Home again!

Ms. Cheryl and I have been gone for almost 18 months. With my accident and then Covid-19 lock downs, it has been a hard time for all. Praise the Lord we are finally home. We have been getting settled in to our home and life at the orphanage. There is a lot of catching up to do. Seems like all the children have grown so much, not just up and out but many have matured a lot as well. Misha, L.T., and Nick have finished 11th. grade and we are working on getting them into a good University. They each have chosen a different school. Vlat has finished 9th. grade and does not wish to continue in school but wants to join the military. He would like to join the Russian military but they have changed their rules and only accept citizens of Russia. Not sure what he will do but we will work it out.

We have already been on two short camping trips. The first was with bikes and the second we used Vova’s car and the porter truck to get up the mountain then road bikes home. Those that could not ride a bike were brought home with the same vehicles we took up there. It was a lot of fun. My leg has stopped me from the hiking part but I still enjoyed the family time and getting out in the mountains.

My Nissan Patrol is still in the shop. The motor was “rebuilt” two years ago but the guy pretty much lied to us and he did not do a good job. It was leaking oil really bad. The man is almost finished with the motor and said that we need to find a really good electrician to fix all the wiring. It would had been nice to be able to buy a vehicle in better shape, but what our Lord gave us has served us well for many years. Once we get it back I am sure it will serve us well for many more years.

This is not the time to be looking at buying another vehicle, we have three to enroll in university and eight more to get into private school. We would like to find a different school than the one we had our children in last year. It is a good school but a lot of wickedness goes on there. The public schools are not a choice. They do not teach the children at all.

There is so much to get caught up on. We are very thankful to be back together as a family again. Thank you all for all your prayers and help.

As summer nears an end:

Everyone is facing hardships and uncertainty due to the corona-virus; tough decisions must be made. The school that our children have been attending has closed 5th through 8th grades. We have 3 children in those classes, so we are searching for a place for our children to study. Of course, my eleventh graders wish to continue with the school where they have been studying as it is their last year. We are running out of time to make these school decisions. We made a proposal to our school, but are waiting to hear if they will accept.

Irina has set a date to get married, September 7, 2020. She has been a great help to us at the orphanage. She was a much needed help with the children during the distant schooling.

It appears, not certain yet because no official news has been posted, that the children will start the year again with distant schooling. If we are to continue studying this way, we will need to purchase another computer or tablet. It would be great to find some used computers.

Our First Blog

What a wonderful date to start this blog for our new web page. Here we will just give simple updates of what is going on every now and then. For the first entry I want to just give some facts, thoughts, and hearsay. Kyrgyzstan has a population of 5,849,296 as of 2019. An estimated 13,000 children are in some type of orphanage. I have lived in Kyrgyzstan since 2006 and have heard many different numbers for street children, none of which I have been able to validate. I have heard that on average there are 9,000 children on the street at any given time. In the small village we live in, I have spoken with the police that deal with children and they have told me that there is easily between 300 and 1000 children on the street. This number varies due to the living conditions at home. Alcoholism is a major problem in Central Asia. One of our girls was a street child for a while. To hear the testimonies of some of these children will break your heart.

This is a work of faith which is in God. Over the years we have seen God work many miracles. Things have not been easy, but as Christians we are not promised an easy road. We have many times been harassed by the government; which makes no sense to me. I remember once I was being questioned and they asked why I would do what I do. I thought for a minute and asked the man if he had any children. He said he had three. The next question was if he ever had a bad day? “Yes,” was the answer. Then I asked if after a bad day he went home and his children met him and gave him hugs. With a big smile he said yes. At that time we had 32 children and I told him, “I get 32 hugs.” No, we won’t get rich from doing this work. In fact, we are broke. But what a blessing it is to pour your life into another life and see it grow.

Sadly not all of the children, that we have helped, have reciprocated our love and help. Many have left our home and went the way of the world. But what a joy and blessing it is when we can change the course of just one life. “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” (Luke 15:10) If we can just change one life, turn one more to Christ, give a chance for a better future to just one more, what a blessing it will be.