Thursday, January 28, 2016

Last day in Kyrgyzstan for Jengish and Emma before heading state side.

Still lots going on in Kyrgyzstan .   The needs were met for the family that almost lost their home .. Larisa and Tanya went and secured all the documents to make sure everything secure for them in the future , 


Then Emma and Jengish brought the money and went with them pay the debt and get the deed of the home for them


Emma and Jengish took one last walk around the farm before heading to Canada and the US for a month 

the boys built a new feeding trough for the Dairy cows 


They got the grinder working again.  We had to get a new motor for it .  Then they got caught up with the grain grinding for the animals 


And here is some big news ... Goosey laid three eggs so far. 


Marat is learning how to wire in a circulating fan 


Marat out working in the barn 


Myrlan and Aigoola double grinding some grain for cooking


Nurlan was cleaning the cow barn 

While in Canada we will be cooking several Kyrgz meals as we travel around, and what is a meal with out all the candy , So they are bringing a suit case of candy with them.



This week it was Nicks birthday , so Bekah made sure that he got a cake , and a little fuss made .. 



then it was off to the airport.  They were wheels up about 2 hours ago and will be travelling for 32 hours.  When they land in Canada we will head strait for Cincinatti for the weekend 


Monday, January 25, 2016

And on the third day the SON shone .

Today was a very bright day for our friends in Kyrgyzstan . Just three days ago they thought that they would loose there house and they would have no home for their kids in the middle of the winter.  

First thing this morning Larisa and Tanya were at their home to present an offer to them and draw up the contract.(not to mention a food hamper)  


 So here was the deal , they would be given a 5 year interest free loan for the full $2000 US that they needed. That would come to $33 a month.  Understanding that they are still paying off some family for the first loan, we forgave the first 2 1/2 years of the loan.  this will give them time to be more financially stable and for the kids to get a little older and in school so that the demands on their time is not so great.  We also feel it is important that they do contribute themselves toward the home.  as the funds are repaid, they will be used to provide food and other needs for other families that Larisa and Tanya help.  

  Next, they met with the person that the family  had purchased the house from, and paid off the loan, and received a discharge and the deed for the home. 


The home is theirs..and they have the documents to prove it. This family has faced so much over the years.  They absolutely could not believe that people like you would come forward and help secure their future.. In a day and age where there is so much turmoil in the world and is seems as though no one cares.. today they experienced a greater outpouring of love then they ever could have imagined ...  and once again we have seen how 
we>i 


through your love and support, we have seen
"what a difference 3 days can make."

Saturday, January 23, 2016

How do you KNOW ?

I am often asked How do you know who to help.. You often talk about stopping for the one in front of you ?  How can we step over 40 people in a hospital hallway to go to help just one   .. In light of yesterdays post, I thought I would try to answer that.   

First of all, I have found a way that absolves me of much of the responsibility Let me explain.  We do not operate the kind of Charity or Social fund that raises funds , then determines a budget for the next year based on those funds.  We do not have funds looking for a need.. we have needs looking for funds.   I simply post the need and leave it in your hands .. If the need is met we move forward , if its not we wait it does not take long to find out where we are supposed to help. That is the case most of the time when a need is brought before us ....    BUT ... 

You don't have to look very far to find needs on your own, with out them coming to you .. Take for example this person .. No one came asking for help , not even the person who lives here, (reactive Ministry) .  So do we go deeper and find out more about the situation  ?.. (proactive ministry)   
This is likely the extent of this persons life .. this is not the life of an alcoholic or a drug addict  This person is trying to maintain an orderly "home"  we see a box carefully wrapped and covered likely containing  personal items, along with that one special item that we might display proudly.  We see shoes and a jacket and a face cloth. Under the face clothe a small stool , possibly for a guest, or to use as a head rest at night .  There is food water and a glass plate .    It is under the shade and protection of a big tree, and a fence at the back for further protection, yet open enough to get away if the threat is to great .   

So what do we do here?     


I guess that's the big question .. its not easy to know .. so that's when you have to rely on your "gut" , or your "heart" or that "feeling deep down" what ever you choose to call it .. I call it God .  

We have no choice but to rely on his direction and guidance in everything that we do. WISDOM is the key.. not saying that we are wise by any standard, but when asked what we need most , we always say pray for wisdom.  

