Seniors home , Mens home and garden planted at Dayspring.

The blogs are not working right now so this post is emailed to the blog, and you will have to figure out the photo's for your self   .. sorry about that.... 

The seniors were thrilled to see us .  Lots of new faces .. my heart was breaking as we met one new lady there , she has just had one foot and a bunch of toes removed from frost bite.. simply no need for this .... so hard to deal with.. but Kim and Julie were able to lift her spirits.  

Over at the mens home, they too were happy to see us.  The intently asked how every one was and how our winter was.  I shared about one young man they know and some of the medical isues he has been having, and they got his picture off the wall and began to pray for him.. What a thing to have these men praying for us.. One of the men says that He spends his life on his knees.. it must be for a good reason, so he prays for people. 

Over at Dayspring, we got a good start on the garden.  We have to wait a few weeks to plant the tomatoes, still a little early.  We did get a big patch of everberry strawberries planted.. The kids are going to love that.  But I think the best part was just spending time with them as everyone pitched in to plant the garden . 

The cribs were ready as well for the hospital.  We will have to pick them up tomorrow .

Kim and Randy brought thre seniors meat.. something that they don't get much of.

The living room is getting a make over .. every one is doing their part

Bubba Anya still loves her scarf.. but still thinks it would be better if it was another colour .

victom of winter 

Julie thaught this Babushka would be a good one for Emma to paint

Kim brought a smile to her face 

meat for the mens home as well

Happy to see us 

visiting with the men 

thinking about you M__

Getting a little overwhelmed as he shared how his life has changed.

Cave man  and his new best friend Joe.

every one lends a hand ...or two 

Beds ordered

This morning we started with a quick organizational meeting with Lynn & Ruby and Kim & Randy.  We have a busy week ahead of us..should be some good blogging.  At 10 am Blair and Sergey picked us up and we headed over to the Maternity Hospital to check out the bed situation.  We have a bit of a problem.. I guess it is a good problem, but as we are renovating and providing beds and food , word is getting out and this has become the hospital of choice.  We thought we needed about 15 beds there , but now need 30 and another 7 cribs .  Here is the old style crib... how would you like to put your newborn on that and go to sleep.  

They laughed and said that they belong in a museum 

here the Dr is showing off the new cribs that we got her last time .. if you look, you can also see the old beds that  they are getting rid of . 

Here she is showing us some of the new beds that we bought them last fall. 

We went to the furniture store here in Tokmok, and they agreed to make the furniture for us at the same price as the store in Bishkek.  That will save us a lot in delivery, so when we are all done, we may have enough to order a couple more beds.

up and down the river

Loading up the bus with clothes and Vitamins for the orphanage in KaraKol 

It was great to be back at it with the team... Jayne we missed you, 

Blair has been following along on the Blog for years, so it has been great for him to  come along and meet everyone in person.  He will be here for three months .

We brought the director a years supply of Vitamins for the 38 kids he has in his orphnage 

Vitamins from you, and Cloths from a group in Norway, all helped to make it a special day for the kids ... They knew what the vitamins were , and were so excited that they would be able to start taking them .

It's been great to have Joe along with us this trip.  He is such a great help, and the kids all love him 

Before we left, the kids put on a presentation for us 

Then we played some games with them ... here I am with the ones that I caught cheating..hahaha

Ruby led everyone in a fun song with actions..

The team from Bishkek including our friend Kola  came and had a concert for the kids as well

We then visited the new rehab centre that Jengish just opened , we could not believe all the potential.. here we are in the cow barn 

This was taken from the orchard behind the centre.

 Despite all the gifts, and the fun that we had, I think what will be the greatest impact LAMb will have here , began to take place on the 6 hour ride home.  The director drove back with us and had a chance to open up his heart and share the concerns he has for the kids and the staff, most who have worked there for 10 years now.  There are so many levels of training and counselling that he is looking for.  Working with traumatized kids is not easy, and when you don't have the necessary tools to properly help them, it can be heart breaking at times.  LAMb has the tools that he is looking for, and has the desire to help him implement them.

One again I am so thankful that we can be part of an organization that does not just drop and run, but is able to offer long term solutions ... up and down the river .. we will continue to reach out to the hurting , helpless and the lost.. Today was a great example of that.  

home cooking

NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT 

we needed a night in !

Emma with her girls

Feeling Blessed

    Last night I received an email from a potential sponsor. They had some questions with regards to our beliefs and our affiliations .  I can totally understand  why , so I didn't mind answering then.  Certainly not the first time we have been asked.  Over the course of the evening it did provoke a lot of conversation around the apartment here , and I am sure more then a few homes there.hahaha.

