Team Ohio arrives in Kyrgyzstan

The team arrived with no problems along the way .  The brought great excitement with them.. We are looking forward to a great week with them 

 

we have a new bunny at the house, waiting for a ride out to the farm .  He and Logan became instant friends 

We all had a little snack, then headed to the apartments for the night for a sleep after the long journey

had a great flight and a productive day ..

We had a very smooth uneventful trip here today .  Once again my Expedia Elite plus card got us right to the head of every line, and a confident " I have nothing to declare " got us past the customs with no problem,  6 bags. 

We were home to the apartment by 6 am .   bags are mostly unpacked, and the daily routine began.

Kamala had her class this morning .  She is teaching Russian refresher course to two girls from the US. on Skype.   

While the lesson was on, Victor and his grandmother came by for a visit.  Baktygul gave a quick blood pressure check up on his grandmother , then we brought them to the bazaar to get Victor a new suit. He has a guitar recital next week and had to have a suit.

We brought some gifts for Anya from friends in America.  She was very blessed . 

We did a bit of shopping to get ready for the team coming tomorrow .  The vehicles , the meals , the translators, are arranged, and the beds are all made.  Then we have had a few meetings to make plans with all the support workers.

We are a little jet lagged , but hopefully the team doesn't notice as they will be in their own fog.

We have a couple more  things to arrange in the morning, then we will pick the team up at 5 pm.

next stop Istanbul, on our way to Bishkek

We have a had a wonderful few days since our departure from Canada.   On the drive to the airport in Washington we have had the privilege to visit with the forever families of some of the kids that we have known from Kyrgyzstan.  It is such a blessing to see how well they are all doing.  

The last couple days have been here in Virginia with Amir and Danial ( Tiik ).  It is so great to see how happy they are and to spend some time with them, when we can keep up with them .  

Yesterday we even went to watch them at their ski lessons .. so cool 

Its now time to say good buy for a few months.  We head for the airport in a couple hours.    We will land in Bishkek on Friday morning , then we have a day and a half to put the final touches on things before we pick up the team on Saturday afternoon.  We are so blessed to have the team we do getting everything ready in our absence.  

Here are a few things we will be doing with this team if you are following along 

delivering Samaritans purse boxes 

putting up a fences at the farm

kids to the hot springs 

picnic with men from the mens home 

building a barn 

delivering food packages and restocking food garage 

visiting the seniors home 

working on the hospital clinic and visiting the baby orphanage 

taking kids to the ballet and the movies 

appreciation day dinner for those we work along side 

woman's day party. 

thats enough to get us started , I am sure there will be so much more going on over the next week . 

I was talking to Sam from iam1ru and he tells me that there is still room on the fall trip to Kyrgyzstan.  This is a great way to venture out on a missions trip.  Sam looks after everything for you at that end.  Trip prices include everything including project money .. this is great if you want to be part of a team but don't want to go through the extra work of putting one together .   

So follow along here for the next week and you can see some of the things that your team could be doing. 

Urgent request resurfaces 5 years later.

Five years ago I shared an urgent request about a good friend and co worker of Jengishes.   His name is Baski, and he was basically told he would not live.  That was 5 years ago, and with the intervention of many of you we were able to get him the care he needed and he survived, and did very well.

He has been keeping a very close eye on his health, and just recently it was found that the tumor is returning. This time they were more prepared, and he and his family have managed to cover the operation expenses, but not able to cover all the post opp care.   They need about $250 to meet this need.  I have instructed Emma and Jengish to go ahead and advance him the first $100 to look after him, but we need your help to cover that and the rest of his care.     If you would like to be a part of blessing Baski and his family in round two, please use one of the donation options at the side of the blog .

Below is the original post from May 2010

Bazki preparing Ploff for us.

I have just found out about an urgent need .... I was going to focus on raising funds for our next year.... but unfortunately life does not always fit into our schedule... Life goes on, and so do the trials and the hurts faced by those around us... and just because we are in a place of need ourselves, I can't forget why we are doing this.... it is when I get letters like this from my friend Jengish that I realise how fortunate we are.. and at the same time I feel such a responsibility to help , especially when we have a personal relationship with those most closely affected...