Take yesterdays post for example .. I woke up from a dream around 5 am .  In the dream, Larisa had called me to tell me of a need, and not in a way that there was any doubt or question , but with confidence like I had already known and had the money in my pocket for her and was simply waiting for her to call.   and we are not talking chump change either .. this was a large amount in US $  (that's really large in Canadian $)  Well I woke up, and reached for my phone.  it was beside my bed, but the notifications turned off.  Why was I not surprised to turn i on and find a message from Larisa .. this is not the usual way that Larisa would contact me, it is usually through one of our girls as there is a language barrier.  The message was clear .. We have an emergency situation and need $2000 US light away .  

Well this one is fairly clear to me that we need to be helping here .  Even then, before posting I had to have some clarification ..  The need was to pay off a loan before the house was taken back from a family that has already faced more then one should.  ( read previous post) .. so that part is the no brainier for me, but here is where the wisdom comes into play .. we need to find out some thins before the need comes to the blog.. Like does this family have the deed for the house or will they have it when the final bill is paid.. can this be done at the registry office so there is no chance of them loosing the house .. because the need is real and they believe everything to be on the up and up, there are often times where people are taken advantage of by others .. In this case , everything is on the up and up.  next up is the question of Honor .. This is an honor based culture, and if we just hand them the money in full, it may bring a level of humiliation and disgrace to them, even though they have asked for help. So by offering a very reasonable forgivable loan , 5 year no interest , with the first 30 months waved, they are able to feel that they have a part in this, and are doing their part.  It will also give us on going contact with them over the years ahead to make sure they are OK , ad it is entirely possible that when they do start making loan payments that Larisa uses that money to help them and other families like them with other needs like medical care and food hampers .. 

Next up is to post the need .  This is the part where it is usually confirmed to me that we are to move forward.   In the case of the this family who we are trying to keep in their home .. everything continues to confirm to me that we are to move forward .. In just a few hours of posting the need we had reached $500 and another $50 this morning .. I recognise that it is not always one person paying the whole shot, but if we all do a little, so much can be done .. THAT  I  DO  KNOW

OH one more thing..  for me, when I finish the post and hit spell check, my whole page does not turn yellow .. that's a good indication.  


Friday, January 22, 2016

Urgent Need

Many of you will remember the family we have been helping that had 5 kids , the last two were twins and had scribal palsy .   Simply caring for the kids was a full time job for both parents. this made it difficult for them to both work to support the family.  They had been living in a house that was under construction.  The person building it let them live there for free as they were able to watch things at night .  A couple years ago the house was finished and they had to move.  They found a house at a great deal. Just $5000 .  They were able to get family and friends to help them gather up $3000 deposit for the house, which they are still paying back .  Since that time one of the twins has passed away, and they are now facing an emergency situation.   The person they bought the house from has waited long enough and now has told them that they need to either give him the $2000 or the house back .   Larisa and Tanya have asked if we could help find them a sponsor for this.  Here is what we are thinking .  If we find a sponsor for this, we would like to offer the family a five year interest free loan  that would make the payments 2500 som a month ($33), but then we would forgive the first 2 1/2 years to give them time to finish paying back the first loan they have.  The remaining loan payments would be used toward the food hampers or similar to other families in need on our list.   Lets see what we can do to keep them inside this winter. 

Our team has been busy making the rounds to check up on a lot of the families we help through the winter.  Emma and Jengish will be coming to Canada and the US for three weeks next week and we want to make sure everything is OK while they are away.   Emma and Jengish brought Coal to Fatima and her family today , as well as food to the girls living at the apartment.  Also got a new motor for the grain mill out at the farm .. 

Emma with Fatima and the kids 



Jengish shoveling coal 
Larisa and Tanya have been busy as well .. Delivering food, and bagging up coal to give to those in need . 



Tanya has a bad back and should not be doing this, but as long as there are people in need she can't rest  ..


Meanwhile , Sergey and his boys were out
 to the seniors home to bring them some food .

While there Vladic entertained them with some illusions 


Daily we come across and are brought to some serious needs , and winter time is not a good time to be with out Food or heat.  We are so thankful that we have the provisions there to be able to respond quickly and efficiently when a need arises .. that's because of all of you .. Thank you for making what we do possible. 

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

I♥ life on "The Farm" Kyrgyzstan

 I made up a couple of these t-shirts for Jengish and I while we are sharing about "The Farm" over the next month, and had a lot of interest in them. 



