Return to the farm after 10 years

 About 10 or 12 years ago Julie and I bought a turtle for Emma for her birthday.. She always loved turtles and had several as pets over the years .. green sliders , painted and even had a pet snapping turtle that she had to let go because it would bite Bekah. 

We were at the Bazzar and saw a Box turtle / tortise .  It was just small and would be a nice quiet pet for her .  Emma  brought it with her to the farm and let the boys play with it .  Then the boys were called for lunch and the went in and left "Turdy" un attended , and that's when they found out just how fast he was ...and just like that he was gone.

Now move forward 10 years and "Turdy" has shown up in the raspberry patch .   So Julie has renamed him "Raspberry "

Raspberry is way bigger now.  It's cool because Jengish and Emma will be back in a few weeks and it will be fun for Aiden to see his moms pet. 

But speeking of new names .  I was at the Bazaar today and picked up a couple turkeys .  Julie has named them "Thanks giving" and "Christmas".  For obvious reasons . 

Important need

 Today I was speaking with the director of a small orphanage we have worked with in the past.  He has 15 kids heading back to school next week , and is now in need of some school supplies and clothes including shoes for them .

.this photo was from 2024 when we spent the day with them and took them shopping.  Here is the blog post from that day 

 Everything is so much more expensived now that it is a real hardship for them .. 

We would like to be able to help a bit to take the pressure of . We are looking for $100 each or $1500 to cover all the kids .  

If anyone would like to help with this it would be a real blessing. 

Lots of work on the go

The guys have been busy renovating the guys house.  Some of the floors had rotted making some interior walls unstable 

We figured since we had to repair and pour new floors and change the heating system, we would put in infloor heating.

It's a lot of work.

Speaking of floors, we brought the girls up to the kashar with us to clean and varnish the kitchen floor there

The girls did a great job

Last night they walked up to the kashar to close up the windows. We had left it open to air out. 

It was a beautiful night to sit on the swing and watch the sun set. 

 

Huge encouragement!

 We have been sharing so may needs lately that it can become a bit overwhelming .. I like to focuse on one thing at a time , but everything is becoming time sensitive .  We are at the 10th hour.  But here is the good news .. today we are ordering another load of coal, and the counter is reset for next week's coal truck.  This will keep us busy this week and give us a good start for the coal deliveries starting in a couple weeks. At this point the trucks are in good repair and ready to go. Last week we installed some new leaf springs . 

the guys replacing the springs with Sergey .

  Tomorrow we will pay the first instalment of the tuition for the last one on our list . This will give us a couple months to pay the final instalment for a few of them that we did not fully cover.

A couple of the scholarship students are working out at the farm this week .

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So that leaves us with school supplies @ $10 a kid . 

And the items on the Amazon wish list .. both of which we have until Sept 1st . 

https://www.amazon.ca/registries/gl/guest-view/157SBM74VWL6P?ref_=cm_sw_r_apann_ggr-subnav-share_8KS4ZNB21S21MQ5BN52V_1&language=en-US 

I am thankful the way God sets things up .. He provides, and He decides who he is going to use to meet the needs .  I can relax and know that what He directs us to do He is responsible for .  

Thank you to everyone who is a part of these life transformations. 

Another thank you

 We are about $1000 short on our scholarship fund , but have been able to get everyone started, and added a couple more students... those sponsored are so happy to have this opertinity .  Today we received this video from Julia to thank all of you .

Over the next couple weeks we are hoping to receive the balance needed.

This morning we stopped at the Bazaar and picked up 5 more chickens .. we have the right number but too many of them are roosters . When the team gets here and we give out food hampers they will include roosters and ducks .  

In the mean time these chickens are going into quarenteen for the next week . 

School supplies.

For many years we have helped families with school supplies.  With out them the kids will not be able to attend school.  

Last year we prepared and distributed  700 knapsacks . 

This year we struggled to raise tuition funds and the coal is short on funds so I decided that we would not be doing school supplies this year.  

Now I am not sure if that was my decision to make.  We have had many families contact us to ask for help with this.  I realize that this is not my decision , it's yours.. if you would like to be a part of this , it works out to $10 a person .  We will make a list and as funds come in we will help out. 

Thank you to all of you who help with these special needs . 

