Thursday, July 26, 2012

Raised in Victory

We were  visiting with some friends last night, and the topic of    "Living as a victor or a victim " came up.   It was suggested that Victim or Victor is a state of mind.  If this statement is true , then we can choose to live a victorious life, and maybe we need to spend more time focusing on how to transform the unsatisfied mind.  Maybe the life of the victim and the victor run parallel, and it is up to us to chose which track to follow .   What I mean by that is that simply the existence of hard times does not make one a victim.. in fact if you have the mind set of a Victor, you CAN live a victorious life.
If I was looking for proof in point about this, I would have to look at the life of Larisa .. Her mother Is Victorious, she raised Larisa in that manor, and now Larisa's daughter lives in victory. 
Larisa's mom lived a very difficult life in a small Kyrgyz village , but through the adversity , and let me tell you  the story itself would make a best seller or a award winning movie, but to get to the point she not only had the mind set of a Victor, she lived a victorious life.  She  became one of the top Soviet Olympians  in her day... she had nothing , but she was and lived as a victor.   
Larisa learned this trait , and despite the catastrophic hurtles thrown at her during her life, like having to flee on foot from Chernobyl  with her dying daughter in her arms,  and making her way across the soviet Union trying to get help for Tanya as she made her way back to Kyrgyzstan... again the stuff movies are made of ...Yet never faltering , but pushing on in Victory. 

Together she and her mother and daughter  , who until recently , lived on a combined family income of about $20 a month chose not to be victims, but VICTORS.  as Victors, they feel that they have a responsibility to the less fortunate  around them...
Funny thing... my guess is that many of the people that they help may actually have a higher income.. and may not have had the adversities that Larisa  has  faced, yet are not living in Victory .   But here is the thing .. Victory is not relative to situation and finances.. it is relative to the Peace of God that lives in our hearts , the peace that confirms in us that God loves and cares for us , not just as part of some big collective mass , but as individuals, each one as a unique and different creation.. and to know that what ever we face , what ever situations thrown in front of us  , God can use them not as hurtles, but as stepping stones to greater things, stepping stones to that Victors platform. 

Larisa knows this and she lives her life in this fashion.  As I write this  Larisa is preparing for a trip to Alaska with her daughter Tanya.,  They will be spending 3 months there working with a medical team, receiving training for helping the disabled, then the team of Dr's will return in the spring to continue the training on the ground at the mens home and with the many families that Larisa supports.    If we look  at the reality of it, the flights alone will be $4700 ... that's $4700 that we don't have, but Larisa lives in Victory, she is packing and she is going ... just ask her .. she is determined , she knows that this is something that she must do , and she has the confidence that someone will catch the vision and help with this ... someone else, who like Larisa, chooses to live the life of a Victor.  

Now let me share with you a story that hits a little closer to home .  

 Shortly after we were married, life for us had seemed to begin to spiral out of control.   I had lost my father and grandmother 10 days apart, our family business was in difficulty, and the restaurant I worked at had just gone bankrupt. Emma was very sick and lived on an breathing and heart  monitor 24 / 7.  On my way home from work on the last day , my car died, and so there I was ...  

  Down to one old car and not able to find work, I would go to our local dump, and scavenge for what ever I could find, and bring my salvage to a local auction house .   I did not think things could get much worse , until one day the car completely died on me in the next village over.   I began walking home the10 or so miles, and as I walked, I started thinking about a message I had just heard about walking as a VICTOR.
Needless to say I was not real receptive to this .. I had done everything to live a pure and honorable life.  As I walked along examining my life and where we would go from here, the rain began.. not just a gentle rain, but one of those pounding rains that makes it impossible to see your hand in front of your face.. I was wrong .. things could get worse.

   I began to call out to God.. again the rain pounding so hard that I could hardly hear myself , let alone see, I stood there in the middle of nowhere  and I screamed at him.. "How can this be the life of a Victor, what do you want from me .. I sure feel like a victim here God... If I truly am a Victor like your word says .. show me..."  Threw the tears and the rain, soaked to the bone, my eyes fell to the ground, and out of the gavel road, one word appeared ... VICTOR... I thought for a second that I was seeing things .. my eyes were stinging and my vision was blurred...   I reached down to touch it, expecting it to disappear, but wanting it to be real , and it was .. there on the ground in front of me , was the answer.. VICTOR.  


 It turns out that the sign to me was actually the mettle embossing from an old Crown Victoria that had broken off someones car and landed on the side of the road.  That was the kick start that I needed .. to me that was the proof that God did see and hear my cry's while I was facing the adversities...   Those adversities did not end instantly, but in time as I learned and recognized Gods hand in my life, and how He really did care, I began to take those hurtles that piled in front of me. and I chose to climb upon them as my victors platform.  

  Today when I walk through the dump, bringing hope to the people I have become friends with there, when I visit sick and dying children in the hospitals and work to provide the medical care they need,  I do so as a victor... No longer do I or will I live as a victim of Circumstances... I choose to  live as a VICTOR  ..   still going to the dump gathering treasures ... but no longer earthly ones .  




My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.


 For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Friday, July 20, 2012

Peach parties being planed

I was just talking to Bekah , she met with Andre this morning to bring him some camp money.. he was just so excited and thankful  to everyone . 


