SAYING GOOD BYE IS NEVER EASY

WE LEAVE FOR NORTH AMERICA ON SATURDAY AND RETURN TO KYRGYZSTAN AT A LATER TIME - Lydia said she might be gone by then. We asked her to please wait for us - let's get together again. Our friendship is strong. We hugged and cried. Maria got her up to look out the window as we were leaving - to say one more good bye.

We had a wonderful day - just enjoying each their company. And they loved all the MEAT. Our heart break to know this meat meal was so important to them - almost all seniors ate three or four pieces of chicken. MEAT - something we all take for granted. We have delivered lots of rice over the time here - but what about protein for the winter? Cheese, eggs, meat, beans? Oh for more so much more. Our hearts break knowing the reality of the winter to come.

On the happy side we were able to share with Kemin that we have sponsors for their entire winter of coal! THANK YOU ALL. YOU HAVE BLESSED US GREATLY AND THEM SO MUCH MORE.

THE LAMb Team - loving and caring for the seniors at Kemin Sunshine Home - The Gift of God Friendship Center!

CANADIAN VISITOR AND ONE PERSON "PART" CANADIAN - ALL TO SERVE IKSRA

NEVER KNOW HOW TO DEFINE ED DICKSON. Ed and Pastor Bill from Canada came to Iskra Men's Home with us yesterday and we had a grand time seeing all the renovations. The men were hard at work painting the new heaters, and working in the dining room.

It will be a fabulous party tomorrow as we join together with Kyle and Christy tomorrow morning to celebrate the progress being made. We will have a concert, deliver 300 samsas (meat pies), 300 bottles of juice, 300 ice cream cones. Whew...what a time we will have and how fun it will be to give EVERY man his own bottle of juice, pie and cone. (Just imagine the van with 300 bottles of juice heading that way - Isar once again will bless us with his BIG new bus!)

Yesterday we shared and just spent a little time with the men - focusing on the group of men who are locked into the second floor behind the building. Pastor Bill shared with them and several men asked him to pray with them so they too could have a closer relationship with God. What a blessed time. We gave the men little treats, lots of hugs and lots of hand shakes. How we do love these men.

Pastor Bill had some wonderful stories he told them - and they were totally captive in their attention. WE ARE SO THANKFUL FOR TEAMS AND VISITORS WHO CARE ENOUGH TO SHARE AND SPEND TIME WITH US WITH THESE DEAR MEN.

THANK YOU ED AND PASTOR BILL...YOU BLESSED OUR DAYS.

MAKING BORSOK

THREE CHILDREN AND SIX WOMEN - But we got the job done! We had a Borsok lesson tonight at Dayspring. What fun, recognizing by the end of the evening that this was an amazing unplanned Life Skill lesson for the three children as well.

Jodi, Natasha and I wanted to learn to make the national Kyrgyz bread - Borsok. We invited Acel (Dayspring Family Resource Parent) and Aigula to teach us how to do this. In all we ended up with three additional students - the children.

Great fun, great result and a great Life Skill lesson for the children.

AND THE BORSOK WAS VERY TASTY!

THE FUTURE WE CAN SHAPE

DASHA, MELODY AND ED

WHEN PARTNERSHIP SHINES....

We are so excited that children are now arriving at Dayspring - we will work hard to find permanency for EACH OF THEM. We will work with their families for reunification where possible, look for adoptive homes if not.

But today was even more special than we might have ever imagined. Ed Dickson is here with us from Loads of Love. We took him to Dayspring and he met our little darling - Dasha. Immediately he was on the floor watching cartoons with her and Melody. What a sight. As we were leaving Dayspring to head to Iskra Men's Home, Ed heard us talking about the heart operation she needed and the cost of what was projected. Dasha has two holes in her heart.

Ed asked, "you say she is not sponsored for the operation?" And you guessed it. Ed said, "We do that. Consider the surgery done." These operations are costly over $1000 each. Thank you ED DICKSON AND LOADS OF LOVE.

