Ready for summer .

 After returning from a missions trip to Jamaica, Julie and I had a short turn around time to get the yard cleaned up and ready for a party we were hosting for all the volunteers of Street Level Advocacy. 

This is a group who reaches out and cares for those living on the streets in a city near us .   We really appreciate all that they do so it was special for us to be able to open h our home to them .  It was also an opertunity to cook a huge batch of ploff , accompanied by borsolk and Chinese cabbage salad.

  They brought the SLA van with them and did. Deseart, and drinks . 

The rains held off and the slight overcast made it the perfect weather .  All and all a great day . 

We are still looking for some help to bring the farm kids along with many of our neighbouring children for a bus tour and camping their way around Lake Isykool.. we would love some help with this if you are able .  

Trip of a Life time .

A couple weeks ago I shared a bunch of needs , wants and desires coming up this summer .  We are so blessed that all but one has been covered. 

Time is now approaching when we need to make planes for a trip around Lake IsyKool with the farm and about 40 kids and their parents from the village .  For many of them, this will be the trip of a life time .  We have the use of a double decker bus, we just need to cover the gas.  

To keep the prices down , they will camp and prepare there own meals .   We are looking to raise $50 US.   per child to cover these expense's . Would you consider sponsoring a child for the trip of a life time ? 



 

Be the voice!

Julie and I often say the we need to be the voice of those who have no voice, and you can't do that effectively unless you go and experience what they are experiencing .. lots of times we have been in situations where we would ask "where is God in this".. but sometimes that is the very reason you are there... To bring Light into the dark places.

This last week Julie and I were with a group from our Canada church in Jamaica.  The dates of the trip had changed and it worked out that we would arrive home from Kyrgyzstan a few days before, so we were excited to be able to go. 

The team packed barrels of food and shipped them a few weeks ago and the arrived in time for us to pack bags of food and deliver them . This is something we have lots of experience with.. Half a world away and we find many of the same situations .

Packing the bags 

Then we went up the mountain with a friend who has been working with families in the area for a long time , so it was important that we work with him to bring food to where it would have the greatest impact.

We also had opertunity to bring  cooked meals to the homeless and the street sweepers.  

This lady has a little store where she sells frozen chickens ... I asked her what we a good day.. she said that if she sells two chickens that would be a good day.  I then asked how many she had , she had 12.  So I told her that I would take 10 so that she would still have some for the next days customers.  We added them to the food hampers .. 

Julie made conection with so many along the way .

Back at the camp, we had lots of work to do .  The playground had been destroyed by the hurricane so we built them a new one .
 

As well with the sustained winds , lots of paint was stripped off the buildings so we scraped and painted there as well

 

I have to be honest, JET LEG is real .  I was so turned around and just seemed to have no energy .. fortunately we were on Jamaican time and that included lots of little breaks .  

But despite that , we made some good friendships .  Maybe even better because I was operating at a much slower pace .. it gave time to focuse on the people . 

This was the family hosting us .

Our bus driver .

All in all , I feel blessed that we had the opertunity to make this trip.  Now when I speak up for this incredible community , I can do it with the first hand knowledge I have gained .   I believe that when it comes to missions.. we are all called to go , and we are all called to speak up for those who have no voice.   

If you ever feel it might be your time and you are not sure what to do next, reach out to me and I will point you in the right direction .. we except teams and also work with great organizations like possibilities International  who facilitate trips.  Be the Voice 

Urgent medical help need.

 Blessed to say that this need has been covered ..

As you know , we hired Rada,  a single mom with 5 kids to do some painting for us .. it was meant to help her out , but we were blessed , she is a good hard worker.  While she was with us Julie and I could see that there was some health issues , but could not pin it down.  

Word has just come back that she has a thyroid cyst.   They sent pages of Drs reports ,  she needs surgery . The cost is $685 USD or $1000 Canadian .

We will try to get this done as quickly as possible .. please consider if you can help. Thank you