May 12....
Hey John,
How are you? How are the preparations for the "Jump without a parachute?" hehe.
Hey John, do you know Bazki. It's the guy that is in charge of work projects at the rehab centre ..
So when I came back from US, I noticed that he had a bump on a left side of his head. I didn't really think anything of it. I thought he might have bumped his head on something.Then when I asked him how he got it, he said that it just appeared right after he buried his mom. I thought, maybe it was stress related.
A week ago, I noticed that his bump was not just an outside thing. I noticed that something was pushing his left eye out.

I took him to the doctors, and they told us to get an MRI.
We went to the MRI place, and got a picture taken of his brain. They secretly invited me inside, and told me that it's serious and it needs a surgery. When I walked in, I noticed the photo before the doctor took it away. The tumor looked pretty big. He told me it needs to be surgically removed. I cannot pay for his surgery. Can you please help us? Raise some support for him?
He is like the dad for all of us . He is the guy that disciplines us, and encourages us. He is that older guy that serves as a father figure for all the students at the centre.
I'd hate to lose him. He such an awesome guy. He doesn't know he has got a tumor in his brain yet. I'm going to have to tell him tomorrow. He has got wife and kids, and without his support they won't do well. His youngest is 11 years old.
Please, can you help with surgery?
I attached his photo on the message



May 14...
We went to the Neurosurgeons office today. He said that the tumor is huge, and he was amazed that Bazki still could walk and talk. he said that it was there for quite a while, but the tumor got some blood in it, and it caused it to start growing.
It's size of a big peach. His brain is all squished to one side.
The surgeon said that Bazki will not be able to use his right leg, and his right hand for a while, and his speech is going to slurred for a while.
Bazki just found out about it, and he seems very shocked. He keeps touching his head where the tumor is, and keeps moving his right leg. I think he realizes soon he will not be able to use it.
Anyway, the surgery and after care is going to cost about 1000 dollars. I hope we can raise enough. He'll go for tests on Monday, and he'll go into surgery on Wednesday if we can find the money .. Hope that the tumor is not malignant. Hope that he comes out fine.

Jenish
Bazki posing with Julie and some of the men

I will only have the weekend to figure out where this money is going to come from if I am to get it to them in time for the operation... If you are able to help us, please don't wait....

In this together

Lots going on.  We are busy packing and having some last minute meetings and such , but first check this out .. Jengish has shaved his beard.  Winter must be almost over in Kyrgyzstan 

Jengish has made a big batch of Shorpo for the homeless shelter 

We were excited this week to receive another grant  from the Rotary club for work at the hospital. Last fall we built the new waiting room and clinic.  The grant is to get them new furnishings and equip the exam room .  as well to put in an air conditioner / heater .    
Another exciting thing this week is that our friends at the Julia project have sent us some scholarship funds for us to be able to support the young Law student that I shared about a few posts ago.  This will be such a blessing to her I am sure.

Despite the long hard winter , the food supplies that the team from NH stocked us up with in the fall have managed to carry us through the winter, but alas, they are coming to an end, but just in time, support from Possibilities International  will allow us to restock and get a spring food drop out to many of the students and families in need.  



Yesterday, Julie was at a WM evening, and they took up an offering for the farm, and we will be able to buy them a new goat when we get there, as well as a donation for another couple giant rabbits.  We also had a donation come in last week for another food share from the farm.

We head out tomorrow morning, our first stop will be in Scranton PA.   to visit friends on Saturday , then Sunday  Feb 22nd at 10 am we will be sharing at Trinity Congregational Church about some of the incredible things happening in Kyrgyzstan . If you are in the area, we would love to see you .

 The next stop is one that we have been waiting for 7 years to make .  It will be to the Washington area where we will go to visit two young friends who are now joined their family after so many years .  We will leave our car there and fly to Kyrgyzstan from Washington.  This will be a good excuse to be able to visit again on our way home in June.  

We will land in Kyrgyzstan on the 27th, and the 28th we have friends with a team coming from Cincinnati joining us.  We will begin construction of the barn that has been sponsored by their family at Ambassadors Point . 

