Thank you to our friends in Saint Cloud Minnesota

we had a fun day today with the kids from Bacute orphanage.  It was a special day as it included a dinner out with there new friends from Minisota Via modern technology.  There are a group of kids in Saint Cloud Minnesota that wanted to do something special for the kids here , so they made them each a placement, then emailed them to us with a picture of themselves.  On one side was the drawing, and on the other is their photo and name. Then they were all laminated to use as placemats. 

The kids loved them here , and they especial loved to have the pictures and the names to go along with them . 

We brought them out for a meal at a Chinese restaurant.  It was a first for them , and they loved trying the chop sticks.  Julie and Bekah went ahead to get things ready and to get the playmates set out at the table . When the waitress heard that they were all going to be orphans for supper not adults like she was expecting , she was horrified... horrified that there were orphans ,, she could not believe that people would just leave there kids . She shared how when she was in the hospital , a lady in the bed next o her that appeared to have it all just got up and left and left her baby behind... Well by the time I got there with the kids, Julie and Bekah were already dealing with her full blown tears.  

 

Bekah explained to the kids about the placements and where they came from, and how the kids wanted to treat them to this great night. 

They all remembered having Tony and Kori with them at Christmas, so it was extra special to know that this was their friends and family , It's nice for them to know that you are not forgotten .

 When the evening was over, the owner came out and gave the kids a special treat.. he turned the lights down, turned on the strobe lights and the music, and a dance party broke out .  They also gave the kids chop sticks to take home ... 

ROAD 2 HOPE

Its that time of year again.  Students and families in need facing the prospects of a long cold winter.  Starvation leads to a weakened immune  system , and a difficult time fighting the cold .    Bekah has a long list of those that she helps , a $20 bag of food can take the edge off for a month and some times as much as two months.  As needs are identified , Bekah is notified and she brings a bag of groceries and does an assessment.  Many times she will identify minor health concerns that can be treated with simple over the counter creams or medications, and for the more difficult cases she brings them to Dr Tatyana.  Because she is younger and not a threat, Bekah is able to help where others can not.  It all starts for her with the food hamper.  

Bekah and Kamalla delivering groceries 

these kids are so happy to know that they will eat tonight 

Over the next few months the financial burden to maintain this needed program is mare then we are able to handle on our own. Fortunately for Bekah , she is not on her own , she has us , she has you, and she has an awesome support network at Possibilities International.   

One of the ways that PI is helping to raise needed funds is to have teams running in the ROAD2HOPE .  Each team runs for one of PI's causes..

Sam is the executive director of PI, and he has always been a great support for Bekah , and now he is going to Run for her .  If you would like more information about the run , either to enter a team or to suport Sam as he runs to suport Bekah , you can find it here 

getting hugs from Sam and Ron

lots of work today

Early this morning Emma joined me at the clinic to help Vlady. We have been short on workers , I guess thats a good thing, not a problem we are used to having , but all our people are either in school, working or sick, so Emma and I got our hands dirty for the day today.    We have an open invitation out there now for people looking for work, and Every morning we will have to go help Vlady until helpers arrive.  We are now quite high , so its good to have someone mix motor and  hand up bricks and cement, that was my job today.   

V;ady setting the bricks and Emma filling in the space between them 

Vlady cutting  out the container to make the opening for the window. 

As I spent the day at the hospital, it was so clear how necessary this clinic is.  All day long there were between 15 and 20 people waiting to be seen.  Standing in the halls and out side on the benches, they all waited their turn.  In just a few weeks it will be raining during the days , and soon the snow. The rush is now on to get this clinic open before the snow flies.   So many people , mothers , grandmothers and fathers came over to express their thanks for the work that has been done here,  Even the administrator of the hospital commented on the fact that I was out mixing cement today. 

Tomorrow is seniors day here. This is a Very big event.  We have a few seniors around town that we have been helping , as well as close to 40 out in Kimin at the seniors home we would like to bring a little gift to.  We had a donation come in today for $25. I know who it came from and I know it was the widows mite.  I am excited to see how God will use that to bless the elderly, Maybe that is the seed needed to encourage others to join in.  

Emma and Buba Maria 

we will go back and see Bubba Anya again and bring her a special git. 

While we were working, Bekah and Kamalla kept the home fires burning, coking supper, and doing laundry, then at 4:00 Kamalla was off to teach at home work club .

Bekah is making ...ummmm well something .. But I know it will be good. 

mens home, hospital, people in need , and some new friends at supper .

Today was a busy day .  Our first stop was to the mens home to help Larissa to get ready to receive a team from Samaritans Feet .  They are hosted by LAMb, and are here to bring shoes and slippers to many of the people that we work with , A few of the orphanages , the seniors home and the mens home.  

