A little catch up

We had a great start to the trip.  The flights were on time and not too hot.  We even had an empty seat between us for both flights .. that makes all the difference.

We got into Bishkek at about 3:00am and that got us to the farm by 6:00 and in to bed to sleep until 10:00.  Then we went into Tokmok to do some grocery shopping and to have a nice lunch with Ravil and his wife.  Julie had found a phot of her going back about 10 years so she sent it with me to give her . 

Monday we drove into bishkek and ordered 3 new yurts for up at the kashar .  They will be delivered and set up on the 12th of april so that will give us a couple weeks to pour the new pads for them .   We got a red one a blue one and a brown one.  It will hwlp us to know which is wich for the guests. 

We then carried on to Bishkek and had lunch with our team there and brought them some little gifts from Canada , and also met up with my son in laws brother to give them some things that the guys had sent to them ... I say the guys , but pretty sure they did not have much to do with it and it was Emma and Bekah that prepared everything.  But it is nice that we can do things like that to help them stay conected with their family. 

From there is ws about an hour nd a half drive bck through the mountains .. What a beautiful drive . 

This morning we were up and out early to go into the mountains to order some trees for at the Kashar ,, We were able to stop at the waterfalls on the way . 

Then for the rest of the morning we have been top dressing under the fruit trees and Quinton has been hard at work trying to sort out our past pruning and fixing my mess .  he has about 5 done and just 200 to go. 

After lunch I have a welder coming to take a look at the playground we put in several years ago and see about fixing everything that is broken then we will organize a comunity day to get everyone together to rebuild it and maybe add a few more items .. 

After that we will head back to Tokmok to have supper with Vlady and Tatyana and theirr Daughter and her husband who are in town for a visit.

 

How long can it be today ?

 

This is a post borrowed from a friend but it is very suitable for me today. 

How long can it still be today?

So that i can feel closer to you

and say ...

earlier we hugged twice over

we ate good food, 

we laughed, we dreamed of next time 

we could be together.

I like calling in the same time zone

knowing the daily stuff

feeling 'immediate'

being present.

I woke up 'this' morning

and it is today

in me.

But one plane ride

7,000 kms 

its not the same date 

and i haven't slept

yet.

I'm here but not here

there but not there

I don't

 want today to end.

How long can it still be today?

House Warming Celebration

Many of you will remember Aiperi.  She is Aigoola's daughter and lived and worked on the farm.  She helped with a lot of the Humanitarian Aid .  Here is a picture of her with little Billy.  Billy's mom died  during child birth and he had a hole in his heart and was a failure to thrive baby.  The farm was contacted for help, so Aiperi started going to him at least once a month for the first year and brought him good quality formula and helped with the family .  

She then moved to Pakistan with her husband.  As soon as she got there she started helping people like she had learned on the farm.  She has about 30 families of refugees from Afghanistan that she helps with food and school supplies for the kids .   

Up until now she and her two boys and husband  have been living with her husbands large family.  Now they have started building their own home, something that she is very excited about . 

when the house is completed we would like to have a house warming celebration for her .  There will be lots of items that they will need to set up home .. If you would like to help. I will be sending her some money next week  with  instructions of what to buy.  then I will get her to send us some pictures. 

Oh and Billy is still doing great .  We got to spend a bit of time with him when we were delivering coal in the fall. 

Back inn Kyrgyzstan, the snow continues to fall . and people continue to need more coal . 

I am starting to sound like a broken record, but I am so thankful for the ability to continue with these donations .   

If there is a bright side to this weather, it will buy us a bit more time to prepare seeds and food hampers to give out. 

This weekend I will be in Thunder bay and speaking at Evangel Church   on Sunday morning at 11:00  I plan to get there at around 10:00 so I will have time to visit before the service if anyone in the area would like to come see us .  After the service I will be heading to the airport and returning home to finish packing for Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday . 

 

Woman's Day Celebration

We were so blessed to see that the money from the sales table at out anniversary party made it to Kyrgyzstan in time to bless some ladies at the shelter for International Woman's Day 

These soaps were made by our friend .. she did such a great job .  

 

Those soaps are  beautiful, but we think they may be too delicate for transporting them, so she is going to make HONEY Soap for us to bring back .  They are really cool .. Take a look .

