We made a difference to these ones !

Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work. One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up. As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean. He came closer still and called out 'Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?' The young man paused, looked up, and replied 'Throwing starfish into the ocean.' 'I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?' asked the somewhat startled wise man. To this, the young man replied, 'The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die.' Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, 'But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!' At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, 'It made a difference for that one.'

Today we had two groups of our friends distributing food that you guys donated . 

over 40 volunteers came together with special permission to navigate the closed and barricaded streets to bring needed food to over 240 homes .   

They heard so many  stories along the way of overwhelming fear and grief at this difficult time .    We will save some of these stories for another time , but for now know that although we could not help everyone, for these ones , we made a difference . 

We did it !

For those that have been following and sharing in our concerns, I just wanted to give a praise report.. As I had shared a couple months ago, we had gone into this spring in one of our most financially strapped periods since the farm opened. Because of a generous out pouring from so many of you , we did manage to balance the budget a couple weeks ago. We knew that with the humanitarian aid provided by the spring teams and the spring season of the guest house business we had made it ... THEN CAME THE GLOBAL PANDEMIC. Loosing all our teams this spring and the closing of the guest house put me back into a tail spin. We still had resources , Honey to sell , poultry and animals .. and a small emergency stash .. Just days into this crisis God made it clear to us that we were to do more.  We began packing food hampers and including meat, and honey and coal and accelerated  our deliveries .. Everything we have is by Gods grace and his mercy he has shown us .. So everything we have has to be offered back at a time like this.    More and more calls came in for support by people with no where else to turn .. less then 48 hours ago we put into action a plan that would see $3500 CDN go into major food drops to orphanages and families in need .. over 200 separate families and probably close to 1500 people .. The last of the funds will be available for transfer in 5 1/2  hours at the stroke of midnight my time .. and here is the MIRACLE... not only did we meet the need, not only did we cover all our bills this month .. not only are our workers getting paid, but there is $60 extra in the bank

While we slept - part two

With Vlads team focusing mostly on families , Olga has a team that will be focusing mainly on the seniors.  They also have started packing bags now and waiting on tomorrows delivery of Potatoes from Isar .   We have just $300 to go now before midnight when they will be able to access the next daily limit . 

  

The limits are a pain in the neck , but by doing it this way we do not have to wait days, sometimes weeks for money to be transferred through the international wire transfers ..  The donation comes in and we are able to turn it around and have it on the ground were it is needed, some times  in just minutes .   What we may lack in size we certainly make up for in efficiency 

While we slept .

We are preparing packages in two separate locations  Vlad at one and Olga at the other .. here is how Vlads day went 

        Tomorrow they will add 2200 lbs of potatoes . 

Thank you to everyone who donated to this incredible project 

"She Cried"

"She went to the dump because she heard that there was an old potatoe"

We really don't understand the severity of things, especially in developing countries.  

This past week we have had to change things up a bit .. my cheap no name rice was not in the store, all they had left was the expensive gourmet brand of Basmati rice ... this is what first world problems look like .. But lets take a minute and see what we could be facing .. Here is a report that I just got from Tanya from when  she was delivering food today ... 

"People have need especially in food now . people do not work, sit at home,.. A woman went to the dump today to find food for her three children. People told her that there was an old potato there , she went to the dump,but the potatoe was already taken away by another people , she went home with nothing, and at that time I arrived to bring food for her .she cried.  she was thankful to you.  I told that this help from John and your friends. .She told that 3 children had nothing to eat  but today she have .

 Everyone is very grateful to you. Thank you so much for the blessing .this help were in time.Thank God for you and your friends ,who help us in Kg. Thank you that you remember and dont forget us.Thank you for your kind big heart"

She is not the only one who is crying.  My heart is breaking as this is effecting families that I know . 

.. In a six hours from now, our people will go to the bank to get out money that is not there yet, to purchase supplies for 200 more families like these ones ..   At this point in time we need $1600 still to cover this food drop.  

Update .. as of 7:00 pm we have just $900 to go . 

Road blocks and food drops

And just like that access to the farm has been cut off. 

Vlad was on his way out from town after doing some banking and found that the locals had set up their own barriers , closing the roads with no way in or out of the region .  Here is the problem with taking measures into their own hands ... Emergency services,  Fire , Ambulance, police and grocery are all on Vlads side of the barricade and none on the farm side. 

Nick is now the Guy .. Fortunately the farm is stocked and the kids are all in .  Now we need to keep them all in and  occupied so they don't do anything stupid. If you know the farm at all, you know that this is a big Job, but Nick is up to it 

Sergey was able to make it out to Auxana's to bring food and supplies to them . 

As I am typing this we are working on a large humanitarian aid response to the need for food.  As prepared as we are, the reality of the situation is going to blow us over if we don't stay ahead of this thing .

The average family only has a few days of food at a time and are in no way prepared for the weeks or months ahead of them. Many do not have contact with the global news and had no idea that this was coming .  Potatoes and carrots direct from farms is how we would like to help .. They are about the most affordable , filling and nutritional food that we can purchase .. Our goal for the first drop ship is to raise about $2500 to supply about a months ration to aprox 200 families .   I know and understand that many of you who are able have already gone above and beyond in the last couple weeks, but maybe you know someone .. someone who is in a place to help or who might know someone ...

