Snow day

We won't be going anywhere for a little while.  We got a prety solid dump of snow last night. But thats OK. 

I can relax knowing that the boys are back at it with the coal deliveries .  We have a working truck and coal deliveries to the farm have started up again. 

That means we can get back to delivering coal to families in need. 

Dema is a scocial worker with Luke Services International and today helped us get coal to those who need it most. 

Back on the farm in these cold days, the boys can keep themselves warm, and busy in the green house . 

 

Making Plans for the spring.

  Julie and I have purchased or flights back to Kyrgyzstan mid March until mid May.  Shortly after we arive, we are excited to have a team coming. They will help us to get the guest house open and the gardens ready to plant. 

We also love to take this time to connect with the community around us.  I thought I would post some of the possible events that we might be able to do this spring if the funding is available.  Each of these possible events is on a photo that you can download and print if you would like to choose an event and share it with your friends, family or maybe your church family .  Who ever it is, please help us to get the word out.  

You guys make it possible to do what we do. 

30 families need food .

I recieved a message from Vera last night.  This time of year is always so difficult for people .. as they come close to the end of winter, they often start to run out of food and coal .  She says that she has identified 30 families that are in need of food.  she is asking if we can please find her a sponsor for $500 USD.  

 We did have a donation come in for coal last night .. just $1500 to go to be able to order the coal for 17 more families in need . we are hoping to order the coal tomorrow .

The boys had the day off today so they went for a hike up to the waterfalls . 

Ready for more coal .. Can you help ?

People have continued to come out to the farm to pick up coal , but we are running out . As of Today we have 17 families on a wait list for coal plus they have given away the farms coal  .  That works out to $1600 USD that we will need to get back on track .  Now would be a great time to use the donate now button on the top right side of the blog.  We will need to place our coal order on Monday morning 

( our Sunday night )

This is one of the families that we delivered coal to today .  It sort of warms my heart to know that their hearts are being warmed tonight as well.

Things are coming along in the green house .  The cucumber and tomatoes are both starting to bloom.  In another couple weeks we will have to start hanging the strings for them to climb on. 

After a few weeks of not having a truck due to micanical isues, it we nice to get caught up with a garbage run with the new truck . 

Hopefully it will be back to work on Monday delivering coal .  This truck will comfortably hold 3 tons of coal.   

 

Back in business

 We are so blessed to be back in business with coal food and the water deliveries.  As I have shared our truck was completely over worked and the engine gave out .  It was harder and harder to get parts for it and we could see more repaired / down time in th future .

Today we took possession of it's replacement .  It still has the king cab so we can fit the helpers when on delivery. Parts are much easier to find, and the pay load is almost double . 

We were able to get a good price for the old truck despite it not working , and we received a donation to help as well .  

So now we are ready to resume coal deliveries as soon as we have coal to deliver .. if you would like to help with coal we are taking donations now and hope to purchase coal on Monday . 

Winter rages on

The boys are busy out in the green house .  Its time to plant the flower seeds as well as the tomatoes and peppers that we will be giving out with the seeds. Its not a bad job when it is -20 outside .

Many of you know andd love Kamala.  for over a year now she has had custody of her three neices and cares for them.  Things are going well and they are working through the challanges.  We have been able to help Vika, the youngest, to go to a childrens day program.  She has been doing fantastic there.  She loves the activities and the meals , but most of all she is thriving with the reading writing and math .  she loves the challange.  This gives Kamala a little bit of time with out her to be able to work to help suport them. 

The two older girls are doing exceptionatly well . Romina has been going to art class. She always was a great painter but now her work is over the top. 

They have had a difficulty that we have been trying to work through.  We can not get them a space in the schools close to the apartement.  This means that they must spend over two hours each way on the public busses to get to school and back.  This has been so hard on them both. 

We have tried to figure out all the options but are not able to get them into a school closser to home.  There is a VERY good private school that is only about 10 minutes away . but the problem is that it is $200 a month each .  We have been so tempted to just say go ahead and we will figure it out as we go along, but that is just too much and not the responsible thing to do.  Maybe some of you would like to be part of this solution and like to set up a monthly sponsorship for them.   Education is so important, but so is quality of life .. and if we can avoid 4 hours a day on a bus , that would be incredible. 

Today was Misha's birthday so the farm guys took a drive up into the mountain to celebrate with him .. Happy Birthday Misha. 

While in the mountains they were in contact with a little school that we have been helping .  We brought them coal , and when Possibilities International was with us in the fall we brought tears to their eyes when we brought them a kettle , a hot plate and a fridge for them to be able to cook and reheat food for the kids.   