Lots of people have said we should do this as a fund raiser, but we figure any one who would like one of these has already invested in us, and their is already on The Farm.   We have decided to offer them at cost.  They can be printed and direct shipped to you for just $15 US a shirt.   If you would like one, just use the paypal button below.  be sure to use the drop down box to select size and style. 

I life on "The Farm" Kyrgyzstan t-shirts 
(sorry, no tax reciept will be given for this item) 


Shirt style
Shirt Size

Friday, January 15, 2016

Where in the world is Grammy ?

Walking through the Bazaar Grammy had one of those moments that we know well .. "Where in the world are we and what are we doing here.  It is not a concern or anything , its just suddenly realising that things are out of your norm   Like this day when she was going to buy some apples.. 


I remember for us about 10 years ago, we were lost in a new section of Bishkek , it was about 110 degrees and there was a dust storm .. it was so hot that everything we were looking at was blurry with the heat, and we ere standing on the side of the road trying to get barrings, and the Muslim call to prayer could be heard in the back ground as if it was dubbed into a movie .. a surreal moment when Julie and I both looked at each other and realised " Your not in Kansas any more Dorothy!"

Victor and Nick back in 2008 
Later  that morning Victor came for a visit .  Grammy knew him from about 8 years ago, and has followed his progress closely. and a mutual friend Cecil like several of you have been helping Victor.  Cecil has been under the weather recently , so Victor is sending a spacial greetings your way Cecil.



Out to the farm today , They were checking in on the cows.  We have moved some of the cows down to the home farm from the mountains with a little test to see who can fatten them up the most .. 




The boys have made some more modifications to out fridge , they have added a second storey and a sky light into the "Dog house"


After a course on business planing and writing a business proposal, a couple of the boys received a start up grant for their business raising sheep .  they actually started with a calf , bought low and sold high then transferred that into the sheep .. now the small herd is growing .. 



A quick stop to visit Vlady and to pick up some more honey to bring back to Canada in a couple days 


We had a visitor to the farm from Switzerland during the summer and she just sent some cloths for the kids .  I love this picture .. Merlan, he boy in the middle has been with us for a couple months now.  When he first came he was not able to smile.. no that he didn't want to, he simply did not know how.  




Between the practise, and now having something in his life worth smiling about , he is really coming along .. below are a few pictures of his progression over the last couple months. At first it was more of a blank stare , then with a bit of prompting he thought if he just made his eyes bigger, but could not get the corners of his mouth to move .. nest he got his cheek bones into it but his mouth still would not cooperate .. but today he figured it out .. Good Job !


Thursday, January 14, 2016

Life goes on


Today Gramy went with the kids out to the village to bring food hampers to some of the families we know that live there . Many we have known for many years.     They were very happy to see her , and especially honoured that my mom would come to visit them .  They all wanted their pictures taken with her .   




Next stop was to the mens home to bring some fresh fruit to the men .. They too where excited to meet Gramy and she came away feeling blessed to have been able to spend some time with them.   When people have emotion regulation difficulties, you know EXACTLY what they are feeling .. and what they are feeling is LOVE and THANKFULNESS , it can be overwhelming .. 











Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Final week for Gramy Pamy in KG , still going srong .




Gramy starting her final week in Kyrgyzstan 

Lots of excitement so far this week, I guess the first is this.  While Jengish and Emma are here,  They wanted to join us visiting some young friends of theirs in the US.  We tried to get a Visa for Jengish , asked for enough to cover about 5 days .. they gave him a 5 year multiple entrance ..  


Today was an exciting day for the kids from Swetly Put Orphanage .  We had some kids in Canada run a lemonade stand to raise some money for a special day for them.  To those we added the pie in the face money designated to them, and the kids got to have the day of all days .    They went to see Star Wars, then out to a high end Burger House.  What a treat anywhere you are in the world, but if you are in an orphanage in Central Asia..this is mind blowing for them .










While waiting in line at the movies the kids kept themselves entertained 


More animals out to the farm this week.  This time it was the smaller animals ,  Chickens (Eggbert, Shelly, Mr. Yolker, Shelton, Beaker, & Chicken Boo) , ducks, rabbits and a turkey OH my . 
these are all animals purchased from the Christmas Catalogue.  We still have another trip planed looking for a Holstein milk cow. so its not to late if you want to  in on the fun go to this Link