Getting ready to move forward

A few weeks back our van broke down and we rented a You Haul truck because it was the cheapest at $19 a day ..   Our friend Scott Cooper from Streat level Advocacy drove us over to pick up the truck .  On the way Julie was discussing with him about his current ministry needs .  One of his big needs was a place where he could store stuff temporarily as he collected things for homeless transitioning into housing .  Well when I picked up the truck they told me that since I rented for a week, I would get a free storage container for a month ... Perfect , We were able to bless Scott by meeting this need .  

Ruslan has been taking Tourism at University , and is now living on Campus .  It is difficult for us because we worry about him .  We are thrilled that our friends at Luke Services International also care for him, and now have him enrolled in their English learning program .  This is so great as it will be a big help to him and at the same time help to keep him feeling connected .

The boys are getting some carpentry experience in the shop.  They had to draw what they were going to build , then cut and plane their boards and then build what they had drawn .  A great exercise for them. 

In the back of the shop Sergey was able to take this opportunity to fix the truck . After about 100 trips loaded down with coal on rough mountain roads , regular repairs and maintenance is a common thing .  We are blessed that the majority of the work we can do in house .  

 

Mish works at a ranch / camp in the mountains near the farm .  It is such a great opportunity for him.   The owner realy likes him and treats him so well.  It also means that he is only about 15 minutes away and is still able to be in contact with the farm .  Last week he invited all the guys to the mountain for a Sauna , a picnic and a hike in the mountains with the horses. 

We heard about a saxophone concert in the city last week that the boys were excited to go to so Sergey took them out for supper as well ..  I am so pleased when they are able to experience things like this . 

Back on the farm Olivtina continues to come out three days a week and gives cooking lessons to the boys .. they love the attention , and they are becoming pretty good cooks as well 

 I shared a few needs that we have coming up this spring .   

The bigest one is that our yurts have reached the end of their life.  The weather on the side of the mountain is so nasty at times. The high winds and driving rain causes the yurts to buckle and the felt and canvas to tear more and more the older they get .   We tried to figure out what to do, but removing the yurts was not really an option since we get many groups that come and need the extra space.  It is also fun for people to stay in a yurt .   We had a 6 meter yurt and a four meter yurt .   We found that we could purchase two 4 meter yurts for less then one six meter yurt .  So we were able to sell our 6 meter yurt for enough to purchase a new canvas and repair our 4 meter yurt .  Then we will purchase two new 4 meter yurts that are made with a steel frame rather then wood.  This is much stronger and will not buckle in the high winds causing the canvas to tear .  The cost for the two new yurts will be $3000 .  I have had $250 come in towards that need this week .  . we would love some help with this . 

Shortly we will be back on the road again.  Julie is going out to Newfoundland to help care for our grand daughter .  I will be heading to Kyrgyzstan in March . I will need to purchase tickets this week for that.  It will be about $1800 for the flights .. again If anyone would like to help that would be awesome .   I will have one for sure but possibly two others coming with me for about 5 or six weeks .  we will be putting up the yurts and  planting gardens 

speaking of seeds .. I have been collecting seeds here and Vlad has been collecting seeds there ,  so we have a good start .  We would like to have seeds and a food hamper for close to 200 people this spring .  For this we will need about $3000.. this will not only help feed the family right away after a long winter, but it will help feed them and their family, neighbours and friends for the months .