Next project on the farm

Well with Christmas pretty much over, I realized that I am  once again behind on blog updates . 

We had a very exciting couple weeks.  Right after Christmas we traveled to Cincinnati.  While there we had Melody with us which was so great for her and Emma to spend some time together .  On the Saturday morning, Sergeys and Anya's boys joined us as we shared at a mens breakfast with the men from AP and from Teen Challenge .. It was a great encouragement for them to meet Jengish.   Sunday morning we shared at the Church and Introduced Melody .. 

Monday morning we picked up the boys and brought them to the airport where they flew to Minnesota where they spent the week with The Schneiders and their family and friends.. sking , rock wall climbing and so much more .. they had a great time  . 

Tuesday morning we where off to Florida for three services at New life Church.  It was great to have Melody able to join us for this part of the trip.  Aidon loved the travel.. the shuttles , the airport train, he even even let out a loud "Woooo woooo YES" when we walked up the stairs into the plane.  I thing is favorite part of travel was playing on and around the luggage in the airport . 

Our flight landed, we picked up the rental cars, and made it to the new years service and party at NL with about 3 minutes to spare.  We had beautiful accommodations to stay at with friends.  They were close to the beach which was Aidons favorite place to hang out ... OK so mine too..  Sunday we shared at 2 services at the church and were able to meet with a young man that will  be coming to the farm in May .  

At the farm, they had a little get together for Vlay.   He is on his way now to Russia to get the repair surgery for his hernia. 

One of the projects we have been planing is to build a banya at the boys side . 

A..banya is a traditional way of bathing in Kyrgyzstan and most homes would either have one or they would go to a public Banya a few times a week. Unfortunately  the public Banya has become a place where Men gather to “discuss  business”, drink, smoke  and get away from there wives among other things...

 The public Banya is not the kind of place that we would like our impressionable boys to visit.  We would like to build a Banya at the boys side at the farm.  After a hard days working in the fields, the barn or shoveling and delivering coal, they are often extremely dirty, tired and sore.  This is a great way for them to get cleaned up and relax.   

When designing the farm Banya , we will be focusing on things like accessibility , safety  and easy to clean.  We will also consider conservation ie. Well insulated and re-capture used water for use in garden.  We will be making it to match some of the other newer buildings on the farm and using a similar colour pattern as the toilet and shower built by a team from Thunder bay 

The New banya will be located beside the boys house at the top end of the garden.  This will be a convenient location for them , especially in the winter months .  Last spring we planted a plumb grove here, and we will not be planting crops in this area .  In a few years as this grove matures, the covered balcony will be a great place for the farm family to hang out and unwind at the end of a long day.  

Anyone who would like to help with this , can use the donate button on the side of the blog and simply put Banya in the memo line. 

A banya[1] (Russian: баня, IPA: [ˈbanʲə] ) is originally an Eastern Slavic steam bath with a wood stove. It is considered an important part of Russian culture with Slavic roots. The bath takes place in a small room or building designed for dry or wet heat sessions. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire