory of Rick Persson

by Cathy Persson

Rick grew up with the Connecticut River and Long Island Sound as his backyard, spending his childhood “messing about in boats” along the back creeks and shoreline. A third generation shipwright, he learned the craft of wooden boat building from his father, Seth Persson, who was internationally known for his building of legendary boats. Rick spent many years playing and working in his father’s boatyard learning from the best craftsmen in the industry.

Rick life’s work was as a shipwright, restoring wooden yachts and manufacturing small boats. With his brother Jon, he designed and built traditional boats whose designs are as functional as they are beautiful. Rick’s craftsmanship was highly respected in the world of wooden yachts. Workboats, kayaks, rowboats, powerboats and sailboats -- Rick built them all.

Rick’s wife Cathy had the opportunity to visit and work with Tabitha Cambodia, a non-profit organization whose GOFl is to assist residents of small villages throughout Cambodia to reach economic self-sufficiency. Rick understood the economic potential of boats for those who live on a river.

Contributions through forPEACE to Tabitha in Rick’s name will be directed to villages where houses, wells, small boats, and fishing nets are needed to help local families improve their economic situations.