A night in support of Uplift

There are countless number of organizations that we have worked with over the years . One of those is Uplift.  They provide Baby massage that is particularly focused on the disabled .  They do incredible work.    In a couple weeks, The Bishkek International Women's Club will be hosting a fund raiser for them . 

This group is particularly active at the Tokmok Baby house and have worked with many of the children that we know who have been adopted from there .   The tickets for this event are $100 with the proceeds going to Uplift.  It might be just me,  but I think it would be great for us to make an appearance. It would also be a fun night for our workers .  If anyone would like to sponsor one of our workers for this event , it would be a double blessing .

 

Well, here we grow again !

Just as we are in the full clutches of winter and we are scrambling to keep the fires burning and the pipes from freezing , it is time to think ahead .  Before you know it, it will be spring and time to plant the gardens .. not just the  9 gardens at the farm , but another 250 gardens that we help with the seeds for so that families can be more self sustaining.  Not just for them selves but their neighbours and relatives reap the benefits of these community gardens .  Orphanages , hospitals , homes for the disabled and homeless and rehab centres all are blessed.  In just 6 weeks we will begin planting seedlings in the green house and preparing the seed packs for delivery .. that means we need to order seeds in 3 weeks which means that the funds need to be ready to transfer in Two weeks .. 

So there you have it .. Two weeks with a goal of $5000 to plant 259 gardens.  and that begins another year of "Praying for the seeds !" 

I will put a thermometer up to help track the progress  .. here is the break down per garden ,   $10 for the seeds , $2 for the delivery and the  teaching for those who need it , and $8 for groceries ... ( In the past people were so hungry that they ate the seedlings and seed potatoes ) 

total $20 a family . 

Below are some of the families that received the seeds last spring 

 

And below are some pictures of the veggies that they grew 

Last year I put together a short video showing some of those in the seed program.

Help me to see their troubles through your eyes Lord

The little white truck that has worked so hard , delivering coal, produce, humanitarian aid , hay and grain , is now the little white "water truck".  With the -25 and -35 weather in the village, the village water system collapsed and until things warm up and the repairs can be made, there is no water .. so the boys have been kept busy delivering water.  

The cold temperatures are not just effecting the water .  The power grid is having difficulties and now there are rolling black outs , a few hours every morning and every evening there is no power .. just when people want to eat breakfast and supper .  Fortunately we do have some generators for emergency situations so they will get a lot of use now.   But with no water and no power, there is going to be a real mess when the water does come back as there will be many frozen and burst pipes . 

The guys were able to get around to see Zenna again and bring her another load of coal .  She was very happy to see them .. I remember when we brought her coal and groceries  at the beginning of Dec.. She made us a cup of tea and said "WOW coal, groceries, and friends to drink tea with, I must be the richest person in the village ! " 

Over at the seniors home there are 20 seniors that are so happy to see the little white truck show up with coal for them when they ran out and the Red Cross contacted us. 

There has been no coal available at the train yard the last couple weeks so that has made things more difficult for many so we have had to step up the deliveries .  Finally today a train showed up and we were able to secure a dump truck load of coal  and had it delivered to them.  Our guys had their hands full with the water and power outages,  but our contact at the Red Cross was able to meet up with the coal truck to make sure it got dumped in the right place 

Once again we have been so blessed by the support of Luke Services International who has helped with the coal, but has also taken an active roll in providing health and dental care for our boys.  Today Sergey was able to go and have a full health check .  Next we will try to get him in to an eye Dr to see what's going on with  his cross eyes and if anything can be done. 

My son Benjamin wrote a song about 11 years ago after coming to visit us in Kyrgyzstan . It was called "In this together". I think about how true that is at this time of difficulty. So many individuals and organizations both here in Kyrgyzstan and all over North America, and other parts of the world for that matter, who are working together to impact the least of these .   Some of the faces are the same and some are new , but 11 years later the message is the same .. Have a listen 

Happy Birthday Edna

Meet our long time friend and supporter EDNA.  Edna has a birthday and has asked that her friends make a donation for her towards the coal fund in her honour .

At the farm we buy coal in the huge dump trucks and break it up and bag it up into 50 KG bags to deliver to families in need .  This year we have already delivered to over 250 families but now with temperatures dropping to -25 and -35 the need continues .. just last week we got a call from the red cross to ask us for coal for a seniors home that had run out.   This is why Edna would like to help. 

 If you would like to help please use the donate button on the top right side of the blog.  

Merry Christmas 2023

Merry Christmas .. Today is the Orthodox Christmas .. With so many children and families to bless , it is helpful to have such a long Christmas season.  

Of course there are always car glitches along the way, especially when the cars are 15 to 20 yeas old and the roads are so rough ..    

Tanya's car in the shop for a couple days 

food hampers and children's gifts 

 Once again we are all so thankful so many of you that  have donated so that our friends have the resources so that they are not empty handed when they come across people and families in need .   

More food hampers and Christmas parties

The food hampers continue to be a blessing to so many people .  We are thankful that we are able to bring these .  Some that we are finding are in desperate situations, but because of supporters like you we are able to help. 

We had the Christmas for the blind society.  right now there is something going around that is making the kids very sick so most of the schools are closed . So the event was held outside so we could still be safe. 

Over 200 kids were blessed this year .

This year for Christmas Ruslan wanted rabbits. Last week they got the cages moved in and today he got his first two rabbits.