 

Turning the page on a chapter

Many of you know that for several years now we have been looking after my mom with now advances Alzheimer's.   When we are in Kyrgyzstan, we bring her to my brother in Thunder bay ,  and when we are home My sister has mom for the day once a week, and is also her personal shopper as well as organizing her haircuts. She even takes her for the day as Julie and I travel locally to share about the work in Kyrgyzstan .  Emma and family are also a big help when we have dr's  etc. in the city we drop mom with them while we do our business. They have even come and stayed with mom enabling Julie and I to travel to further locations like Florida and Cincinnati.  We have found that we needed to simply live in the moment and believe that although she could not remember the fun times that she would some how feel them in her spirit .  But more and more those times are more difficult to manage . 

After 5 years waiting on the list for a nursing home We finally got the call with a bed opened up .  I got the call driving back to the airport from dropping her at my brothers .   Her admission date was for last Friday, from which we had 5 days to get her into the bed or loose our spot and return to the end of the list .  

My sister agreed to fly back up and get her as my brother had just had surgery.  she was to fly up on Sunday and back early Monday morning .. the return flight was with Air Canada. The strike was mandated back to work on Saturday and the flight was still on the app as on time until 10:00 pm the night before .. just 5 hours before   we were to be at the airport.  Fortunately as soon as they started to vote on the strike, we bought second tickets on another airlines for the next day, an approved timing with the homes admissions team.  

So Kim got to spend a day with Mom and My brother and his wife. which helped mom with the transition.  

The day went off with hardly a hitch ..  I stayed up and was on line to help with travel help with Kim , knowing how to navigate the process which can be difficult for someone who has not done a lot of flying .  Their flight arrived back in Toronto 15 minutes early , and they high tailed it to the home and arrived on time .      

A few minutes after they arrived, Emma and Aiden arrived to the home .  They were able to visit with mom and keep her distracted as she settled in and Kim started poring through the hundreds of pages of paper work from me before I left, from the on line signed documents, from the signed documents from my brother and the documents we keep with mom.. In the end they were able to get her intake completed .  Meanwhile mom started making friends with all her new friends at the home . 

The home is just around the corner from Emma's house and beside Aidens school so its great that she will be able to visit regularly , and Kim will stop in  regularly to help with the adjustments .  Next week we will start reaching out to friends in the area to see who would be able to visit . 

This has been a 5 year process ending in a busy week with lots of sleepless nights as we navigate all this from 7000km away.  fortunately  we have had a slower pace at the farm this week .. and able to process as we turn the page on this chapter. 

We will take another slow day today , maybe can 3 or 400 lbs of plums and finish up the laundry from the guests yesterday , then I will be back to trying to figure out a new and exciting way to raise the desperately need coal funds .    Stay tuned as I get my head back into the game . 

As much as I feel that all this has aged me , I can take heart that God has a promise for us . 

We are plum wore out.

 

We made it.  it was a long trip, but we are so happy to be back. 

The guys have finished bagging up the coal and are ready for the next truck .. $450 to go and we can order it.  On the way over the mountain we saw fresh snow on the tops of the mountain.  It is such a mixed message. The temperature is sweltering hot , but starting now we will have a viable sign that winter is coming .. each day the snow will creap it's way down the mountain until it hits .. with this first snow people will start to worry.  Already we have started getting calls for help.

We have a new friend that has moved in at the farm.  I will start making friends with him I hope.

The plums are just hanging on the trees .. just walking past them is enough to make them fall.

Julie and Baktagul are busy picking and prepping them

Tomorrow we will start making Jam, dates, jelly and chutney.. I even got a suggestion for plum pie.

Our first day here was spent meeting with our students and bringing their tuition money.    I think that although they knew we would help with school, the reality did not hit until we arrived .They are all very appreciative of everyone that helped with this ..

Alaska bound !

The coal has arrived and the boys are busy bagging it all for delivery . 

The driver was right ,  it is good looking coal .. 

 The next delivery will be next Monday .. we have the first $100 in for this , so we are looking for another $575.  

On a fun note, Julie and I are over night in Paris right now.  Last night, Kyrgyzstan changed there airport code from FRU to BSZ .. which happens to be the  code  of  Bartletts Alaska ... So flights have all been re routed to Alaska .. so let's see where we end up tonight Hahahaha... OH the wonders of world travel 

When is a load of coal more then a load of coal ?

Julie and I are on the long road to Kyrgyzstan .. starting with the milk run bus to the airport then on to  Kyrgyzstan .. then over night in Paris and then on through Turkey .. we will not arrive until  Wednesday ... this route is $700 each cheaper then the regular route.  enough for a couple loads of coal.   Speaking of coal , We had ordered the coal for delivery tomorrow.  we knew it was going to be the good coal so we ordered a second load, even though I was short the $475 needed .  I went ahead and set up the transfer and said to Julie, I am believing the before church is over this morning the funds will be in our account.   I really needed this .. When is coal more then just coal ? When something like coal can not only bless a family but when coal is a sign from God that he is Before us , He is With us and he follows us.   For someone in need , we are the answer .. like a load of coal I will share some things going on with us besides just the coal , and if I remember I will finish this story at the end of this post. 

