Thursday, June 28, 2007

You will be missed .

I have started this post several times in the last couple of days, and each time I have not had the release to continue.

If you have been following the postings you will see entries from Jamie. he is a pastor friend of ours who is a great supporter of the people of Central Asia. For a couple of weeks he and his friend Rick, one of the board members from his church ,have been in Town.
Monday evening while on a layover in England, Rick passed away .
This was a terrible shock for his family and for Pastor Jamie and friends at the church. My heart breaks for them. Rick has been such a strong advocate , not only of his home church, but also the work in Central Asia. I met him a few times at different missions fundraisers . I can just imagine the emotions he felt only a couple of days earlier as he was putting his faith into action . Rick , with money in hand , had Sergey take to the market . They purchased up a truck load of food and supplies and brought them to the orphanage.
Its fitting that Rick's final days were spent "visiting the widows and orphans in their time of need"
Rick will be truly missed on so many levels. Please join with us in remembering his family and friends in your prayers.

James 1:27

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Monday, June 25, 2007

You're the One! Video #2

Ed and Sam helping us understand the concept of "You're the One" .... Oh now it's clear....I think

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Just how hot is 50 c

Well it is saturday night. The teaching went very well but it was a marathon, I taught for six straight hours each day monday to friday.Yesterday the thermometer stopped at 50 degrees at 1:00 pm Rick thought that it was broken but we realised that it was working when it dropped down to 45 at about 5:00. 35 C know feels downright cold. We went to the village orphanage yesterday and saw how all the renovations had gone. It is a completely different place we took pictures. Today we went to the lake and spent the day at the beach. We took pictures so that you can see how hard we are slaving for Jesus. Tomorrow after church Sergei is taking us the mountain to the waterfall for shashleek, last time we were here the hills were all brown right now they are green, it is very beautiful and we are looking forward to it. We fly out Monday 8:00 Am and arrive in TO at 8:00 pm after 22 hour trip. We are hoping to get bacon and eggs in heathrow as we have missed "normal food"Well it is geting dark got to get back to the apartment
BlessingsJamie

Something to Look forward to.

A posting I stumbled across.


I was at the supermarket a few weeks ago and I picked up some butter. I didn't really look at the packaging; I just saw that it looked like butter and said '60%' on it. Because I try to eat fat as much as possible and I translated this as meaning 'high fat content,' it went in the basket.Flash forward two weeks. It's seven am, and I decide to cook some eggs. I heat the pan, and reach into the fridge for the butter. A moment of panic - the butter is all used up, just a wasted wrapper left. Then I spot the other block lying in wait in the back of the fridge. Sigh of relief. And then I open the fresh pack of butter, and it looks like this:And I think, with the cobwebs of sleep still in my head, 'Who the @#&*^#' Then I read the front of the package, and it looks like this: май масло шоколадное.
That's right: chocolate flavored butter. I have no idea what you're supposed to do with it, but I do know that it's awesome, and that it is also proof that regarding some scientific innovations, Central Asia has made advances that America hasn't even dreamed of.

Friday, June 22, 2007

MEMORIES

I had a really good laugh today while reading Mala's blog. Here is the part that brought back the flood of memories. For those of you reading this that have been there, I am sure you will find her comments amusing.

"The amusement park is located only mile or so from the orphanage. It is very old and most everything in the small park with in dire need for repair and a good coat of paint. I quickly decided he wouldn't be riding on any of the rides, just for safety sake, never mind that he just survived his first car ride and probably wasn't ready to ride some pre-cold war era roller coaster. We walked around the park and finally just decided to sit on the swings ride, but asked the lone attendant in the park to NOT turn it on."
Here are a few photos of the park. If you remember this is the park that we rented the entire park for $100 and that included the ice cream. We brought the kids from both the Town orphanage and the Village Orphanage there .

Maybe I had been there for to long because it did not seem that bad at the time, but looking back I start to wonder ..... Maybe Mala was right!

This is a view from the top of the Farris wheel.

Here is a white knuckle shot of Pete after he saw this ...

So where do extra bolts come from on the top of a Farris wheel?

I thought we would be safe on this ride.... until we had to get out and push.... oh ya...don't step on both tracks at the same time or it could be a little enlightening

Its much more exciting when the buckles don't work and you simply tie the seat belt on

This ride was a blast... We knew we were the first ones in a while to ride it because the trees had grown in and the first dozen rounds, we "trimmed " the branches back

The ice cream was a big hit

All kidding aside.....

This is what it's all about!

Up date from Jamie

Well we are at the end of our week. It is friday afternoon and i am writing this on our lunch. The internet was down for the entirte city it seemed for the last few days. Both Rick and I have been sick, something we ate I suppose, Rick was sick all day Thursday and I was sick last night. Today is turning out to be a long day. Teaching has gone well and I believe that I have been used by God this past week. The students are very attentive and they have covered the material well. Today I have them actually preaching as they have to deliver a short ten minute message to the class. They have been quite good so far. This afternoon we will be going to the village to visit the orphanage there, we are going to xxxxxx tomorrow to swimming in the lake, both Rick and I are looking forward to being somewhere cool. It is very, very, very warm here. Looking forward to coming home.
BlessingsPastor Jamie

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Go Girls !

