Food , heat, and more . all in a days work

Our friend Oleg is a real life Saint Nicolas, or that is how he is perceived this week as he is showing up at homes unexpectedly delivering   not just food but HOPE and JOY. The cost of one of these food hampers is $20 BUT the cost of "Reminding people that God has not forgotten them.....priceless "  Thank you Vera and Olga for all that you do to help us and the people of your community , and all of you who have been donating to food hampers so that these deliveries can happen.  

This we think will be the last load of coal to get through .  It was delivered bulk to a small mountain village where our friend will over see distribution to shepard families in need .   If more funds come in we would like to get back up there in a couple weeks to bring them some food hampers as well . 

An Update on Ravil and his car fund .  We have just $3100 to go to make the purchase a reality .. at this point the funds are coming in a little faster then the price of cars is going up so that's great .  we would love it if this could be covered in the next few weeks. 

$3100 to go 

 

What do you think ?

 I need to interrupt the Christmas Wish book  with an urgent need.. Here is the letter I just recieved from Tanya .

Hall John. Sorry that late write to you .. could you help us .. In Kyrgyzstan the 3 of Desember will be celebrate the day of disabled people...  I want to hold a celebration for men in a man's house. We were not allowed because Corona is problem . But just now  the director called me said that on December 4th I could come and have a celebration . I know this is late to ask but I do not want to miss this. 

Some of the men enjoying their time at the Kashar .. first time out in over a year 

 

I thought maybe buy sweet as gifts to make them enjoy... maybe one juice and one banana or chocolate... Could you help for 270 people ,for one person hundred for every man . 27000 + 1000 som is road = 28000 ...($350)

That comes to $1.29 a person to help shut in men at the men's home celebrate their disabilities . I would love to jump on this fast so she has time to shop and prepare .. but I would like to give her more then 1.29 a person .. what do you think ?

Packing for our trip back to the farm.

Thank you, This need has been covered .One of the items in the Christmas Wish Book is games a books for a library at the farm. The Library will be a scheduled supervised time in their day , and help to teach respect for each other and how to get along with others ..   

With Julie and I heading to Kyrgyzstan next week. we would like to bring some games from here that we can not get in Kyrgyzstan.  We will go through the games at our house, but I have found some on Amazon that could be here in time for us to pack with us.    If there is any one or a few people out there that would like to help us with this.  If I get the order placed by Sunday Night, we can get them in time to bring with us. As soon as the donations come in I will place the order .  

 

Lots of hard work fills the day

We are blessed to have a seasoned welder who wants to teach his trade to our boys.  They have had a few classes now and some of them are doing really well.  

A couple years ago we had raised funds for the Banya for the boys, then covid hit and we had to use those funds for emergency food and medication .    We are now back on track with that and they have began construction.  

The boys continue to pack up bags of coal for those in need .. We soo appreciate the hard work by the boys. 

Inside the green house the tomatoes are looking great 

Today I want to shine a light on a specific wish from the Christmas wish book   Ravil is raising funds for a car.  We are looking for $5000 for this.  Here is the thing.. If we act fast before the some new import laws take effect, we are thinking that we are just $3000 away.  if we wait until later in the month we will need the full $5000.. If you would like to help in hole or in part for this need I am sure Ravil would be so thankful.

I had a chat with Ravil .. he was excited to hear that we were going to add him to the wish book.  But then he read the post and saw the other needs .. He then contacted me to say that some of the others are more urgent then his so maybe we should take his wish off the list .  This was such a confirmation to me that we SHOULD have his wish here.   This wish would allow him to continue to HELP others .. tools of the trade ..  

They say Thank you

Every day ordinary families .. They are thankful for your help this winter.  It is not just coal that we have been helping with .  This family heats with natural gas , but the inflation has hit them so hard .. We are so thankful that many of you have donated so we can make a difference .. 

day and night the coal operation has continued we never know if the last load will be the last load, so we are always excited when another truck arrives, regardless of the time . 

The boys work hard to keep up with bagging the caol and making deliveries to people in need 

I wanted to give a little update about the wish book .. first off , we have started to have movement on the Christmas gifts for the orphanages . 

so far we have had 32 kids  sponsored so that's 25% of one of the orphanages . so its a start .  To view the rest of the wish book, please follow this link

 

 

Christmas in the orphanages

Today we received our first donation to the Christmas wish book .. they have asked that the donation be split between the new chickens and the orphanage parties. Since I shared a bit yesterday about the chickens , I thought I would share a bit more about the orphanage Christmas parties . 

 In previous years we have taken kids to movies or bowling and out for dinner, but for safety reasons last year and again this year we will purchase and pack special treat boxes for each child. we will also provide some special Christmas treats .. cookies , cake , juice and or fruit , depending on the orphanage .. but the main thing is that the kids will know that just because we are not visiting them IN the orphanage we still are thinking about them.  If you would like to help us with that , you can donate at the link on the top right side of this blog . 

18 days

18 days and counting down 
Julie and I are excited to be returning to Kyrgyzstan in just a few weeks .. It has been far too long.  I even got my new International drivers licence, and a new carry on bag from fb market place.   Our plan is to stay close to the farm and spend time with the farm family as well as getting things organized for the spring when we hope to return and possibly even start receiving teams again ..  

Right now on the farm we have started the construction of a Banya at the boys farm as past of the green house .  We were all set to start this project March of 2020 , but ended up using those finances to purchase food and medication for people during the first wave and lock downs .   At the time we put everything on the line, and now we are slowly starting to rebuild.  The new Banya will be the first big project on the farm in two years.  Something else that took a big hit over the beginning of the pandemic was our chicken flock .  We have been giving chickens for emergency food when ever there is an immediate need.  Or flock is down to about 30 chickens .. The best number for a free range chicken flock is 100 birds .. that is the optimal for chickens health and feeling of safety not to mention providing enough eggs  ... It is also the size of flock we need to maintain the apple orchard properly .. So getting chickens will hopefully be on the to do list... 

We will be leaving Canada on Dec 7.  That means that any donation we have in for the Christmas wish book  we will be able to bring with us when we go ..   Anything after that we can still get over there, but not as easily and cheep as bringing it with us ... 

Please take a look at the catalogue   and see if there is any were you would like to help. 

 

Christmas Wish Book 2021

It is that time of the year again when we post our Christmas wish book.  A great way to purchase a family gift or a gift for that hard to shop for person who already has everything they need.  This year we have a full line up of items ranging from $5 to $5000 so everyone can get in on the fun.   Some are personal gifts while others are are for groups.  Have a look and see if there is anything that you would be interested in sponsoring , then use the donate button on the top right side of the blog and put in the memo line where you would like your donation directed.  Then if you wish you can print off the gift certificate at the end of this post  to put into a Christmas card.  As the needs are met and the dreams are fulfilled, we will post the stories here on the blog. 

18 covered , 52 to go 

,77 sponsored ,  523 to go

five
 families sponsored ( 8 families receiving coal on friday )

40 sponsored 

$360 sponsored so far

                                                                          $200 sponsored so far 

$100 covered

$2000 to go 

7 sponsored 

Below are the wishes that have been met .. stay tuned for follow up reports