I got an urgent call for help yester day , actually a couple .  There is a shepherd who is a "Brother" who lost his home in a fire a couple nights ago.  We have been asked to help him get something together before winter.  I will look into this as soon as we get there and hopefully by then this will have impressed on some of you to help so that we can do something .  For this Brother , we may be his load of coal !

   

When this came in I was a little bit distracted.  We had been waiting on a call for my mother to get into a nursing home .. My brother is just out of the hospital so caring for mom is difficult for him, But time had run out so Friday I flew with Mom up to Thunder bay, rent a car and drive her to his home then return back home .  on the way up, the young guy in the seat in our row buckled over and gasped to me " I am having a heart attack !"  that brought some distraction as we called for a dr. on board and were able to get him so care, oxygen and a deliberator.  Before his episode we had talked a bit, but I don't always tell all when I share about what I do for a living ..  As I sat across from him contemplating ,  I started to feel convicted .. He needed to know that I had sent out a call to our prayer group , so when he started to come around , I went back to him and told him that I was actually a missionary and that If he wanted I would be praying for him ..    

The conviction for me was that sometimes the answer that people may need when calling on God is us !  at this moment we were able to bring peace and be his load of coal ! 

I then got a text from Acel.  their family has been having a difficult time with proper school for their kids .. She went with Kamala when Kamala was registering her girls that were just sponsored , she saw the school and called me and said , is there any way that she could have this for her girls too.  I fully agree that this would be the best for them .. that is another $5000 for the year!  That is a BIG load of coal!

 

After receiving these requests for help, I dropped Mom off at my brothers .. and was driving along singing   "I sought the Lord and He heard and he answered "  with that the car app began to read a message to me .. It was from my brother " They just called and mom has a bed next week "  I pulled over and called the home and managed to get through to the intake coordinator and do the intake over the phone.  She emailed all the necessary documents to me so I could sign them and send them into the home before I left for Kyrgyzstan ( ALL 180 PAGES) , I called my sister and the airlines and arranged for her to go back up and pick mom up next week and bring her to the home. 

Mom always said , Think of three good things .. so here goes 

1. Don gets to have one moor week with Mom before she goes into care.         2. Kim gets to be a vital part in the care for mom.  3. I was able to do all the paper work before leaving , and I had always said it would be best for mom and I if I was not the one to bring her to the home .. 

Oh did I mention that the water had stopped at my house .. so in the middle of this a good friend came over and we went down into the old dug well and found that it was as simple as a defective check valve and we were back in business .. but was not a needed stressor.  

So that led to this morning , we were all packed , everything looked after , except for the fact that I still needed $475 in the bank  for my  load of coal ..

 The pastor even made mention about "I sought the Lord and He heard and he answered."  with that my phone vibrated.. I am still on high alert with Mom so I looked at the phone and saw a message " I John , I am sending the money direct to your account in a few Minutes.... 

That was my load of coal .. it was the final stressor being lifted .. I sought the Lord , and He DID hear and he Did answer , and He clearly reminded me that He is before me, He is with me and he does follow after me ... So when is a load of coal more then a load of coal ?  Its when it is a reminder that we are in Gods hands ... I have been on the verge of a good cry today as the pressures of life are lifting ... I fully understand when I see people we are helping break down when they receive their load of coal ... because a load of coal is often MORE then a load of coal  

 

Camp Days and hiccup with the coal!

Its a beautiful day at the lake for the boys from the farm and a few from the village 

They have a great place to camp right on the beach 

 

Mean while back on the farm Olivtena is holding down the fort.

Out in the village Vera's summer camp is in full swing for the week .  The kids there are having a great time and wanted me to say thank you to all of you who made this possible . 

We had a snag with the coal. 

The coal that we were going to get before the boys went to the lake turned out to be not as good as we would like.  There is a train of really good coal coming in next week, so they have ordered 2 loads of that coal for Monday morning.  I don't like to order coal unless I have money in hand, but it might be a while before more good coal comes in so we have had to move forward with this.   They have the funds there for the first load, and I have $200 in towards the second load, so we just need $475 by Monday .  If you can help with this that would be awesome .