We are also planing the next fruit drop... Peaches are almost at their peek now.. and there is nothing like a Kyrgyz peach ... if you don't believe me, you just have to watch this video from a few summers ago when Hannah had her first Kyrgys peach 


I can't wait to see all the kids with peach juice running down their chins 


Check out the video below  ... if you want to be a part of the fun, just use the button on the right side of the blog and put peach in the memo line 




Thursday, July 19, 2012

Blessings , Blessings , and More Blessings

Before I start this next post, I want to share how blessed we feel to have such an incredible group of sponsors surrounding us .  This morning I shared a need about an orphanage who needed help to go to camp when their funding fell through .. with no one else left to turn to, they asked you to help, then went off to bed .. while they slept, people from all over Canada and the US rose to the challenge and the camp money , in it's entirety , was received..   They will awake this morning to news that  camp is a go.... what a blessing.  

A couple days ago, Sergey was able to do a food drop to the Orlofka orphanage, and while there , they decided to get in on the watermelon parties, so here are a few new photos of the fun.. For some reason, Kids eating watermelons never seems to get old... again thank you to the many sponsors who have had a part in these parties. 












Urgent request from KaraKol

I just got word from Jengish that the Orphanage in KaraKol has an Urgent need , and they are wondering if we can help. 

The kids have been looking forward to camp for almost year now.  It is the highlight of the year for them.  Up until yesterday, they had a sponsor for this, so the director Andre has not been worrying about the funds .  Now it is time for camp and the funding has fallen through , and the sponsor is not able to follow through on his commitment.    

Andre has 44 kids he does not want to disappoint .  He is asking if any of you , would be able to help out at this time .   the total cost will be $1500,   that's all the expenses  for 2 weeks .. now that may seem like a lot, but it actually comes out to $2.50 a night including food and transportation. 

I have a couple vbs groups in the US that will be raising some money that will be able to help with this , but we will need a lot more .. If you would like to be a part of something special like this, please use the donate button on the side .    There is an urgency to this, so if you can help, along with using the donate button, please email me ( sunmasterjohn@aol.com ) with the amount of the donation so that I can advance the funds right away so that they don't have to wait for the money to travel through the pay pal and the banks .  Thank you so much for considering these kids .


Andre and the director introducing some of the kids to us . 

playing a game with the kids ... I asked for a volunteer, and I  got 11

I could not get a read on the expression from this boy.  

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Watermelons at Red River


The girls had another great day of watermelon parties yesterday .   The kids had a great time , and they were   thrilled with the treat on a hot day .   



Emma is always watchful for opportunities to reunite siblings that are living apart.   Jenya sure does love her big brother ....




Tuesday, July 10, 2012

The things we hold on to !


Years ago we fell in love with a darling little boy from one of the orphanages that we work in .   When you play with and hold these kids.. have a chance to look into their eyes, and call them by name, something special happens.    they are forever imprinted into your heart.   A couple years ago, we had the opportunity to meet a special couple who were waiting to adopt our young friend.  What a blessing it was for us to spend some time with this beautiful couple, and like there son, we learned their names and they too imprinted on our hearts. 
Over the last 4 years, their parents , along with so many incredible families we have come to love, have advocated and down right fought to bring these precious kids home.   So many times , it looked as though the face of evil was going to will out , and the kids would never reach their forever families.  I had one thing to hold on to .. faith 
Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen, But I also know that God will help our unbelief, and that is why he gives us visions.. "people with out a vision will Parrish.  He must have known how difficult this time was going to be, because 2 years ago, I had this vision of our young friend riding his bike to an ice cream stand and getting ice cream for he and his Dad who was working in the field close buy.
When ever things looked like he would never come home, I would remind his mother about the ice cream, and we would hang on to that .... 
Last weekend,  Julie and I took a little trip to the US to visit our little friend.. and yes.. have ice cream . what a treat ... not necessarily the ice cream, though it was for some reason the best ice cream I have ever had.. but more because of the special friends who shared it.   

Our young friend , with his new brother
This is the first of many reunions that we are planing over the months ahead..    Please remember to pray for the kids that are still waiting ... and the ones that have nobody to wait for . 

Thursday, July 05, 2012

Let The Watermelon Parties Begin!

Emma and I had a great afternoon at Beikut Orphanage! We brought 2 huge watermelons and split them between 10 kids :) It was the first watermelon of the year that the children had eaten and because of this they gobbled every last morsel of watermelon up. They loved it!



After Ruslan was finished eating his 3 huge pieces of watermelon he went straight to the bath and got a different shirt :)



All the children were so happy and thankful for this fun surprise! Thanks Everyone!!
signing out- Bekah

Wednesday, July 04, 2012

A chat with Bekah

Don't you just love Skype.. and interact...

We received a couple checks for the work in Kyrgyzstan, and before I even got them to the bank, Bekah is in Kyrgyzstan getting marching orders.  watermelon is in season right now,  and we figured that if the strawberries were such a hit, what about water melons.   Over the next week Bekah will be translating for a medical team bringing wheelchairs to the orphanages in the north as well as delivering some animals to a rehab centre in the east  ... She will stop at all the orphanages along the way and deliver watermelons.... I am looking forward to that report.

so where do you go to get 200 watermelons hummm