If you do, please let us know .

Blessings John and Julie

You could be the vital link .

On my way to the bank, as soon as the snow stops .   They are telling us now that the mask and gloves should be left for the medical professionals ,  so before any one freaks out at me,  I had these left in a package from my operation, and since I am in the "at risk" category with my health, I will take all precautions . 

Speaking of masks and gloves.  Here is a public service announcement .  

One of our board members and dear friend, is in the manufacturing sector here in Canada.  He has realized that he has many contacts that purchase products directly from China .. millions of dollars in trade.  And yet our governments are not seeming to get the necessary products working government to government .  Perhaps if our business sector starts opening up channels with their business counterparts in China we can get things moving .  Business to Business .. He has started to test this and already has sourced 150 000 N95 face masks .. a drop in the bucket , but a definite start in just a few hours.  For this to work, we need as many of you with contacts as possible to join in the battle .. business contacts there , or financial contacts here .. if we can bring them together we can break the dam and get much needed medical supplies flowing before its too late . 

Here is a letter from Dan that he is trying to get out .. Maybe you are a Link in this chain .

Canadian manufacturers and businesses purchase millions of $ of product from China every day, we all have our own contacts and relationships there that we deal with, we all need/have to contact our sources in China and have them buy as many N95 Face masks and even ventilators as they can and have them shipped to the individual Canadian Companies via Air Freight for local distribution to front line workers, we do this every day and have accounts and logistics in place for these companies This way we can come along side the Government and let you do what you do best, let us do what we do best China is coming out of this epidemic and starting to have a surplus of these items, no offense but we can not wait for Government to work with this, If we can mobilize the Purchasing power we have today, Monday, by individual Canadian companies its our firm belief we can have a very good portion of the shortages solved by the end of this week.....tell me why not We need to act now and quickly....we have run out of time...ask Mr Trudeau if he could ask Canadian Companies to do this at Mondays briefing.... Also, we want to support Canadian Manufacturers of these products, can you publish the Canadian Manufacturers of the Respirator and other medical equipment so Canadian Manufacturers can contact them directly to see where we can help them, we need to move faster than the Covid 19 curve, and no offense, not the speed of Government Let Canadian Companies Purchasing power work for us all, we are not asking you to step aside, we are asking to come along side you in this fight As you know we are out of time and with many companies shutting down the opportunity for this to be effective is very narrow We are also asking as many companies as possible to formally request that this is made possible as we are going to step up anyway... Many thanks

 Dan Bailey VP & General Manager

Merit Precision Ltd Peterborough, Ontario

 Tel 705 742 4200 Cell 705 760 1583

Over in Kyrgyzstan , our friends are working hard getting aid out to families in need.    As you know at the onset of the crisis we started packing food hampers to give out as needed .. 

For many in the remote area's they are not as connected to media and world issues .   I have heard many say that this would not have been much of a problem if it were not for media and fb.. well in this case media and fb have kept us a few steps ahead.. those with out  find them selves thrust into difficulty with out notice .. not prepared .. suddenly the stores are closed and their travel is restricted .  When you live and shop on a day to day basis, it can be disastrous.  

Today's food and coal deliveries will go a long way to bring peace to people and show them that they are not alone.  

Thank you again to all of you who have given a special donation at this time so that we are able to get needed supplies to families , Dr's and orphanages at this time .  

On the move

It may seem like we are in a valley ... In reality we are simply moving to a higher  mountain top. 

sheep seen from the kashar , moving through the valley to the mountain on the other side 

"I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth."

Everything to make PLOV

One of the most well known meals in central Asia is Plov.  

It is there version of a comfort food and celebration food rolled into one .. celebrations like weddings and birthdays or when anything good happens .,... PLOV .  At funerals and times of loss ..PLOV . 

 Things are starting to get tense in Kyrgyzstan now .  People are concerned,  as they should be .  There are new restrictions that are coming out tomorrow, and there is fear that the banks may shut down.  already the local currency has fallen in value by almost  25%.   

We have bags of groceries packed and will start to hand them out in a few days .  Today they started getting the meat ready to go into some of those bags .  everything to bring comfort .. everything to make PLOV. 

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

This is my promise for today .  We now need to watch and see how God is able to move at this time to meet the needs . 

Praying now for the provision to be able to do our part to meet the needs as God directs . 

Pull back

A friend of mine has this picture as his new fb profile 

I think it sums thing up pretty clear. If we just pull back it will not just protect our selves but everyone else as well.  This is the message that we are trying to get across to the farm family now.   We need to all show a little wisdom

Today the Dr from the hospital came to the farm to check everyone and tell them just that .. STAY ON THE FARM...

On a happy note we are getting a lot done .. it is still a bit early to plant the hole garden but there are some things we can do.  The gardens have been plowed the first plowing .. they will get one more plow with the row plows as we plant. 

The cabbages don't mind the cold so we have planted 400 of them out in the garden with the spinach .

Inside the green house they are repairing the seedlings for planting in a few weeks .  The zucinni is almost big enough to start eating .. a couple days will be good . 

The cucumbers have started to poke their heads up 

The tomatoes are just about ready as well 

but still lots more planting can begin inside .

Here is a promise for today..  

   If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.  

So now please take that wisdom and stay inside and keep the rest of us safe ..