Leaving for Kyrgyzstan in the morning

What a wonderful long weekend we had in Florida .  We were blessed beyond measure having the opportunity to share at NLC and reconnect with some friends there .   We were able to join them for three services.  

We were especially blessed to spend time with and stay with Logan and his family .  He is always such an inspiration .    

A little beach time is always nice as well . 

Then at 3:30 am we headed for the airport to come back to Canada .. Flights were great and un eventful .  

We are now repacking our bags for the next adventure .  Tomorrow

 ( Saturday ) we will be heading for the airport again.  We are heading for Kyrgyzstan Via Iceland and Amsterdam .  As if the trip was not long enough,   New Visa regulations in Kyrgyzstan require us to be out of the country 120 days between visits and since the specifics of the law are still up in the air, we will have to extend out stay in Amsterdam a couple days. So this is going to be an adventure.

I got a message from Aiperi . She helps with seniors and those in an Afganistan refugee camp .  One of her groups is difficult to get to, but one of the ladies she helps has a grandson that could come out to get the supplies from her for them if we could find him a bike.  Aiperi has found a good used one for $60 and has asked if I knew anyone that would like to help with that. 

 

On the coal front, we have just ordered another 62 tons of coal for the boys to bag up for deliveries over the next few weeks .  we would like to have $5000 in for this need before the winter hits . 

He is back .

We are happy to have one of our boys return to the farm.  Often they will feel the urge to try to make a go of it on their own.  We prefer that they include us in part of their plans so that we can set them up for success , and make sure that they are safe and not taken advantage of, but that is not always the case .  Upon return they usualy have spent any money that they had saved, and are back to square one , needing to start over , toiletries, clothes , and often new documents.   We are just happy to see them again ..  Probably the cold nights and seeing the snow on the mountains is enough to bring them home 😉

There is plenty of work on the farm right now.  With those cold nights and the snow capped mountains, it signals the start of coal season.  The coal is delivered to the farm where the boys break it up and bag it so that when delivering to families in need , who are often disabled , it is easier for them to manage then a pile on their door step. 

Today we had a couple trucks of coal delivered to us by our friends at Luke Services International  This is such a blessing.  Also today we transferred the coal money that we have , and will be able to provide coal for three rehabilitation centres / shelters, as well as coal for use on the farm .   Now it will be a case of purchasing coal and delivering in single dump truck loads as the funds come in .   

 I had shared about Nicks desire to pay off his student loans so that he can continue his education .  he is trying to raise $2700.  We have had sponsors for $450 of that and Nick has raised $250 himself , so that leaves him with $2000 to go if there is anyone that would like to help with this.   We have so many other needs right now, so I will not keep bringing this one up, I will leave this one here and just trust that this bulls on someone's heart...Thank you for considering ,   

Summer draws to an end

As summer draws to an end, Sergey treated the boys to a trip to Issyk-Kul and then camping up in the mountains .

The first hint that they were a long way up into the mountains was that there was green grass .. it was not all burned off from the summer heat ..  But the biggest tell was when a heard of Yacks passed by. 

I had a friend come buy my Canada home today and we got talking about the apple trees, so I took him out for  walk in the orchard to show him how they were doing.  I was shocked when I saw how much they had grown in the last week alone.  Kent figures that the one we picked will do him for lunch.  As we were talking about the apples, I got a text from Alina on the farm , and suddenly my apples in Canada did not seem so impressive.  It has been such a dry summer, and we were not able to irrigate this summer so I did not have high expectations , but I was wrong!

We had a tourist organization bring a group out to the guest house for the weekend, and while the boys were away, they took over and spent the day harvesting apples for us. 

We had three more tons of coal donated since my last post .. This will leave us with about 95 tons that we will need ..   If you can help that would be awesome.  I made the conscience decision today that this is just too big and out of my hands .  I can't stress about this anymore , and have decided to put it back in Gods hands. 
(Where it should have been in the first place.) 

I do have another need .  This one if from our boy Nick . 

Nick would like to continue his schooling but has run into a snag.  His transcripts needed to apply at a new school  are still at his last school. and will not be released until he finishes paying off his student loan.   He still owes $2700, and has asked if we would be able to help  him with this and either hold the loan for him or find a sponsor to help him pay it off .  He would like to set up a repayment schedule so that he can get this debt behind him. Of course like anything else there is a back storey that we will not get into, but  He would like to move ahead now and needs our help.  Many of you who have carried student loans know how oppressing that can be.  