   Questions that I would have been able to answer with one or two words.. questions that would have appeared so strait forward only a few years ago , suddenly seem so complicated against the back ground of Central Asia.  Answering these questions amplified to me how we wind our way through an old world here.. full of traditions and beliefs that are as varied as the people that hold them.  I have come to realize that when drawing the line in the sand,  I must be so careful in determining where and when  that line should be drawn..
 
   We were up late answering the email, then had an early start for the day, so the email was on my mind today.  Our first stop of the day was to an Easter celebration .  As we arrived, It was a little while getting in as we were slowed by so many kids coming for hugs.  these kids go to the finest school in the country, and as I looked around , I realised just how many of them are only able to go because of the incredible sponsors that we have that are paying their tuition.   The production was incredible ,  but at the end, there was a closing song preformed by the kids .  It was in Russian, but it was a song that I knew well.  With out understanding the exact words but knowing the message what they were singing , I was overwhelmed.. I saw the love and the joy on the faces of the kids , and I could some how just feel the message they were singing .  As I listened,  my mind bounced back and forth between those on the street we had passed on our way to the hall that had no hope and those that stood before us now.  Children who have come from such hopeless situations , now stood before us and sang of HOPE. Children who a short time ago may have never experienced what love can do,  now hold such a special place in our hearts.  

I thought to myself , this is what its about .. allowing ourselves to be open to LOVE ,  I thought that I was going to be able to hold it together , but as soon as the concert was over Sergey made his way over to me and gave me a big hug... I wanted to share with him the joy in my heart seeing all these kids today , but knew that speaking at that point would not have been possible .

All the different projects and people we work with are never far from my mind, but today I once again was able to see them as  individuals , I was reminded that after all is about the One... funny.... that was the message of today's concert.



 
       

Landed safe and sound .. all bags accounted for .

lots of bags or Vitamins made the journey with us .
We were able to bring  300 lbs of Vitamins this trip 

 We got in early, and we were the first ones in the visa line, then slipped through customs with no difficulties .  We stopped in Bishkek and picked up Emma and Bekah and there things.  Jengish came to meet us, and Christy made us breakfast for our trip home. 


  By noon, we were unpacked mostly, and we did a big grocery shop.   Then we met with Sergey and Blair, then off to Dayspring 

eight little girls taught me how to play soccer.

Papa gives a heart a hug.

We landed with a blank schedule , but already are booked until Monday.  Stay tuned we will be posting every day

what has the rest of the team been up to ?

Julie and I have not been the only ones getting ready to return to KG... the rest of our LAMb team is getting ready to travel as well.. They too will head out tomorrow, but they will be in a day before us because they are travelling from Kiev.  They have been in Kiev where they have been hosting an adoption conference .
I really have no idea where they get their energy from.  I keep telling Julie that when I feel old , I just look at the work that they are doing.. not sure weather it inspires me or puts me to shame. hahah But I do know that I want to be like them when I grow up .
Check out there last week at
www.lambinternational.blogspot.com 

Just love them !

Lots to do.   getting things in order here before we leave in a couple days.    If I am not careful, the home front can start looking worse then some of the projects in Kyrgyzstan.  Fix the front steps, paint the back porch, fill in the massive pot holes and grade the driveway.  change the water filters, and the list goes on.   Then there  is all the packing , we will be bringing 5 hockey bags of vitamins with us this trip along woth another bag of medical supplies, and still we have more that need to go.  

Emma and Bekah took lots of vitamins with them when they went last week as well.  Here is Bekah bringing them to one of the orphanages in Bishkek .  

As they have been staying in Bishkek in bishkek until we get there, they have had the opertunity to see some pretty funny things.  It is not every day you see a man and his camel having a rest on an old abandoned lounge chair along the side of the road.  

It has not been all fun for the girls.  They have been doing a lot of running around for us this last week.  There are lots of little things that could not wait for us to get there, like Maksat and Ibek.  They were out of food and needed some extra help on the home front.  It was perfect timing .. At the same time as they were coming to the end of what they could cope with, we had a sponsor step forward to sponsor them both .  This gave Emma the funds needed right away to take them shopping and get them what they needed for home and school . She was also able to assure them that we would be there in a week and be able to help them sort through there options .  Below is a picture of them taken in January when we brought them skating with a bunch of other boys that  are in the same position as them... learning about life outside the orphanage. It is such a difficult thing for them, and hard for us to watch.. we NEED a better system to help these poor kids ... 