They have contacted us to see if there is any way that we could help them by purchasing a color printer for them to use in the school .  The cost of that is $300 to get them set up .  I am sure they would be very blessed if we could help with this need . 

These pictures are from september .. I can asure you that they have a bit more snow now.  Here is a picture of the boys on their way into the mountain .  

That leeds us to the next need .  As winter continues to rage, so does the need for Coal.  We have been recieving calls for more coal for some of the families we had helped, as well as several new families that thought that they could make it through the winter but have run out.  Sergey has asked if we could buy some more .  They think that 3 more loads will make it through the winter .. That will be $2500.  I don't have anything left in the coal fund, but as soon as any donations come in I will forward them so we can help those in need. 

We have about 2 weeks left worth of coal on the farm .  We should have a lot more, but how do you not share when there are people who are freezing.  So they have been sharing what we do have.  

Here is the delema we have ... the value of the plants in the green house exceeds the cost of the coal to heat it , but at the same time how can we heat a green house when there are people who are freezing .  In some cases this is a mater of life and death.   

Not everything about winter is terrible , I am reminded of that when I recieved this picture of the yurt down on the farm .. 

   

 

Time to order the seeds

This time of year, you get the Christmas all packed up and put away and then out comes the seed catalog .   It's time to decide what and how much you are going to plant in the spring then place your order.  Many of you will know that excitement.  

In Kyrgyzstan there are so many families that would love that privilege ... But despite having the room for a garden and the desire to plant it, they simply can not afford seeds .. especially at the end of a long winter.

That's why every year we provide 

Over 250 families with seeds , and in some cases we even help with the plowing and planting. 

This year rather then going around delivering the seeds door to door , we are going to have a seed party in the playground  We will have a BBQ and have some small toys as gifts for the kids and while the kids are playing, the parents can pick up their seeds and seed potatoes .  
   The cost for the seeds will be $3000. The party and gifts will be on top of that but we have a couple months to worry about that.  Right now I just need come up with the seed money.  We will place the order Monday or Tuesday.  Fortunately we only have to pay 50% or $1500.  The balance in the middle of March .  We would love if any of you would be willing to be a part of planting seeds in the lives of hundreds of families in Kyrgyzstan.  You can donate now at the top right side of the blog.  

Up coming adventures

 Winter is in full swing at the farm.  The coal deliveries have been done, apart from the odd delivery when we are notified of some emergency situations .  The boys are busy in the green house now .. They are looking after the tomatoes, but also now planting the starters for in not just our fields, but for the spring seed deliveries. 

Every year we deliver between 250 and 300 seed starter kits for people who would otherwise not be able to plant their gardens . 

Along with the seeds we also provide seed potatoes and other plants we have started in the green house, like tomatoes and peppers.  

This spring I would like to have another party at the playground and distribute many of the seeds there.  We can set up tables where people can come register andn then  pick out the seeds that they would like to plant.  The parties are always greatly appreciated by the comunity.   

We have a team coming the end of March, so this will be perfect timing for us to be able to host a party.  We will  need to place our order in the next few weeks for such a large amount of seeds , so if anyone would like to help us with this project, NOW would be a good time to donate .. We are going to need about $10 per family so that will be around $3000 total that we will need to raise . You can donate right here on the top right side of the blog ( Please put SEEDS in the memo line )

Another great event that we are planing is an event with the team from Possibilities International at the end of the summer .  They are calling it SHOP TILL YOU DROP.   

This team is made up of mostly women, and we thought it would be fun if they gathered up young women we know from Orphanages and families we know along with the girls from the families that help us.   Our goal for this event is also $3000   These kids some of whom have never had the opertunity to go shopping and pick out what they would like, will have taht oppertunity... 

We will be working on raising funds for this for the next couple months.  along with being able to donate right here on the blog (put shop til you drop in the memo line ) Possibilities International is working on some other fun ways to give , like with the "shop till you drop Golf tourniment."  Link below  

Shop till you drop Kyrgyzstan

Marat is looking for help .

 I got a message from one of our boys Marat.  

Marat spent several years on the farm and then after getting his eyes fixed , he has gone on to work as a furniture builder . Marat often returns to the farm on the weekends and when we have special events . 

Marat joined the team at the Christmas party . 

So Marat shared that he went to the dentist to have his teeth cleaned and has two teeth that need some work. While they are doing that, they could also straiten a couple teeth that he has been self conscious about his whole life.  He  can afford to cover half of the work and is wondering if we would be able to cover the other half .. to do this we are looking for a sponsor for 20 000 som ($235 USD) if you would like to help with this please let me know .. Marat would be thrilled .