Coal is becoming urgent as prices skyrocket.

The last few weeks I have been starting to share about the need for coal .  I shared that coal was about $80 CDN a ton but was concerned that it will go up by winter ..  Well that fear was realized today , about 6 weeks early, coal has already hit $110 CDN a ton and will likely go up even more.  

 

Coal is the primary heat source in Kyrgyzstan .. If you live in town that has a central heating system , it is a little better, but since that source is coal heated , the price of heating will simply be passed along.   But what ever you do you can't get away from coal . 

To give you an idea though .. did you know that in the US today the average person consumes 3.4 tons of coal a year , not per family, but per person, and more if you drive an electric car.   We are trying to support with 1 ton of coal ... PER FAMILY.   The cost to do that will now be $110 CDN .   not sure what it will be by winter.    the average family uses about 2 tons but if wee can get them started and take the edge off , and if we have the resources mid winter we can go back and possibly help those in the worst shape .   

The other way to combat the rising costs and the pollution is by making the houses more energy efficient, things like fixing or replacing the broken and missing windows, adding insulation in the ceilings and maybe even putting proper doors that fit tight .   This will not eliminate the need for coal but it will reduce it .. We can do this as well, but our problem is that we could heat five families homes for a year for the same money .  But I have had people interested and ask about this , so if there is anyone that would like to help winterise a home , it would be about $600 CDN for a ton of coal and the resources to do the work .   

Tuition help needed

( This need has been met )  I have another tuition need for you here today .  This is Rema , she and her family are such blessings for us on the farm .  They do so much to help the farm run smooth, and in doing so teach the boys such great life skills .  Rema also oversees the cleaning and preparation of the guest house and Kashar.  Rema also teaches language and math to the boys on the farm.  Rema herself is in school as well.  She is working to get her degree in psychology.  She starts back to school today , and she needs our help.  Her tuition is $550 USD . this is a huge amount , especially for a family with kids .  We would love to be able to help her with this .    

As you know we are preparing to give out coal in the next few weeks.  

 This is the coal barn.  It should be full by now so that we can purchase the coal at the cheaper prices and so that we can get it bagged up and ready so that the boys are free to help us with the deliveries .   I was going to do a thermometer on the side of the blog to show how well we are doing , but hopefully I can just show you some photos of the barn as it fells up .. We did have a sponsor send in money for 2 families last week .. The cost of heating for a family will $80 on average , or one ton of coal.   This is just one more area that you can help make a real difference in the lives of those in need. 

Where does my help come from ?

The last few nights here in Canada have been getting cold, and I see frost warnings in effect now .  Since we will be returning home from KG mid December , I have to get ready for the winter now .  We have our wood in and stacked, just need to cut up some kindling wood .   After the weekend I will take down and put away the kids pool and get the deck ready for snow.
( Last year we did not get it done before we left and came home to a foot of snow and our patio was berried .) 

We have an electric fire place that had stopped working a couple years ago, so I watched all summer for a replacement insert on fb market place.  and with just a little bit of muttering under my breath 😠, I managed to make it fit.   We see the signs of winter coming , and we want to be ready . 

In Kyrgyzstan they can see the signs of winter coming as well .. Every morning people look to the mountains to see the level of the fresh snow .. each day the line moves a little lower, 

 Its like watching the sand in an hour glass, and when it reaches them it will instantly throw them into a cold freeze for a few months , and many simply will not survive .  I think of the question asked in Psalms " I look to the mountains, where does my help come from ? "  I am sure many of the less fortunate ask the same question every day .. where will my help come from ?   We know the answer to that .. The same verse tells us that "Help will come from the Lord" .   That is the message that we are able to share with the hundreds of families that we help through the winter.. The help is not from us, but through us , and through so many of you who help .  HELP is FROM the Lord.  God just uses You and Me to deliver the help.   Maybe that is why it is so impactful .. 

Here is a short video we put together a couple years ago about the coal deliveries .. while you are watching it , please consider how you might be able to help.  The cost of coal averages now about $80 a family.