These are just a few of the people and organizations that have supported in the last couple weeks , there are so many more over the last few months we have been home .. I am reminded of this video I put together a couple years ago.. " We are in this Together" written and sung by our son Benjamin ..      

Thank you to everyone who is making this journey with us every day.  

"In the Hands of Love"

We are down to the wire now , getting ready to depart our Canada home, bound for Kyrgyzstan, by way of Washington DC.  Now you just know that there is a story in there somewhere, and there is.

First off , we are excited to be stopping in Scranton PA to visit friends on Saturday , then Sunday  Feb 22nd at 10 am we will be sharing at Trinity Congregational Church about some of the incredible things happening in Kyrgyzstan . If you are in the area, we would love to see you .

Sunday night we will head to Virginia where we get to spend a few days with some more incredible people, including two of our young friends from Kyrgyzstan who after almost 8 years of stalled adoptions have finally made it home .  We had promised them that we would come and visit them in their new homes when they made it to America. I think we are likely more excited about this visit then they are .  We are just so blessed to have been a part of their lives.

Wednesday we fly out from Washington , and travel through Istanbul . This flight is actually just over 1/2 the price as a flight from Toronto, so it worked well .

Once we land, we will have a day and a half to get things ready , then we have a team of 10 people arriving from Cincinnati ,We are so excited about this team coming, They have been with us since the beginning , and love those we work along side . It will be great to have them back again.

Some of the things they will be doing are starting the construction of a barn at the farm, Taking kids to the hot springs, bringing food to families and institutions in need, including the homeless shelter and the seniors home.  They will be working on the Hospital clinic and bringing supplies play equipment to the Baby Orphanage.  Dinners with students , our coworkers and a woman's day celebration are also on the schedule .  There trip will end in Bishkek with a cultural event, bringing the LAMb kids and workers to supper and the Ballet.  Watch the blog for updates , you will be blessed .

It has been a while since I have given a list of some of the current needs, I have kind of gotten stuck on the scholarships the last week .  This is still such a big need , I highlighted one of the girls needs, then Bekah called right away asking which girl.. she has a few in the same boat.  For this we would like to raise another $1000 so they can continue to stay in school and graduate in a few months .

Another big need is with one of the guys at the farm .  We had worked with him in the past at the rehab center, in fact he headed up the chicken project there, and did a great job.  He now has Cancer, and could not stay at the rehab center any more.  He has been living at the farm, and Jengish and Emma have been caring for him.  This morning they brought him to the hospital where he will have another round of Cimo as soon as we can find the resources.  He needs $250 for the next round.

One of the guys at the farm is working on his documents so that he can begin to move on .. for this he needs $150

Another boy we work with will be graduating this year, and the school called Emma in for a parent teacher interview and shared that he need to pay $80 for everything to do with the graduation, so that is another pressing need.

Of course our monthly general fund could use a little more help. we are still short about $400 a month there.  It is starting to get stressful.  We know to trust God, and he always seams to come through , but just !.  We would love if some of you would consider signing up for a monthly support for the general fund.

Another need we have is for our sponsorship fund.  We currently have 8 kids sponsored at an orphanage where we cover a homework club 5 days a week, as well as tuition for a few of the younger ones in kindergarten.  We also provide shoes, clothes as well as birthday parties for the kids. There are aprox 15 kids there at any one time.  To balance our budget we need to have 9 kids sponsored .. we have 8 .. Just one more will cover what we are already committed too, more then that would allow us to provide some of the extra's , like fresh fruit and Vegetables from time to time, or special outings for the kids.   If you would like to help with this, let us know and we will share more information privately.

So much more one the go, but those are just a few of the needs that we have in front of us right now.

Out at the farm there is a new batch of baby bunnies.  One of the babies the mother has taken a disliking to , so it will now reside with Bekah at the apartment until he is big enough to rejoin the others.. he does love the attention and feels right at home and safe in the hands of love.

"With a little help from my friends"

As we are preparing to head back to Kyrgyzstan in a couple weeks, I have something nagging at the back of my mind.  There is a need that always crops up at this time of the year.. Winters back is almost broken, but the school year still has a ways to go.  Many students who are trying to make it on their own, simply hit the wall this time of year. long cold winters, not eating properly because they don't have enough money for food.  small colds or the flue left untreated with week amine systems .. the list goes on.  Every year we find kids in need, and every year some how we are blessed to be able to help them.

