Farm Family Extreme Make Over

I feel like an embedded reporter traveling with a group on a very special mission. David and I have been able to spend time with an awesome group of teens from Canada who arrived last Friday and haven't stopped since. We have enjoyed talking with them, watching them and listening to them.

As an outsider watching these teens, I have been so impressed with them - their unity, their willingness to work hard on dirty jobs, their support of each other and their willingness to step in anyplace help is needed. I have watched them interact with both Krygyz kids and adults and I know their parents would be proud of them!

Touching a Family Today - Changing the Course of Tomorrow
About six weeks ago, we posted a picture of a family known affectionately as "the farm family of five" to us. We have shared a bit of their story...from life inside a home with extreme domestic violence...to their move with their mom to the Orlovka orphanage for safety...and finally, into their new home. It was a gift from Loads of Love and Possibilities International. This family of five children and a mom have worked hard on their new farm home, but major work needed to be done. That's where the team from Canada stepped up to the plate. They raised funds at home so that a number of significant projects could be completed...then they came here to do the work.

This is the family of five and their mom, the weekend before they moved into their new home. These kids all have worked at their new home, painting, cleaning, planting a huge garden and much, much more.

These pictures only catch a small glimpse of what we saw and heard this week.These teens are tearing down a portion of a coal shed and rebuilding it so that it can be the new home for the cow that arrives on Sunday.

Have you ever watched the steps to build an outhouse? Well, we hadn't until we watched this one. Bekah Wright and Sibera, pull out the final buckets of dirt before the structure is put in place.

Sibera stands at the bottom of this eight foot hole, dug completely by hand by her two older brothers. See picture below.

For a few precious hours, these two boys had "two dads" to show them the things that dads do. This is Dan, a leader of the team from Canada and youth pastor, Jamie.

Task completed! Now Dan and Kathy, another team leader, have something new to put on their resumes--outhouse outfitter!

Teens and adults joined together to do a lot of painting. When this home is completed, it will be one of the best looking homes in all of Orlovka. What a story of restoration of a family.

No extreme makeover is complete without a watermelon seed spitting contest. This is Martin from Canada...and this fine athlete lost to a girl. :)

Each evening after David and I return to our little two room apartment, we thank God for the incredible privilege of being here among these beautiful people. We truly are enjoying the journey.