It started with YOU

I was going to say that the celebration started with the shopping, but really it started with YOU.  Yesterday 290 kids from the Blind Society celebrated Christmas and New Years .  

they had games and singing and dancing and a big party , then they all got presents 

  

Thank you to everyone who helped us with this special day. 

Happy to see joyful faces

As I sit here at the boarding gate in Toronto hearing for Cincinnati, I am reading an update letter from Tanya .. since am on my phone I will just copy and paste it here for you to read .  "Thank you very much and happy new year from parents of disabled children and  hello and thank you very much from fire people. Thank you that dont  forget them they are told . Children and parents are happy.thank  you so much  John.. I spent good dayes  had posible  bring tham happy. Thank you God for you kindness and  your kind friends who opened their hearts to help those in need... I could happily serve people and was happy to see the joyful faces of children and adults..."

A fine line between Laughing and Crying.

Tanya has been busy like most of us preparing for a great Christmas celebration.  It has been a difficult Christmas for her being the first one with out her mom Larisa.  I guess that is what made it extra special for the friends at the dump and other families that Larisa always remembered when Tanya showed up.  

To put this into perspective, the value of these food bags is likely more then they would make in the month working 7 days a week , a good month at that.  It is such a fine line between Laughing and Crying. 

Over the years Larisa had worked hard to help families to keep their kids out of the orphanages and out of the dump.  To do that you need to have regular contact and help people with some of the small things and some times how to make the right decisions in life.   So along with the families still working at the dump, Tanya also went to visit many of the families and kids that Larisa worked with , including some that we have known from the dump from years gone buy.  Here is our young Christmas child today with her mom and little sister in their own apartment .

After a day of deliveries,  Tanya has regrouped, then will be taking a bunch of the men from the mens home out to a restaurant for a Christmas celebration meal. ( photos to follow ) 

 Christmas morning...

 Everyone was up early doing their chores, Milking the cows, feeding the chickens, watering the green house, shoveling the driveway , and yes , cooking a big Christmas dinner for everyone who comes home for Christmas.  

Spinach ready for harvest ..  Now that they are established, the more we cut them and give them away, the thicker and stronger they will grow. .. Its kind of like Kingdom Currency .. the more we bless others , the more we are blessed ourselves 

Last Opportunity

So lets take one last opportunity to make a donation towards Christmas parties in the orphanage then I will make our final plans based on the resources

We need about $1000 more to fulfill our Christmas wish list. We have scaled things back a bit , but can still cover just about everything .

Thank you to everyone who has made it possible for us to reach out to so many at this time of year. Blessings John and Julie

Cincinnati bound

To all our friends in the Cincinnati area, we will be at 

Ambassadors Point Church 8290 Batavia Rd. Cincinnati OH 

 Dec 28 & 29. 

 Sat 28th from 9:30 - 11:30 for a men's breakfast 

Sunday 29th for 10:30 .  

We will also be in the area on the 30th . 

Emma, Jengish and Aiden will be with us, and depending on the day , three of young friends from Kyrgyzstan will be joining us . 

We would love to see you out if you are in the area.

Christmas wishes being delivered

Auxana is happy to have the registry done for her home , now they will be able to register that they live there ..  and the house is secure in her name now. 

Sergey had a busy day with the kids from one of the orphanages.  They all went out for supper and to an indoor climbing center in Bishkek.  Thank you to those who sponsored this event as well, the kids had a great time. 

Our Vlad was rushed into the hospital today with some stomach pains .  We will know tomorrow what the problem is when the tests come back .  In the mean time please pray for him .. He has been so busy with Christmas and has exams every day for a week over Christmas .. He needs to be better for this. 

Happy birthday

Today was a birthday day for two of our young men. Mirlan and Beksoltan . At lunch they had a little celebration .  

Vlady was there for the party .. He had just finished the new door on the boys house .  Actually we put on 2 doors and a couple windows.  We closed in the veranda as well to stop the wind ... should be a lot warmer now.  

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Today they also butchered the pig and hung it in the garage.   In a couple days they will cut it up to go into the freezer. 

Next up .. The orphanage that many of our farm kids called home

This morning we were blessed to be able to make a donation of $300 on the farms behalf towards Christmas for the unreached.    This will be such an encouragement as well for the community  that is working on this special event.  We also sent the funds to cover Christmas for Auxana's family, including the purchase of the documents for her home. 

We are doing great with the Christmas wish Catalog.  Many of you have been supporting, and we have begun preparations in Kyrgyzstan.  We have been able to transfer funds to get started with many of the different parties and special purchases and we hope to top them off a bit more before Christmas .  

Every few days we have highlighted a different need .. The next up is a Christmas party for  an orphanage with minor disabilities.  At this point we do not yet  have any donations in for this ...

This is the orphanage that many of our kids from the farm have come from, and it is extra special for them when they are able to take part returning to the orphanage to "give back" .. The joy and satisfaction that they get each time they return with a car load of produce, or meat , or fruit from the farm can be seen on their faces.  This was the family that raised them for the first 16 years of their lives.   Please consider helping us with this need .. There are about 100 kids over Christmas here , and we  would like a minimum of $10 a child.   Please take a moment and help us buy sponsoring a single child, or ten.. It all makes a difference.

As I am typing this,  I received this photo of a lady receiving a lump of caol for Christmas ..   Such a blessing for her .. thank you to those who have sponsored for coal ..