  This year is no different.  A couple days ago we heard of a young friend of ours who is about to hit that wall .. she is behind on her dorm fees, and still has part of her tuition to pay. She is a great young lady in her fourth year, but may not make it if someone does not intervene to help .. She has been trying to get a job, any job to be able to finish school, but jobs are scarce. after four years of study, things could come crumbling down.  I have tried to shake, or ignore what I know , but it keeps nagging me, to we made some attempts to find out how much we were looking at to meet her needs without her knowing it was us, but when we had our people contact her she was too shy or embarrassed to return the call , so finally  last night  Julie contacted her directly to see what was going on. $469. thats it  $469.  Thats the amount that she is short to finish her 4th year of University.

If I had $469 I would invest in her future in a heart beat.  But I don't but what I do have is the audience and a voice that she does not have.  Like a say , she is not the only one, there are likely many others that will be on the edge of packing it in, some for a little more , and many for way less.
We would love to be able to be prepared for girls like this or others like her when we land in a few weeks .. If you would like to help us to invest in the future of some of the most amazing and brightest young minds in Kyrgyzstan, We would love your help . You can make a donation using one of the links on the right of this blog, .. in the memo , just put "scholarships"

graduation day made possible by a lot of hard work, and a little help from our friends 

The way has begun !

Over the next year you are going to see a lot more information about this - 

http://www.actofkindnessontheway.blogspot.ca/

For a long time now we have seen terrible things happening to women and young girls in Kyrgyzstan, and have many times felt helpless.   Over the last couple years we have begun to witness a small movement with in Kyrgyzstan, every day ordinary people stepping up to make a difference.  and just this fall we have even seen the opening of a women's shelter in right in Tokmok.  There is so much that needs to be done, and the resources are so limited.   The time for us to make a difference by coming behind some incredible change makers is now!. 

Three ladies;  Julie, Jody, (a friend and supporter of actofkindness & the women of Kyrgyzstan) & Acel (an incredible Kyrgyz  lady)

will be walking the Camino de Santiago , an  800km  trek over the  pyrenees mountains and threw spain to raise funds and awareness for the women of Kyrgyzstan. 

Our goal is to raise $100 000 through multiple ___athons ... walk, run, bike, horseback, motorcycle .. however you like .. the key is to get out and do it.  The  month of September will be the month that it will all take place.  Over the next couple of weeks I will be contacting many of you to encourage you to take part, and even arrange a walk or what ever in your own home town.   Like the pie challenge, if we can get multiple events going all over the world , together we will have no problem meeting our goal.    To see more information about this event please go to the designated blog    http://www.actofkindnessontheway.blogspot.ca/  

 

   In a couple weeks we will be heading to Kyrgyzstan where we will meet up with Acel and start on her travel visa's etc, as well we will need to get her all geared up now as the next time Julie will see her is when they land in France in Sept.  

She has found good hiking shoes, and we have had some donations  from friends of some hiking clothes for her.  Yesterday I was able to find the knapsacks for the ladies three for the price of one.. great deal. 

Jody

Acel

Julie 

Over the next couple months we will need to gather up the gear, make reservations for flights, trains, visa's and some of the accommodations.    We are looking for some sponsors to help with this portion of the journey.  If you would like to sponsor one of these ladies , it would be a great blessing. 

More fun from the pie challenge

Today is one of those days that I really wish I was back in Kyrgyzstan with the kds .  But I am sure that God is sparing me from certain pain.. this much me on a little plastic table clothe on one of those hills.. just think about it .. 

any ways , today was a special day for the children at Bacute.  For their Christmas, some of them wanted to go skiing, Since skiing was a little outside our budget, Emma and Jengish scawered the mountains for the perfect spot to go tobogganing 

They used a bunch of our old plastic table clothes so that everyone was all set. 

while they were all on the slopes having a great time, Bekah was back at the apartment getting lunch and gifts ready for them 

What an awesome day , again thank you for everyone that helped us with the pie challenge, your efforts are continuing to make such a difference .