Yesterday was a special day .

 Yesterday was an exciting trip out to the end of the valley. we were blessed to have lunch with Farm Alina .  She is doing great , and has been married for 7 years now .  It was so good to catch up.   

We stopped along the way to hand out Samaritan's purse boxes.  This was such a big part of our history.  Every year we  would pack them with our kids and then our kids school and our church have been depots to collect and organize them for shipping .

Now seeig the joy on the kids faces when they receive them.

Every child is registered first before they receive their gift.

definitely a special day 

This morning Nick and I started filling in the trench in front of the guest house .  We have managed to get enough for a small entrance so we can reopen the guest house now.

Julie is working on some gift bags for the Ladies.  She is going to have a High tea, and give them each a china tea cup along with honey, tea, a package of seeds, and a gift card.  how fun is that. 

Water, planting, vitamins and food for the seniors.

Lots of work going on but I love that we can always fit in a coffee break in the cafe.

Tanya has been busy back serving her seniors. 

She has had her hands full with the new baby but it's great that she can get back out with her people 

They were all happy to see her as well 

Acel has been making the rounds giving out the prenatal vitamins.

Today we got the landscaping cloth down and have started planting the seeds .

Tomorrow we will start planting Tomatoes , peppers and egg plants in The cloth. 

 The boys are still working on the water .. so much work. There are trenches everywhere . 

We are still delivering water regularly to those without.

We stopped at Red river orphanage and picked up some new crafts for the gift shop .

Well coffee is almost done and time to get back to work.

The cracked pot.

When sorting out our home in Canada we had many tea cups that have been in the china cabinet for probably 80 years .  We decided to bring some with us and have a tea party for some ladies here and give them each a cup.  There are so many life lessons that include tea cups .. I will share more another day after the party so that I don't let the cat out of the bag if anyone of them read the blog.

I will share one story.  On the way one of the cups was broken .. we would be tempted to throw it out , but we remembered the gold guilded art ...

In the Japanese art of Kintsugi, broken pottery is repaired with gold lacquer. The cracks aren't hidden; they are highlighted, making the piece more valuable than it was before it broke.

The Lesson: Our "cracks"—our past mistakes, heartbreaks, and trials—are where God pours in His "golden" grace. We are 2 Corinthians 4:7 "jars of clay" holding an eternal treasure. 

So today I went to work and repaired the tea cup.  

 Our scars are not marks of shame; they are evidence of God’s restorative power.

Urgent .. update need met.

We are pleased to say that this need has been met.  The work is under way and we hope to have the funds in to pay the workers by Monday.  Thank you everyone who helped with this need .

Well the problem at the baby orphanage is more serious then we thought.  The well is too shallow and needs to be dug down much deeper and q cement casing needs to be poured to stop it from collapsing.  With the money that they had and the money we have them , they still need $1000 cdn to get this fixed. This is not something we can cover , money is extremely tight for us as well with all our water issues.  Please consider donating to this need .. mark is is urgent .

 

 

Water problems at the baby orphanage .

We have been raising funds to help with the water problem .. it has been a bit slow and I had to start buying materials today.  Then we got the call.  About 5 years ago we bought a water pump for the baby orphanage.  Last week it quit and could not be repaired , it had to be replaced. .. they had some money from a renovation they were working on, but still came up $200 short ...so we are now in need of another $200 for the farms water .

The director showing is where the well is 

We have some guests at the farm for a few days . 

They came with us to meet the director . 

They shared that they still need about $800 to complete the renovation and have asked if we can put the word out.  It would be great if we could meet this need as well as the water.

This morning we went up to the Kashar and did some cleaning to get ready for tomorrow.  We will be hosting a party with the farm families and kids from the English school.

We are now at the Baurana tower and later we will be going to the hot springs ...

 

Giving thanks in our hardships

 I was reminded today that even during our hardships we need to be bringing thanks to God .  

For many of the villagers this is a difficult time with out water, and needing to come up with the resources to connect  to the new lines when the time comes ... And yet they are focusing a celebration to thank God for this life giving water.   So many messages around that come to mind.

Today the village leaders came to is with this idea to have this party to thank God .  We were happy to support the village with purchasing the sheep for the event.   

Interesting ... Them explaining to me the need to bring thanks to God in our hardship. 

"Kan chygaryp koyolu...with the shedding of Blood!" 

Crisis averted.

More water works today. we are digging the trenches now because two of our water lines are not up to code so need to be replaced.   a lot of work .

Yesterday we ran out of water before finishing deliveries and when we went to refill, we ran into some engine troubles.  Early this morning Sergey was into the village with the truck to get it fixed.  It turned out to be just a couple of sensors.  Crisis averted. and we are back on deliveries today.

Here is something fun.  Someone in the village bought a new holding tank for the main kitchen .. that was a real blessing.   right away they got to work installing it .

This will be such a blessing to have a clean potable water , and an abundance of it. 

Today as Vald was heading out to deliver water in the village.  It was pouring rain so I was able to get a coat for him from donations we had brought with us . 

  The fridge in the work kitchen was one of the ones that was destroyed in the power surge .  Today we went up to the Kashar and picked up the fridge from there and brought it down to the farm.  I will get a small one to replace it, then when we have more cash flow we can get a bigger one .  

 

Trusting His Powerful Hand .

Lots going on around the farm today.  The trench on our street is finished and today they laid the pipe. 

while that is going on our guys are still out doing water deliveries... this will likely be the routine  for the next couple of months.  

We have some guests that will be leaving the US in a few hours so we have been getting ready. 

Today we were able to get the bridge over trench. 

The corner room was always very dark and only had one little window.  Today we finished  installing a window looking out into the orchard . 



we put in a live edge sill on the window.  I still have a little bit of trim on. I will pick that up when I go into Tokmok in the morning. 

With the guests arriving on Thursday, they will have with them some landscaping clothe.  

Because of the situation with the water this year , we will have to scale back the gardens this year .  By planting through the black clothe we will choke out the weeds and reduce the amount of water required.

last fall we spread spinach seeds over the garden .. this helps to choke out weeds and it starts to grow early in the spring .  Now that we are going to plant part of the garden, we will transplant the spinach into a row between the garlic and the raspberries.  

Along with the apple trees the currents are doing very well, look at all the blooms. 

We have gone back to planting in trenches rather then on mounds as well since we will not have flood irrigation .    This year is definitely going to be a challenge.  Knowingly planting in a dry parched land.  

Isaiah 41:19-20 (NIRV) states, "I will make trees grow in the desert. I will plant cedar and acacia trees there. I will plant myrtle and olive trees there... Then people will see and know that my powerful hand has done it."