The Week of May 12 - No One Day the Same!

This past week has been one of different experiences, thoughts and emotions every day. The week begin with a Monday morning trip to an orphanage about 30 minutes from where we live in Tokmok. We arrived at Olovka mid-morning and were greeted by beautiful children. We were invited on this incredible day by John and Julie Wright and their daughters, Emma and Rebakah. To capture the depth of their ministry, visit http://www.actofkindness.blogspot.com/. How God is using this family is awesome to watch. They spend much of their time each week simply loving on kids growing up in orphanages. When you think of it, there is nothing simple about touch or a word a child won’t forget because someone took the time to develop a relationship with him and tell him about the love of God.

MONDAY -Sights from Olovoka -May 12

Emma Wright and one of the beautiful girls at the orphanage.

A visiting adoptive mom greets the kids as we arrive.

Bekah Wright spends two days a week with her family ministering to the kids at Olovka.


David is holding Angelia. We just learned this week that her mother died, leaving her an orphan.

John Wright opens a duffle bag full of hats and mittens from a group in Canada. What a gift for the cold winter ahead!

Let the fun begin.....finger painting with the children who are not yet school age or for some reason are not in school

We all had fun finger painting and below, mission accomplished -
everyone has paint on everything!

Mission accomplished - everyone has paint on everything!

Sunday and the week ahead

It is a beautiful spring Sunday in Tokmok. We walked home after church this morning which is a litle over a mile from our apartment. We are spending the afternoon in our little apartment reading. Since being without any TV, we have had an opportunity to read alot and I enjoy spending alot of time working on my Russian language. I hesitate to use it much while speaking, but I am understanding more of what I read and hear, which is great fun.

David preached this morning at the Chinese church and I asked him to write a brief synopsis of what he said.

From David
I had the privilege of speaking to a Chinese Church this morning, May 11. It is a congregation made up of at least four languages: English, Krygyz, Russian and Chinese. Translations were going on throughout the room as I spoke.

Allow me to share briefly about my message today. The text was from I Corinthians 3:1-7. I pointed out that Paul referred to the believers at Corinth as “mere men” because of behavior and life style. The text indicates that they were quarrelsome, petty, and divisive, (mere men). My belief is that as Christians, we are no better than any one else, but, we are to be different – not “mere men.”

I then went on to share three dynamic truths that elevate the believer above the status of “mere men.” Paul spoke of these truths to the Corinthian believers, and , once pondered, they are mystical and incredibly dynamic.

They are:
1. Believers are new creations in Christ (II Corinthians 5:17)
2. Believers are to be servants of the Living God (I Corinthians 4:1)
3. Believers are stewards of the mystery of God (I Corinthians 4:1)

The above being true, it is easy to see why Paul was so upset with their behaving as “mere men.”

Challenges ahead

One of the exciting challenges ahead for us is to take an active part in the organization of the Professional Institute. This brand new school, which opens next September, promises to be one of Krygyzstan's most outstanding schools. So much of the education in this country is substandard and open to bribes. The students who come out of this educational system are ill- equipped for meaningful employment. The Professional Institute has brought together some of the greatest educational minds in this country and is commited to creating a new model of education for this country. David has been asked to be the spiritual director as the school endeavors to teach in the areas of agriculture, business and languages. We are pleased to be apart.

Our week ahead
Every day is different and we continue to meet new people

• Monday - we will be going to Olovka orphange and meeting staff and children.


• Tuesday - we will be meeting with another orphanage director in the morning and attending the weekly meeting of the Professional Institute in the afternoon. In the evening, we will join John and Julie Wright at a third orphanage at dinner time. They cook one night a week for the children. We hope to develop on-going, supportive relationships with these orphanages as God leads.


• Wednesday - we will be spending the morning in the English classes at School of Blessing. The children hear love to have native English speakers to visit.


• Thursday - a trip into Bishkek on a luggage rescue mission hopefully (maybe even compensation)


• Friday - yet to be revealed

More and more, we do see God's direction in how He is leading us here. We do so appreciate your comments and emails. The journey continues...

Picture Posting

We are ending another week here. Within the last seven days, there have been three holidays which closed everything. We enjoyed watching how they celebrated their festivals and will post pictures soon of those.