Happy Woman's Day

Today is international woman's day, and in Kyrgyzstan, this is a very big deal .  The guys on the farm wanted to bless their cooking instructor and the psychologist, two women that have become very special to them .  The cool thing is that the boys did not know that I was making arrangements to bless them on behalf of the farm, so they , on their own bought them some gifts and had a little party for them this week. This is a big step for the boys to be able to think of others like this and to make plans. 

Today we had the back windows installed in the bus.  The bus was a great deal , but was a six passenger cargo van.  The guys have been busy adding in another removable row of seats , fixing the air-conditioning , putting in windows , even put in a back up camera and radio.  This saved us several thousand dollars off the purchase of one fully loaded.  It has also been interesting for the boys to learn how to do this type of mechanical work. 

While in the city to get the windows, they were able to get a really good deal on a microwave for the school that I had shared about.  It was only $50, so if that does not come in, we will be able to cover it from general fund. 

This Sunday I will be sharing at Community church in Stirling  The service starts at 10:30, but I will be there plenty early to do a bit of a meet and greet as people arrive .  If you are in the area, I would love to see you. 

 

Welcome Home Nuric

NURIC is back .  It has been almost a year that Nuric has been off the farm .  He has had a very difficult year , but fortunately he knew that when things got too bad he would be welcome back to the farm.  Today they were pouring a cement floor so the extra hands were welcome .    As you can see in the background, we will not be able to get onto the fields any time soon. 

We will have to juggle our projects when I get there since the planting will be a little later this year .  But it will give us more time to get the seeds delivered . 

Speaking of deliveries, the coal deliveries have continued .  We are almost a month past when we were expecting to be finished with the coal, but we are so thankful that we have had the resources to continue deliveries ... So are the many families that are soo relieved to be able to get the help that they need. 

We have been able to get a very good deal on some new beds for in the yurts .  We have the bunk beds, but each of the three yurts will have two single beds and one bunk bed.  We were able to order these plain wooden beds for just $50 each.  That is cheaper then we could make them for ourselves.  They will be ready in a couple weeks so in the mean time if anyone would like to sponsor a bed or two that would be great .. we also still have a microwave @ $100 we are looking for a sponsor for.  

Julie is settling in well in newfoundland.  Amelia has a very busy schedule and many social engagements so Julie is getting the run down before she is on her own next week when Bekah goes back to work.     

Here is to another 20 years

We had a great Night, celebrating our land mark 20 years in ministry.   It was so great to have so many great friends and supporters  come to celebrate with us . 

We put together a table of things that we have brought back with us over the years and sold them to raise money for a women's shelter to purchase them some women's day gifts for them .  we were thrilled to raise $150 . 

The party was on Sunday night , and first thing Monday morning Julie headed to Newfoundland for the next few months where she will be caring for our grand daughter until they are able to find daycare . 

On the farm we are still out delivering coal.  This winter is one for the record books there .  Fortunately God continues to provide and we are able to continue the coal deliveries.  

While out on deliveries we came to a small mountain village school.  They have asked for help.  They would like to have a microwave oven for the lunch room .  Certainly not essential but for $100 we could could make a lot of people happy. 

We would like to be on the fields by now but it is not looking like that will happen any time soon 

The snow has melted enough that they were able to get back up to the Kashar .  It looks like God protected us from a disaster.  One of the plugs burnt out.  The wiring that we have there is very thin, so we will have to go ahead and either replace it with a heavier gauge  wire , or at least run a new heavy gauge wire into each room to have a plug designated for heavier draw items like heaters . 

Next Sunday I will be at Comunity church in Stirling , then the following Sunday I will be at Evangel Church in Thunder Bay . Then on the 20th I am off to Kyrgyzstan . 

 

$100 will allow her to finish school

Update .. need has been met 

I Got a message from Vera this morning .   She is worried about one of the students at her school .  She writes this ......

John, good afternoon, evening. I wanted to ask you for help, we need a sponsor who can pay part of the parental co-payment for a 9th grade student. Mom can’t pay, it’s a pity if the girl can’t finish 9th grade. There are only 3 months left before the end of the school year, and my mother can no longer pay co-payments. The fund gave her a discount, but she cannot continue paying at all. She needs help and pays 9,000 soms by the end of the school year. If there is a sponsor and helps her pay 100 dollars, we will be very grateful.

It would be great if we were able to help with this need.  

I also got a message from Vlad that they have worked out the seed order for this spring .. that's always fun.   We will have seeds for 250 gardens arrive on March the 15th .  .. Vlad finishes by say "I hope the snow is gone by then .