WHAT GREAT PARTNERSHIP...

Then we were off to see a home for the disabled we had just heard about - they would not let us in YET. We will return and try again. Today the director was not there and the staff were not prepared to break the rules and let a stranger in.

And then to ISKRA to check out the renovations. The men were hard at work painting the new heaters. Things are really shaping up in the dining room The staff and doctors are just ecstatic. Friday we are having a grand party there! STAY TUNED.

A DAY OF BLESSINGS

TODAY BEING A TRUSTEE FOR THE INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL ASIA - took on a new meaning for me. We attended initiation day - they day new students are welcomed into the university. There are over 90 new students for IUCA this year and this is the fourth year of the university.

This university gives hope and dignity to youth needing an education and otherwise not able to get one. Most students are on financial aid as they come from small towns, villages and from the rural areas surrounding Tokmok. The standards are high and there is a commitments from the trustees, faculty, founders and President of the university. No student will "buy" a grade, "buy" a diploma. All students MUST earn what they receive. This is not so for some universities here.

We met the students, watched them perform different dances and songs. I am honoured to be a trustee for the university - Lynn is honoured to be part of the CASA board that has made the commitment for financial support to start this university. We are small and insignificant in the work each of these groups do, but are honoured to be part of them.

Today - was a celebration - four years in existence and this year they have just implemented a Law School into the university along with the other disciplines. And the plans are in place for a medical school. Who could have ever guessed four years ago that this little idea - brought to reality by the dreamer of Mercy Foundation - Captain Yang would have turned into what it is today.

I SEE THE HOPE - ORPHANS WHO COULD NOT HAVE BUT NOW CAN - UNIVERSITY EDUCATION FOR REAL! AND SUPPORT TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN.

YOU CAN SUPPORT A STUDENT FOR JUST $50 PER MONTH!!!! WE ARE LOOKING FOR 10 SPONSORS - ARE YOU ONE OF THEM?


SPECIAL NOTE - WE HAVE A FAMOUS GUEST WITH US FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS - ED DICKSON JOINED US AND WILL BE WITH US TOMORROW. WATCH THE UPDATE.

EMMA'S RICE A RONIE CONTINUES

Upper left - the "extension" cord for the work on the clothes lines. Upper right - Gabriella amidst the "sea" of rice - still smiles after the long journey from Canada. Lower left - a delivery of rice. Lower right - our tea at Aigula's.


ANOTHER FABULOUS DAY IN KYRGYZSTAN. First, our team from Canada arrived today. Jodi and Gabriel came in eager to begin and ready to head out for their time of giving and serving. So they joined us for the rice deliveries.

Today was day two of our rice deliveries. We now have delivered a total of 111 bags of rice. On day one we tallied 42 the first outing and then gatherered 8 more and delivered those. Then today we picked up another 61 bags and off we went. We spent most of the day in Tokmok going to the different homes of people we know giving them rice for the winter.

One stop was at the Baby Orphanage where we left two bags of rice and took orders for what else they were needing right now. As always they have an ongoing need of fruit, juice and diapers.

Then on to deliver more rice - stopping by Aigula's to drop off rice and of course she was all set up for chai (tea) for us. So a stop for borsok, salad and tea. Remember, Aigula is the wonderful woman whom we had the pleasure of giving her keys to a home (purchased by Ed Dickson) several years ago. Today, she has moved into her own rented home and has a business of sewing - set up by our LAMb team member John. They have a lovely tidy home that really makes us proud of what she has accomplished.

Then a few more deliveries. As we were out and about we passed a building which was pointed out to us by Natasha. "There is the home for disabled adults in Tokmok. It has both men and women and I have heard it is a terrible place - very needy." Hmmmm why have we not heard of this before? So tomorrow, that is a stop for us. We will go and learn more about this place and see if we can serve them in some way. This is a home in our city where we live when in Kyrgyzstan.