We will be adding pictures on facebook.com as soon as I figure it out. There will be many pictures, soon:)

David preaches again on Sunday at the Chinese Church. We were there two weeks ago. Next week is a full week of meeting a number of orphanage directors and staff around the area.

One incredible meeting happened last Sunday night. We met John and Julie Wright and their daughters from Canada. They have an incredible ministry and we will post their link soon. They have been here a number of times on shorter missions, but are here now for six months. One interesting thing is that John is the host for adoptive families who come to their area to meet and pick up their children. We plan to talk soon on how we might help families who are here for a few weeks while waiting on their children. I am excited about that.

More to come this weekend, just wanted to show a few pictures of the many we have.

Prayer needs:
Luggage still missing
Of the many things we could be doing, we hear where God wants us to work

The Week Behind Us and Week Ahead

Henry Blackaby says in Experiencing God “if what you are thinking makes sense to you, it is probably not from God.” He says this in the context of following Him in obedience.

Before we left for Kyrgyzstan, I felt impressed to pack one Bible study book – Experiencing God. I had not studied that book for over six years, but sensed God’s leading in it. I also was able to obtain three copies of it in Russian for use here. We know these months here will be all about experiencing God.

We both know that we will sense His presence, direction, intervention and protection in ways that we have never felt before. As I write this, it is Saturday afternoon. It has been a slow, quiet and reflective day – some homesickness, but we know this is part of experiencing all God has for us here. David and I spent this afternoon talking about our plans here and where we sense God is leading. We will be doing many things together and a few things separately. I couldn’t get him to commit to a woman’s Bible study group.

We are surrounded by people who felt God’s call here to this very broken place. Just this morning we had the opportunity to meet a missionary couple around our age from Missouri. They live out in a village about 30 minutes from us. They are serving as part of an agricultural mission among the Chinese Muslims. We can’t wait to get together to hear their stories of what God has done through them.

The week ahead holds interesting opportunities. Last Friday, we met with Tokmok’s social work specialist, the only one in a town of 80,000. We discussed training opportunities for the future. As we were leaving, she asked us if we would attend a very important commission meeting this next Tuesday on children at risk. Of course we responded, yes. We don’t know exactly what we will be witnessing, but we do understand the media will be there. Another thing she asked before we left was a simple request – would you help me to learn English? Again, of course we responded yes. I plan to get with her this week to schedule a regular time. What an opportunity!

David will be preaching tomorrow at the Temple of God church – primarily a Russian congregation. On Monday, he will be meeting with the mission director of Mercy Foundation lending his support and services as the Foundation develops a summer outreach program to hundreds of children and teens in the area. Later in the week we will go to a cultural awareness class in Bishkek, which is about an hour or so away. We want to learn all we can about the people to whom God has called us.

We appreciate your prayers and emails as the journey continues....

Prayer needs:
Our missing luggage, still not resolved
Our adjustments
Sensitivity to God’s leading as we listen for His direction

It Has Been A Week Already

It has been a week already since ince we arrived in Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan. The week has been full of seeing new things, experiencing brand new emotions, and meeting many new people. Before coming here, I read Kay Warren’s book, Dangerous Surrender . She makes the statement after visiting many devastated countries; she will never be the same again. Both of us are asking that question – will we ever be the same again? We already know we won’t be, but how we will be different, we, of course, don’t know yet.

We met Sunday afternoon with John and Krista Tsai. John is President of Mercy Foundation. They presented us with two pages of needs related to the number of different ministries of the Foundation. We will be prayerfully waiting and watching for God’s direction on how to proceed and what His plan is for us.

We had a fun encounter today at the local library, which is right next to our apartment. I asked Natalia, our translator to go into the library with us for me to look around as I plan to do some writing there. We were greeted so warmly by the library staff, who were just getting ready to celebrate Easter with a very large buffet of sweets. This is a traditional thing to do the week after Easter. They asked us to join them which we did. Later, during a tour of the library, we met a woman who was teaching English to two students. She also received us warmly and invited us to her school to talk so her children could hear English speakers. We definitely will follow up on that. One of the greatest ways to build relationships we have been told is to teach English. I am considering that.

