Be the voice!

Julie and I often say the we need to be the voice of those who have no voice, and you can't do that effectively unless you go and experience what they are experiencing .. lots of times we have been in situations where we would ask "where is God in this".. but sometimes that is the very reason you are there... To bring Light into the dark places.

This last week Julie and I were with a group from our Canada church in Jamaica.  The dates of the trip had changed and it worked out that we would arrive home from Kyrgyzstan a few days before, so we were excited to be able to go. 

The team packed barrels of food and shipped them a few weeks ago and the arrived in time for us to pack bags of food and deliver them . This is something we have lots of experience with.. Half a world away and we find many of the same situations .

Packing the bags 

Then we went up the mountain with a friend who has been working with families in the area for a long time , so it was important that we work with him to bring food to where it would have the greatest impact.

We also had opertunity to bring  cooked meals to the homeless and the street sweepers.  

This lady has a little store where she sells frozen chickens ... I asked her what we a good day.. she said that if she sells two chickens that would be a good day.  I then asked how many she had , she had 12.  So I told her that I would take 10 so that she would still have some for the next days customers.  We added them to the food hampers .. 

Julie made conection with so many along the way .

Back at the camp, we had lots of work to do .  The playground had been destroyed by the hurricane so we built them a new one .
 

As well with the sustained winds , lots of paint was stripped off the buildings so we scraped and painted there as well

 

I have to be honest, JET LEG is real .  I was so turned around and just seemed to have no energy .. fortunately we were on Jamaican time and that included lots of little breaks .  

But despite that , we made some good friendships .  Maybe even better because I was operating at a much slower pace .. it gave time to focuse on the people . 

This was the family hosting us .

Our bus driver .

All in all , I feel blessed that we had the opertunity to make this trip.  Now when I speak up for this incredible community , I can do it with the first hand knowledge I have gained .   I believe that when it comes to missions.. we are all called to go , and we are all called to speak up for those who have no voice.   

If you ever feel it might be your time and you are not sure what to do next, reach out to me and I will point you in the right direction .. we except teams and also work with great organizations like possibilities International  who facilitate trips.  Be the Voice 

Urgent medical help need.

 Blessed to say that this need has been covered ..

As you know , we hired Rada,  a single mom with 5 kids to do some painting for us .. it was meant to help her out , but we were blessed , she is a good hard worker.  While she was with us Julie and I could see that there was some health issues , but could not pin it down.  

Word has just come back that she has a thyroid cyst.   They sent pages of Drs reports ,  she needs surgery . The cost is $685 USD or $1000 Canadian .

We will try to get this done as quickly as possible .. please consider if you can help. Thank you 

Summer Projects.

As we are preparing to head back to Canada , we spoke with some of our team to see what they have planned for the summer if funds were available ... Here are some of their dreams .   

Summer time at lake Isykool is a special time, but also something that many of the village kids from under privileged homes would only dream of .

The farm has access to a large couple decker tour bus that could hold about 40 kids and their gardians .. this is a big dream , but it would be awesome if we could take them all on a road trip for 4 or 5 days around the lake .

They would have beach time  as 23ll as experience camping. 

We have not worked out all the expences yet, but we estimate about $40 a kid . .. looking for 50 kids to be sponsored for this .

So on the farm we have 4 sheep .. not sure where they came from or who's they are  but I do know that when you turn you back they are standing in our flower garden 

Even when one of the boys stays out there with them , they do get distracted .

And steps away is our garden .

Our solution is to put up a fence over at the first house where we have a couple donkey's that way the donkey's and the sheep can have free roming with out getting into trouble .. the only thing on that farm is wood and coal getting ready for distribution 

 The cost of the fence will be about $400 

Every week they guys go visit Mirlan at the hospital.  There are about 75 people in His section and we like to bring toilet paper and cleaning supplies for them this costs about $50 a week. 

I spoke with Vera . She has a few ideas for the summer as well.  First is a summer camp for the kids in The village . It will run for the full week , possibly 2 weeks depending on funds .  She is hoping for a out $1000

This next need has been met ..thank you. Vera is thrilled. 

  Her next request is for a laptop.  She does trainings in the schools and for city initiatives.. they focuse on things like brid napping and human trafficking .. her old laptop is a small notebook we bought her about 15 years ago.. it is no longer stable and able to meet the need . A new laptop for her would be between $800 and $1000. 

So this next request is one that Julie and I would really like to get behind.  As you drive through the mountains,you will see garbage everywhere ... Our guys have started to recognize this themselves. They would like to go twice a month picking up garbage and make it an event that would incourage others to join in.    There are some coats involved .. Desil for the truck and dump fees when we take the garbage to the dump. As well we would like to provide snacks and beverages as well as the garbage bags ..  June 6 will be the first day of picking up garbage and I will know better then the cost and will update the blog then,but for now I am thinking it will be around $60 each time .
 

Let's keep beautiful Kyrgyzstan beautiful.

New fridge arrives

Today we bought the new refrigerator for the farm and returned the older one to the Kashar to replace the one we had given to the hospital.

The tractor came today and cut the hay field .. that will keep the boys busy for a few  days .

 

Over at the boys house we got the water connected today . 

Now there is plenty of work to do filling in the trenches .

This morning Baktigul in Turkey recieved the funds to get her work visa , and a bit extra to get some food .. she was incredibly grateful for the support. 
 

Doing Tourist things .. after 20 years

For 20 year we have been hearing about Ala Arch and have wanted to go check it out. The now have a gondola that takes you up the mountain .. so yesterday we were in Bishkek so decided to go for a drive and check it out.  Wouldn't you know it, the Gondola was closed ... But we did have a nice walk and a picnic.  Kamala's girls loved it . 

While we were away the ladies came back and did some more painting at the guest house .  We had patched some walls and they needed to be white washed ..it looks so nice with a fresh paint . 

Today we are going to take our guests to the hot springs , then the Burana tower and the Tokmok Bazar and then get them onto the right bus to Bishkek .. 

 

Some very blessed ladies

Today they guys went to the hospital to see Mirlan. I did not have funds come in for the fridge or cleaning supplies so we have them the new fridge we had just put based for the Kashar , and hopefully we can replace it next week before guests come . 

They were very thankful and send an official letter thanking us for the support.
 

There are so many needs at this hospital  And they have helped us with with a couple of our boys .  We would really like to help them with another fridge and some cleaning suplies . 

Now for those who missed it Baktagul is having some difficulty in Turkey. The cost of a visa to work there has gone up by 1000% . And since she can not work yet she is running out of the food money we sent her .  So we are looking for $500 to help her . 

The tea party at the Kashar was an incredible success.  They were each given an antique tea cup from our home in Canada .  They were all so excited and blessed. 

Some fancy sandwiches served with their tea.   I bought some tiramisu cakes I was going to serve for deseart , but they did not make it up the hill in one piece.  I put them all in a bowl and stored them up and let it sit over night, then scooped them into little bowles and topped them with plums from the farm orchard... They all loved it , then insisted one the recipe... 

One of my moms cups from her engagement party 67 years ago