LAMb INTERNATIONAL WELCOMES THE WRIGHT FAMILY!
The Wright Family Joins LAMb at the River
There is a river which winds throughout the countries of Central Asia. It is a unpredictable river. It is full of crevasses and gullies, sharp boulders and tangled trees. It is a river that no one would ever think of attempting to navigate. Yet, day after day, thousands of children, families and elderly are thrown into the river even when everyone knows what’s there.
No, this isn’t a real river as we think of it, but it is the raging river of extreme poverty, hunger, severe neglect, homelessness and despair swallowing children and elderly who are thrust from the banks into its sweeping waves.
What created the river?
Krygyzstan, the Central Asia country of LAMb’s focus, is a beautiful country, but marred by severe economic conditions and political and social chaos. These conditions have led to poor living conditions, poor nutrition, poor medical care and poor education. Families are devastated and many have no fathers present in the home. There are few, if any government supports that have prevented this tragedy. With the recent events of the spring and summer of 2010, the needs have mushroomed beyond imagination. Krygyzstan desperately needs people on the banks of the river.
Who is at the river?
LAMb International and Possibilities International team members, John and Julie Wright and family have been working collaboratively on the banks of the river in Krygyzstan collaboratively for a number of years. Now, the Wrights officially joined the LAMb team on July 1, 2010. What does this mean for LAMb?
John and Julie and their daughters Emma and Bekah, will spend much of their time downstream as they have previously done. They will be pulling the homeless and needy out from the raging river – one child, one senior or one family at a time by coordinating humanitarian relief, food allocation, medical and dental assistance, and whatever presents itself.
Further upstream, the LAMb team, headed by Lynn and Ruby Johnston, will be “grabbing” children just before they are first thrown into the river and into the orphanage system. With the creation of DaySpring Family Life Resource, one the country’s first Christian based family type foster homes, ten young girls will never step across the doors of an orphanage. When they come into care, they will walk into the home and heart of the staff of Dayspring. According to Lynn and Ruby Johnston, this new project "will be the start of what is to come - children having someone to call mommy and daddy and knowing they are made special in His image!"
At the furtherest point upstream, the Johnston’s, David and Jayne Schooler and national staf"f will be developing training and support programs for university social workers, local social workers, schools and parents in an effort to build a system that will learn how not to throw the children and elderly into that river.
Key support people back home, facilitate resources and communication. Don and Johanna Buchanan (LAMb co-founders)and Randy and Kim Gebele are vital members of the team in the US.
LAMb’s hope is to man the river well. None of us can grab every child or senior that has fallen into the river, but we can grab some. We can also hope that the teaching and training efforts now being put in place will impact the social welfare system of this wonderful, but troubled country. There will always be a river, but perhaps, through the work of LAMb and other humanitarian groups throughout Krygyzstan, its force will be greatly minimized.
We say to John, Julie, Emma and Bekah….welcome to LAMb!
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