In the afternoon we met with an incredible group of individuals for the weekly planning meeting of the new Professional Institute, which is scheduled to open in September. On Wednesday, we will meet with the school chaplains of five Christian schools. One of the roles we do see for David is mentoring these young school chaplains in their function as spiritual leaders. In the coming days, we will be meeting with local social workers and orphanage caregivers to plan possible training with them. Many of these adults have had no training on how to work with abused and neglected children. This is an opportunity for which we feel very excited.

From David
This trip is different this time. I have had the privilege of going to many countries, staying a week or two during which we were shown about and treated as guests. This time they are looking to us for answers to complex questions and placing us in positions of leadership and ministry. It truly is different this time and we feel honored to be here. We pray God can use us in a powerful ways touching the lives of incredible and hurting people.

From the both of us…On a very personal note, we are experiencing those early emotions and thoughts related to what is commonly known as cultural shock. We knew to expect them, so are not caught off guard. We also understand it is simply a part of the journey. Although we both have traveled a lot in other countries, I think the knowledge that this is now home, sharpens that sense of cultural shock.

A disappointment, which we are trying to keep in proper prospective, is that 70% of our luggage has been lost. We received suitcases full of books and supplies, but little clothing. Of course, all that is replaceable, but the sense that it seems no one is doing anything to help us from the airlines perspective is frustrating. It is not an experience I would have chosen, but I know God has many lessons in this loss experience for us.

We deeply appreciate your prayers and emails……the journey continues….

Arrival and First Impressions

We arrived very early Tuesday morning after a 36 hour trip. The sun was just coming up as we walked off the plane – a welcome sight. Most of our luggage has not yet made it to Kyrgyzstan, but we are hopeful that it will soon arrive.

After showering and resting a while, we took the taxi by ourselves to meet with our friends from Mercy Foundation. It was wonderful to see people we met in December and reconnect with them and to meet new ones. We both have an indescribable sense of how much this feels comfortable to us. We know we will have very difficult moments ahead getting used to so many new and different ways of doing things and missing family and friends, but the sense of this is right is amazing to us.

We have experienced shopping at the bazaar – actually every day since getting here as we are equipping our apartment. The bazaar is an extremely large and crowded open air market. Quite fascinating to walk though. I have been a convenience cook since becoming an empty nester, so I will be learning a whole new way of doing things with many unfamiliar foods and ways of preparation.

We have enjoyed getting to know our young translator- Natalia. She will be with us each time we go out in public for quite a while. I have been amazed that my elementary efforts to learn Russian are now paying off as I can communicate basic concepts and even understand a little.

Today we look forward to an Easter celebration at Mercy Foundation this afternoon. (They use the orthodox calendar here for religious holidays). David has been asked to preach at the Chinese church on Sunday and we look forward to that.

Next week will be a week of new beginnings as we start to make connections with the many folks that LAMb founders, Lynn and Ruby Johnston know and have worked with here.

There are exciting days ahead as the journey continues…

Another Confirmation

It is Friday morning, and we will be leaving for Krygyzstan on Sunday morning. It has been an incredible week of planning, packing, repacking....Amidst all the business of getting ready, God confirmed yet again that David and I are on the right path.

On Thursday morning, I had the opportunity to tape a radio program at Cedarville University related to the release of our new updated The Whole Life Adoption Book. As I was leaving the studio, the receptionist stopped me and asked me about our upcoming trip. She mentioned to me that a Cedarville prof, Dr. Andrew Wiseman, had been in Kyrgyzstan for over a year and now was back on campus. Of course, that caught my attention. I never dreamed I would have an opportunity to meet him, but the receptionist called his office and he "just happened" to be in.

What transpired in our short 30 conversation is to lenthy to mention here other than to say that as a result of this meeting, David and I will arrive in the country with a long list of contacts and information with which to begin our journey. In that small meeting room in a small town in Ohio, Dr. Wiseman and I were both stunned to learn that we know the same governmental official in Kyrgyzstan, a person with whom we will have some contact and perhaps be working with.

What I can say is that every day, God reminds us that He has planned every detail. We don't know the whole picture. But God knows. When I left early Thursday for Cedarville, I had no idea that Thursday would be a day like it was - a day for an extraordiary providential encounter. I didn't know, but He did.