Each man had a one on one time with a member of the team , The team member shared with them, being sure to call them by name .  Washing their feet, then putting on the new slipper socks. 

Bekah was translating for a bit, then went to help keep the man calm with crafts who were waiting their turns

while there we got a few calls , One lady that we had a team from Millbrook help a few years ago called , She is back in the hospital and was asking if we can help her with her children , and the other call was to tell us that our young friend we had helping Vlady fell off a roof somewhere last night , and had broken his hand .  He called Vlady to say he would not be in today, but Vlady told him he had to come, then made him go to the emergency to get it casted,  Vlay said he knew he would not go get it fixed if he did not make him come in .   So now our  young friend is in a jam , he needs work to help pay his rent, but can not work for about three weeks.  We asked him if he wanted to be in school, he said that he would like to but does not have the opportunity , it is just he and his sick mom and he has to work to support her.   very hart breaking, but I am reminded that life is hard !   So we had to leave Mens home to go track down a few needs . 

Emma was on her way to the hospital to look for a lady that was homeless and was hit while standing on the side walk beside Jengish a couple days ago.  On her way she found an old Babushka wandering around with a dead rooster in her hands .  Emma was trying to walk  her home and got to hear her life storey, and how her son beet her so she wanted to go to a seniors home to be safe, but they would take everything she has if she did , so she does not know what to do.  So we will have a littl higher presence there until we can help her figure out what to do .  If she goes to the home we help, she will not loose the house , so we will discuss this option with her . 

The clinic is coming along well despite loosing one worker today.  The sill plates under the windows and doors are now done, soon we will be ready to pop out the mettle and put in the windows and doors

it was just starting to get dark and we could see the glow of the incubator coming from the hospital .. remembering to pray for the little one in that room. 

 

We then headed out for supper to a new restaurant that just came to town.  We picked up Kamalla from teaching homework club, and went for supper.  

This was very authentic,  and really really good food.  The first dish looked very grose, but turned out to be great .. It was a buckwheat noodle in a cold marinade of soya sauce , vinigar oil and a bunch of other spices.  

For dessert we had candy apples , they are served crackling hot, and gooey, but then you dip them in the water and the candy goes hard and crunchy ... sooo good , in fact everything we ordered was very good . 

The whole time we were eating we watched a couple tables over as a strange meal being served, so finaly when we finished we went over to check it out . 

Of course we could not just ask but had to sit and join the party and try it out .  The big pot of soup boiled in the centre of the table , it had a devider that separated the regular

 from the extra hot ( gorky )  different food items would be brought out one type at a time and tossed into the hot liquid.  Man was it hot.  It was kind of funny after a sampling they went o pour me a drink, we said no thank you , I don't drink, and with in seconds the empty... and the full bottles were goe from the table .. grown men, but it was like they were kids and their parents just came home early ..we did have a good time ,   It turns out one of them went to school with Kamalla, and was the guy that runds the little tire shop where I get my tires fixed.    Bekah managed to catch a bit of this on video.. I am sure this place will be a hit with teams when they come.

 

fun in the city.. Happy Birthday my young friend

We started today with  couple meetings, one being a planing meeting with Larissa, we start the new roof on the iskra hospital tomorrow . Then it was off to Emma and Jengishes for lunch.  This evening we went out to one of the orphanages and picked up 4 boys and took them to Bishkek to celebrate a birthday .  We went bowling , then out for supper.. we went to a sushi place and had Sushi, pizza and french fries ..   More food then you could imagine, but they ate it all.  When we got down to the end we played rock paper scissors to see who had to eat the last one .. They all had such a good time ,, it is so hard to be cool with a mouth full of wasabi

Bekah showing fine form

waiting with anticipation 

learning how to work chop sticks 

Roma just won a round of Rock paper scissors 

a little too much wasabi for Amir 

one final roll for Amir 

that one was hot 

Many of you will remember a cart driver friend I had at the bazar here that died about 5 years ago.  He had a young son that would always watch for me and help me out.. I got a call from him today asking if he could come see me .. it has beem about 5 years since I have seen him. He was very shy to speak, but finally we got out of him that he was looking for work .    Fortunately we have work for him at the medical clinic, and that will give us an opportunity to re build the relationship we had and see if there is more we can do .. so many questions,but they will be answered as the relationship is built..  He has no place to stay right now so we will start with him staying with us until we help him sort things out .
We try to help those we can, and it has been a long time since he has been in our lives, but I just know that he is here for a reason, and feel a special connection to him having been a friend of his fathers.  If you think about it, say an extra little prayer for my young friend  Elmir. 

Preparing for winter

Today Julie and Acel are joining many others at a conference organized by those at LAMb International.  and their efforts with World  Without Orphans  ( WWO)                                                 WWO presents a conference to share the needs of the orphans in Central Asia. This conference is to focus on vulnerable children and their need for solid and meaningful relationships with adults who understand that each child has a purpose: Jeremiah 29:11. Pray for a good result and a movement of adoption within the countries of Central Asia!