Speaking of a better system,   I just received an update about the homeless that we have been helping .

We had sponsored a bunch of the older homeless to go out and live at the seniors home .  We had enough money to cover them until April when we knew that we would be returning, and winter would be over, not that spring makes life on the streets much better.   

It was such a blessing to us to be able to see them in a home , cared for and looked after.  I have seen many of them around the town over the past few years .  One man in  particular hung out around the dumpsters near Acels old apartment.  The kids there had tried to help him.  He has about size 15 shoes, and you simply can't get shoes like that in KG.  They would try to give him food or socks, but her would growl and lung at them to scare them off... he had a big beard and really looked the homeless part.. They would refer to him as BIG FOOT.    This winter as part of the work of our friend , they got to know and build the trust of BIG FOOT, who later became Uncle Sasha... 

  

 When we met Uncle Sasha, at the seniors home, it was so hard to believe that this was the same man.. I had to look at his feet to be sure .  As Love was poured into Sasha's life, the hurt and anger was striped away, and  a kind gentle man was reveled.

Well the first of April is tomorrow.  |The winter feeding program is over and the sponsorship money has been used up.  They spoke to the 6 seniors that we had living at the seniors home.  Not certain yet where the money would come from, they asked if they would like to stay on at the seniors home .. 4 readily agreed , but two of the men .. including Uncle Sasha have decided that they should return to the streets.  I am not sure why.. They were very happy at the seniors home, but I have my suspensions...    Many people who have never experienced love before, have a hard time receiving it.   With the uncertainty of where the money would come from to look after them, it is my guess that they do not want to be a burden to the seniors home.

One of our  first stops will be to go with our friends to find Uncle Sasha, and let him know that he like his other friends at the home , is loved, and Love is never a burden... Love is freely given and freely received.

LOVE.. Freely given and freely received.. that is a message that we seem to carry with us every time we go.. but it sure is a conundrum... How is it that our hearts can experience such pain as a result of LOVE.. how is it that if LOVE is free, yet we must sacrifice so much and put everything on the line sometimes , just to show our LOVE...
  I was always taught  ......

"If I can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. .  If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails."

Once when we first got to Kyrgyzstan ,  we asked one of our workers / friends,  How can we best  help the Kyrgyz people .. her responce was profound ... Just love us !  

In two days we will be returning to Kyrgyzstan,   At this point, we don't have a lot of finances to do grand projects, other then the new  hospital beds for the maternity hospital, but we can fulfill the mandate our friend gave us . Just love them!

The girls are back to work

Emma and Bekah have been on the ground in KG for 2 days now.   They sure did not take time to give the jet leg a chance , they have been hard at it.  The day they arrived they went out to Tokmok to see their friends.  They took a Bishkek city bus to the bus station, then went looking for the Tokmok Bus .  across the parking lot, the bus driver saw them coming and ran to them and gave them big hugs.. it was Isar.  he was so glad to see them , and they were pleased to receive such a warm welcome . 

thank you to every one who packed a Samaritan's Purse Box this year 

The second day began with meeting some good friends that are in town for a couple weeks .  then it was on to the orphanage for a day of fun and gifts .  

Our young friend here has just had another birthday.. one year closer to being out of the orphanage and on his own...  Bekah shared her concern with me this morning ..  

Some more of our wonderful friends at the Orphanage .  Can't wait to see them in a couple weeks . 

 I got an update from Tanya as well.. One of the things she shared was about the three young girls that we support with your help.  Tanya and her Mom check up on them regularly, and bring food our what ever else is needed .  This day the brought them some groceries,   Below you can see Tanya with a couple of them .

they needed some wood split, and some other yard work done, so Larisa hired |Sasha from the mens home to come with them for the day to help out .  

I am looking forward to to having a little more time this spring to be able to get to know the girls a little better, but then, there are lots of things I am looking forward to.

We have just over a week , then we will be on route ourselves.  This time we are bringing our nephew ( for lack of a better term) with us for 2 and a half months. It will be great to have him along.  He was a great help at Christmas, and fell in love with the people at that time .  We are soo excited to have him along now.

 Tomorrow we have another friend departing Ukraine and heading to Tokmok for 3 months to help as well.  He is from Canada , and has been working Ukraine  since before Christmas,

Lynn and Ruby, along with David will be arriving the day before us.    It sure felt like a long winter or at least a long 2 months.. It will be great to be back it it.  Still not sure how this is all going to work with Julie no longer working .. we believe that this is where we are called and what we are to do, so I guess we just believe for Gods provision.