Finally back to see the results of our flooded apartment. They fixed the problem, and we also saw that our helper Vlady (who does lots of construction for our team activities- and hires our father from Jessica's family) was at our building with his worker "Joe - AKS Jessica's family - installing clothes lines for our apartment building's babushkas. It is interesting, how he needed electricity and connected to the electric box, his type of extension cord - (see the picture). ((Karl this will really stir you up!)) Anyhow flood in control, water cleaned up, and a clothes line to hang out all the clean up rags and rugs. The day is good!

We dropped our Canadian team off of a two hour nap and then retrieved them to take them grocery shopping. After shopping they joined us for planning and for dinner. Our goal was to plan and also keep them awake until 9pm tonight. Success.



Planning meeting with Jodi and Gabriella. Great days ahead!

Planning is completed and tomorrow we have a full day - and will post later the results.

WHEN THE VILLAGE GIVES BACK

WHAT A FABULOUS DAY. Today was very full, starting with Chinese Church and then to market to pick up some supplies for the return to the East Iskra Village afternoon luncheon. Remember, this is the village where the Wrights worked with Larissa (out on the ground person) to bring water into the village. Since this time, this village has been a very special place for the Wrights and now the rest of our team. The village has about 100 children - many of which seemed to be born after the water was installed into the village. They laughed when telling us this yesterday - as we all agreed that it TRULY MUST BE IN THE WATER!

So, the visit to the village was due to an invitation by the village to come for a "feast" in the afternoon. We were told we could not say NO. So away we went. We added our cookies and drinks to the "feast" and had an incredible time.

* One of the biggest cazans (huge cast iron pot) cooking rice which was to be the national Plof!
* A table set up to seat the village and us - interesting that men do not eat with the women here, unless you are a guest or a senior male.
* The children danced for us and recited poetry they had learned in school. One of the village mothers teaches them to dance.
* A most delicious meal of plot, chicken and goodies.
* Laughter, fun and fellowship in this amazing little Muslim village.

We left with tears and please from the to not forget them and to please come again soon. And we will. We let them know their beloved Wrights would be back in December and they were thrilled and that we would be back in the spring. We heard promises of learning English, being ready and of course the common statements, "We will wait for you." And you know what? They really do wait for us....always asking Larissa - when will they be back.



EVENING TIME: INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL ASIA - Skype Pizza Party.

We had 11 students from IUCA into our home for this party arranged by Altanai to bring students together for pizza and a time to chat on Skype with the students from Canada that are in the youth group from John and Julie Wrights youth group. Bekah coordinated the youth on the Canadian side and Altanai on the Kyrgyzstan side. We simply provided a place for hosting the event. It was awesome.....except for the FLOOD IN THE LOWER APARTMENTS DURING THE EVENT.

* 11 University students - talking to Canadian youth group members.
* Pizza brought by Altanai from a new pizza (the only one) place in Tokmok - a very new thing here
* Simply a great evening of sharing, laughing and praying together.

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL GROUP OF YOUNG STUDENTS

THE FLOOD: Well, our apartment is on the first floor. All the apartment above us empty their waste water down through pipes and out of the building - pipes that we are also connected to along with three other apartments. So with the sewer system backing up - we had water all over the apartment floors in all the four apartments in our building. As of this moment - we cannot run any water at all. UGH. It was a mess. After a call to our friend Dabu and his arrival to discover the problem, he notified everyone on all three floors to NOT run any water down any drains, flush any toilets until it was fixed. Seems someone did not obey the request as this morning we once again had water on the floors and our neighbours were NOT HAPPY. 7AM the chatter began in the halls. And you can be certain our babushkas don't take disobeying the rules lightly. IT WAS A VERY ACTIVE HALL WAY THIS MORNING!

LATER TODAY - Our Canadian friends have arrived and are resting now. We will be picking them up in about an hour and heading out for a day of rice deliveries - Emma's Rice A Ronie day. 61 more bags to deliver. This will make our total of rice delivered of 109 bags of rice and the requests continue....

TOMORROW - IUCA initiation day!