Women's Ministries - Kyrgyz Style

"We will never forget this night!" That was the response from one of the women who attended the women's dinner last night. Hosted by Julie and Jodie from Canada, the evening was set aside to honor women....to bless them and let them know how very special they are.

It was a simple dinner, but a special one for the women here, who perhaps for the very first time, ever experienced something this. Jodie remarked later, "what would it take for me to say, I will never forget this night!" What a humbling event to witness.


Julie and Jodie planned before leaving Canada for this special evening.

About 25 women attended last night's dinner. Just wished I could have talked with them and heard their stories.

Jodie reads a Blessing to the women...Acel, the incredible, humble pastor's wife interprets.

They were there...from the oldest

To the youngest

Jodie and Julie wanted to take the time to honor Acel in a very special way.

After the evening was over, I quietly mentioned to Acel that I knew her heart as a pastor's wife. I told if I can be of help in any way please let me know. We are planning for another event before we leave. My thoughts, however, what could I say to these women, who know far most about trusting God for their every day survival than I do. Maybe it will be a time to let them speak.

The week ahead....

Sunday....can't wait...we are going to see Pastor Elenya

Monday...social work team from America arrives

Tuesday....we begin teaching at the Professional Institute and spending time with the team

Wednesday....social work team to Bishkek

Thursday and Friday....training in Bishkek

The journey is underway.....

BREAKING NEWS

HI Friends,

We arrived in Kyrgyzstan to this news from Lynn and Ruby Johnston, our team founders....

From their newsletter...
"It was a shock, but the Vice Prime Minister invited us for a meeting, which was arranged by the President of the Kyrgyz Association of Social Workers. Our meeting centered around the vulnerable children and at risk families in the country. ....She is submitting a formal letter of request asking for our help."

The Vice Prime Ministier is the third highest ranking official in the government. Please stay tuned to the journey ahead...as always your prayers for our wisdom are ALWAYS appreciated!

First Days

We arrived Saturday morning - excited that God has allowed us this incredible opportunity to return to a people we have come to love. I am thrilled to report NO LOST LUGGAGE! Two pieces were delayed for one day, but all is well there and we can get about the business of waiting and listening to God then moving forward.

On Monday, David had the first opportunity to visit one of the orphanages we were at frequently last year. I stayed behind to work with Ruby on an amazing grant application, more about that later. As usual, David had alot of stories to tell about what he felt and saw - and this is just the first week.

It was wonderful to see these children looking healthy and well. We worked with these children last summer on lifebooks and other small craft projects. Actually, I just watched the craft projects :)

I noticed from the pictures that David took that the children have grown taller - the little ones were precious as always.

David, John, Julie and team arrive at Orlovka just in time for lunch.

These three beautiful young ladies, the two on the ends and the orphanage director's daughter in the middle, have certainly grown up since last year.


David, John, Julie and team visited a brand new nursing home in Kemin, about 40 minutes from where we live. It was David's first sad encounter of the trip. The nursing home, just opened by one woman who saw the desparate state of the elderly, now has seven residents. These are men and women, who up to this point, were homeless, evicted from their own homes by their children.

David described the new nursing home as very dark, stark and cold. One large room had five beds around the walls and the women just sat there - all day. Much work is needed here and the volunteer director has high hopes for caring for the homeless elderly population in the area. When asked how many elderly people could live there, David was told, probably sixty. The problem was there were no beds and only a two burner hot plate in the stark, empty kitchen.

David mets a new friend. In James, where it talks about visiting widows and children, Lynn Johnston raised the questions, "I think there is a deeper meaning to the word "visit". We agree. We hope to be able to "visit" these beautiful people several times while we are here.

The team delivers over $400 worth of food to this home. What was in the pantry before this? Small rotten potatoes and a sack of rice -nothing else.

This woman's response to the food supply says it all.

In the near future, we will be writing about the food ministry of Children's Hope International. This is a local (Ohio) ministry that is feeding thousands of people around the world. They want to come to Kyrgyzstan as well. Please visit http://www.achildshopeintl.org/HomePage.html.

We are making plans to partner with this organization to help feed the hundreds of thousands people in Kygyzstan classified as "food insecure" What a definition!

The journey continues....