Back in Tokmok the work continues .  We stopped over to the hospital project to meet up with Vlady, then went over to the garage where we cleaned it up and built some shelving.  One section for storage, then a long counter top for a place to assemble care package,, sort Vitamins and clothing etc. Next we cleaned out the cold cellar and fixed the stairs . 

Emma and Jengish  at the old waiting area for the baby hospital 

Vlady is busy bricking up the front of the new waiting room .  the inside will be dry walled , and three windows and a door will be added .  

Garage is all cleaned out, shelves in and ready for supplies 

We have had some money come in to buy food now while it is cheaper,  So tomorrow we will start stocking the shelves.  Being able to buy in bulk, we will be able to get so much more bang for the buck.  This will be great for the girls through the winter, as the orphanages and families and students  in need are hungry, the girls will be able to respond right away .  If any of you are interested in helping with this,  You can donate now, and I will check the Paypal and Canada Helps before we go.  

A big day for Buba Maria

We live next door to a sweet old Babushka, in fact we even use one of her rooms that we are connected to through the common balcony.  Despite being 89 years old and having no family left, she does remarkably well at caring for herself.  Some of the tasks like shopping and paying bills have started to become a challenge for her, so the girls have been helping with that . , Her biggest difficulty is that she can not see much more then shapes and figures .  Bekah shared her situation with everyone over at Possibilities International and was able to get sponsors to go for an eye exam in the city to see if there was anything that could be done. 

This morning was the big day.  Emma brought her to the eye Dr and they ran a bunch of different tests to determine what the problem is.  It was found that she currently has 7% vision.  and that no glasses will be able to make her vision any better.  But there is an operation that she can have , a cataract operation could be done , Her health is good, there are some meds they would like to have her take  for a couple months so that she would have optimum success, then the operation could be done as an out patient, and she could be home the same day.   The cost for the meds and the operation for both eyes would be around $1000.  

Maria did not see this as good news, but saw this as the impossible. Emma tried to explain to her that this is good news and that she could see again, but for an 89 year old pensioner this was the same as telling her that she will never see again and the little sight she has will be gone soon.  We talk about hope and the power that hope brings .. I always see hope as such a positive factor, but I am reminded again the destructive force of "NO HOPE" .. 

This sweet old Babushka to our girls here has a chance at being able to see again .  Emma has convinced her to start on the meds, she will have Dr Tatyana help with this, and told her that we will "lift up our eyes to the mountains to where our help comes from" and believe with her that something will happen that she will see again 




How old is too old .. at 89 years old  she may have lost hope, but " yet we are confident that Buba Maria will see the Lords goodness while she is here in the land of the living ".. that would be such a glorious thing 

working around the apartment today

Today Emma had school in the morning, then met with one of her kids that she meets with once a week to bring the weeks food money .  $10 a week she gives.   After school she was helping our Babushka neighbor.  I had given her a few bottles of chili sauce, and now Buba Maria wants to make a few batches herself.. using my recipe, so Emma had the chore of doing all the shopping .  

  Today was an at home work day for Jengish and I .

Our back balcony is used as a hall to the girls room, a storage room, and the shelf at the end of the hall is where we distribute Vitamins from.  The problem is that the balcony is not heated or insulated.. until now.  We insulated the floors and the walls today  and put in in floor heating. 

Every one knows that the first step is to get your game on .. This is what Jengish is trying to achieve.

all done .. hopefully a little warmer for the girls this winter 

Meanwhile Vlady is busy at the hospital bricking the front of the new medical clinic, and this afternoon Emma and Kamala were busy with Homework club.  

new root cellar / storage garage

The last few weeks we have been busy making preserves for the winter , Tomatoes, strawberries, grapes, zucchini raspberries .  We have been bottling them all for the months to come.   

Every year as we are approaching winter , I am amazed at how cheep the potatoes and carrots are, but in a few short months, they will become almost 4 or 5 times the price.  Garlic and cabbages is another crop that is very cheep right now but will become very expensive shortly  .

part of a delivery of carrots for families in need 

Today we have acquired a garage / root seller that will save us a lot of money in the years to come .  

the garage was purchased for  $370  and will be such a help for us .  The upper level we will be able to sort bags , put together food hampers, organize vitamins and clothing , all the things that we are doing in our balcony. There are stairs down to a root cellar that is big enough to hold about 5 tons of  vegetables 

sergey opening the door for us 

the stairs go down to a huge basement cold cellar 

This is the garage section of town 

As we begin organizing the upper storage area we wait in anticipation to see Gods provision of funds to take advantage of cheaper produce for the winter .. a $400 investment now will be worth a couple thousand by Christmas.