As we are preparing for our six month stay in Central Asia, the girls are starting to get excited. They have been looking forward to this trip for about three years. They have a desire to use their talents to make a difference. Here is an excerpt from one of the fliers from
Possibilities International

"James 1:27 tells us that pure and faultless religion is to look after orphans and widows in their distress. There is nothing more right than helping those who have been wronged. During their six month stay Emma and Bekah will be putting together innovative and interactive programs that will focus on the “arts” and “music”.
The girls will use these programs as a way to
teach English in several orphanages. Helping,
training, inspiring and teaching the helpless,
hurting and hopeless? It just seems like the“Wright” thing to do! Go girls!"

Emma gives us a sneak peek of
what she is working on tonight

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Maybe it's not so Bad !

So I woke up this morning with an abscessed tooth so bad that one of my eyes was almost swollen shut ..... So off to the dentist.....I don't like going to the dentist.......I mean I really don't like going to the dentist. Even the thought of going to the dentist gives me the willies. I just don't like pain. I don't like having peoples hands in my mouth. Even with all the gadgets and gizmo's at the dentist office, I don't like anything associated with going to the dentist. Did I mention that I don't like going to the dentist.... But I don't like a tooth ache any better. So I called the dentist and was told to come in right away. I walked into the office and was taken right in, the abscess was drained and I was given pain killers and antibiotics and sent home. Three minutes later, I was on my way back out to my car......There....That wasn't so bad. On my way home I thought about how quick it was . ....Could it have been any quicker?....Than I remembered being at an orphanage in Central Asia. There the entire collection of dental equipment consists of a pair of pliers and a tin bowl containing the teeth of the last 40 victims.....I mean patients.
Once a week they would get out the pliers and bowl and make the rounds .Up to 400 kids could be checked in a day.... same pliers, same bowl..... No filling..... No drilling.....No freezing.... No caps and masks and rubber gloves....only one tin bowl and pair of pliers. Suddenly I feel a little silly about my dentist phobia.

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Jamie and Rick have arived

Just a quick note to let you all know that we have arrived safely in town. It was a very long flight. We had a couple of hours to wait in London, and we sat in the plane for 45 minutes in Tiblisi, Armenia. Other than that we were in the air the rest of the time. We went to children's service in the church in town where I will be speaking tomorrow and were thrilled to see so many children taking part in a "Sunday School Picnic" Rick and I enjoyed the ice cream. We gave out all of the pop rocks as well Thanx John. Tonight we ate out and Rick got his first tast of Central Asian food and it suits him well he said. We are staying in Ed's apartment in town and seem to be walking distance from everywhere we need to go.Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Next week will be what keeps us busy. I am writing from an internet cafe this is the second one we tried as service here is not always reliable. I will try to keep you all informed as often as possible
BlessingsJamie

Friday, June 15, 2007

To fast to stop ...To close to react!

As my daughter and I where heading into town tonight, I was on a four lane stretch of the highway, I was in the left lane passing a truck when a car in front of us stopped to make a left hand turn. As I pulled back into the right lane, I said to my daughter." If you look back, someone is going to hit them". sure enough as we watched in the rear view mirror, the car following to close behind me veered just in time into the right lane, and the truck following him to closely slammed into the back of the car. They were going to fast to stop, and following to close to react.

A few hours later on my way home I looked to see where the accident had taken place.......not a sign that anything had happened. everything was cleaned up , you would never know anything had happened there.

I could not help but think ,isn't that just the way we like it.....all cleaned up. They say that it prevents accidents to get them removed as soon as possible. If we did not clean up the accidents on that stretch of the highway, there would be hundreds of smashed up cars piled up on the side of the road. I ask myself , if there were hundreds of cars left piled up on the side of the road, maybe there would be something done by now, if nothing else, maybe we would not drive so fast or follow so close.

I went into a seniors home for the first time in Central Asia about 5 years ago. as we walked through the halls everything looked nice. they had beautiful rugs hanging on the walls. I then found out that one of these rugs covered over the entrance to an entire wing of the seniors home. It was a wing that the sick were brought to die. With no medical attention and no one to look after them, once they were moved behind the rug, that was pretty much the end for them . everything neatly covered up , it was easy to miss. fortunately we met a lady that was not traveling to fast to stop or following to close to react. This wonderful lady recruited others to come and help her look after these seniors in there final days. She was able to shed some light onto the sick and dying , and as a result, we were able to come along side her and renovate this wing and provide necessary food and medical supplies. Today there is no longer a carpet covering the entrance to this wing, and people not only go in, but they come out. As long as things were covered up, people would continue to die. Let me ask you..... are you traveling to fast to stop ? Are you following to close to react? Is it really necessary that people continue to Die?

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

WE WANT YOU !


You can make a difference !
With a group .......or on your own.
Two weeks on a missions trip can
make a difference that will last an eternity!
Don't just think about it, Don't just talk about it,
Take the step.....you will be glad you did!
Email us now at sunmasterjohn@aol.com

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Central Asia Awaits

This is a photo of some of the friends that joined us on the trip in 2004.
If you are interested in coming over, whether for humanitarian aid , tourism, or a combination of both, email me at sunmasterjohn@aol.com and we can tailor make a trip for you.
By the way, we have enough in the "ONE" already to bye the first house, and we would love to have you come help us renovate it, and move a family into it from the local dump. ! Learn more about this project at http://willyoubeone.blogspot.com/