News From the Other Home

This past week in Krivoy Rog has been more of the same as the previous week.  Lena, Turat and I went to spend time with the girls at Sunshine Orphanage again yesterday.  As it happened Turat and I were both a bit early which gave us some time to spend with some of the boys who were around.  It was a nice mild day and the snow had gotten to the right consistency that I was able to show some of them how to make a good snowball…ahem...Okay, so you know where this is going…lol.  Now if I had my gloves with me it would have been a longer “lesson” but we went until our fingers couldn’t move any longer and the boys learned how fast I can really move.  It was a good day.

I also got some good news this week from Kyrgyzstan.  John and Tanya both sent me some new photos of coal delivery and distribution.  If you remember from my November posts enough money was raised to buy 10 tonnes of coal that will help to keep around 15 families warm through the winter.  At that time the first 5 tonnes were delivered and now the second 5 tonnes has been delivered.  This has been a HUGE blessing to the village of Iskra.  In a Kyrgyzstan winter staying warm can mean the difference between life and death…literally.  I just can’t say it enough - thank you so much to those who sponsored this.  You have blessed a lot of lives.

Other than that there’s nothing different to tell.  I’m still trying to work out some details for my visit to Canada and continuing on with my activities.  If you would like to help with my support or to help me to sponsor some more activities please click the LinK 127 donations link at the right side of the blog to donate on line.  You can also mail a donation to the address below.  Please remember to specify that your donation is for me.  You can also arrange a monthly sponsorship.  Canadian donations are tax deductible and every dollar counts towards showing love to those that need to see love in action. 

Thank you for your continued prayers and support and thank you for seeing my heart.  Till next time… Я люблю тебя!

LinK 127

34 Wynn Castle Dr.

Lower Sackville, NS
Canada B4E 2H5

I love that they are also getting a goody bag to take home from Tanya who is on the right.  She and her mother and grandmother oversee where the coal is distributed.  This is but one of many things these amazing women do for their community.  (Some of the Halifax folk will notice that Tanya looks a lot like our Amanda G.)

Oh Yeah...I also had a little time one day to do some sight seeing around town.  This is Victory Square.

The Theatre

A different looking church than you usually see in Ukraine.

Yet another war memorial.  There's a LOT in this city.

Some boat house thingy.  This is in the area of the 1st settlement of Krivoy Rog.

Quality Time

The last 2 weeks I have been keeping busy.  I have been making my plans for my trip to Canada where I’ll be in just 4 weeks.  Wow, the time is flying by again.  So far I have my accommodations sorted but I still have some transportation issues for March while I’m in Hammonds Plains and there is such horrible transit service there.  I’ve got a lot of running around to do but I’m sure that will all work out.

Last weekend I helped Igor again at Shelter Plus and I have also tagged along to visit the girls at Sunshine Orphanage to spend quality time with them.  Lena T. has now started bringing the younger group to church as well.  On one visit with Katya and friends the girls helped to make an apple cake and they played games while it was baking.  I had my bag of candy with me and went over to the boys section to hand it out.

One of the things I would really like to do is to get something together to spend time with the boys who don’t get as many visitors.  These are the kids who I think need good role models the most, some good men to build relationships with them and to speak into their lives.  The boys all like sports but God didn’t give me an athlete’s body lol so I wouldn’t be much good that way.  I have one idea of maybe getting a movie night together at the boy’s dorm with pizza and snacks.  Then to make “guy talk” less awkward for the boys I need to find at least one male translator.  There are fewer male translators than females here and it’s very hard to find one who is not busy.  Believe me, not being fluent or understanding much Russian is very frustrating.  I can read and sound out words but most of the time I have no idea what I’m reading.  However, I am starting to pick out more words from a conversation and my charades continue to improve.

Yesterday I went with Katya again and James, this time to Boarding School no. 4 where I had never been before.  It is quite a ways from our region, at least 45 minutes to an hour by marshrutka.  (Krivoy Rog is Europe’s longest city at 126 km.)  This is a group who looked to be in their early teens.  We spent time with them just hanging out and doing crafts and James made some of his balloon creations for them.

So that’s what I’ve been up to lately.  If you would like to help with my support or to help me to sponsor some activities please click the LinK 127 donations link at the right side of the blog to donate on line or you can mail a donation to the address below.  Please remember to specify that the donation is for me.  You can also set up a monthly sponsorship.  Canadian donations are tax deductible and every dollar counts towards showing love to those that need to see love in action. 

Thank you for your prayers and support and thank you for seeing my heart.  Till next time… Я люблю тебя!

LinK 127

34 Wynn Castle Dr.

Lower Sackville, NS

Canada B4E 2H5

At church with the younger girl's group

Soooo tasty!

Crafts at No. 4 Boarding School

Every night lately these 2 birds have been sleeping right outside my window, even in the snow.

It Seems So Quiet Now

This past week was a lot quieter compared with the previous 2 weeks of being busy with McJoyful Christmas.  On Monday it was Christmas Day so I went to church and then I finally had time to go to the grocery store.  (The stores here don’t close for any holiday.)  Then for the next few days I did very little while my body caught up with itself with some much needed rest.  On Friday Yura had his birthday party here at the apartment.  One thing Ukrainians have over Canadians is that they know how to throw a party and how to have a good time…all without booze.  The whole living room was taken up with a table big enough for 15.  (Ukrainians also know how to move around really well in tight spaces.) It was a crazy night full of lots of food, fun and many laughs.

On Saturday Lena T., Turat and I went to visit some of the girls at Sunshine Orphanage and took a cake for one of the girls who had a birthday this week.  Then today at church there was a Christmas party at church for kids from various orphanages sponsored by True Hope Ukraine.  There were a LOT of kids there.  I was standing in the aisle talking to someone when a large group of kids arrived, all of whom recognized me from McJoyful.  I felt like one of the greeters for a moment.  I also thought it was so nice that they remembered that I speak English and said hello to me in English.

That’s pretty much all of the goings on for this week.  This coming week I hope to get some more things in place for various activities now that Christmas is over, including more definite plans for my trip to Canada next month.

If you would like to help with my support or to help sponsor some activities here please click the LinK 127 donations link at the right side of the blog to donate on line or you can mail a donation to the address below.  Please remember to specify that the donation is for me.  You can also set up a monthly sponsorship.  Canadian donations are tax deductible and every dollar counts towards showing love to those that need to see love in action. 

Thank you for your prayers and support and thank you for seeing my heart.  Till next time… Я люблю тебя!

LinK 127

34 Wynn Castle Dr.

Lower Sackville, NS

Canada B4E 2H5

One more McJoyful picture...for the withdrawals

The silly hat made another appearance.

The kids' Christmas party at church

Merry (Orthodox) Christmas!!

Today is Christmas Eve here and last night it snowed making everything look like a winter wonderland adding to the mood of the season.  Yesterday we finished McJoyful Christmas.  We are all very tired but still very happy to have been a part of this amazing event which served about 2000 orphans, disabled and disadvantaged folks.  It was such a joy and an awesome privilege.  Now it’s a day or two of sleep (if that’s possible over Christmas) and then back to the “regular” stuff after the holiday.

I also soon have to make plans for my trip to Canada next month.  Right now I’m a little overwhelmed at the logistics that need to fall into place.  I have the return ticket where I arrive in Halifax on February 26^th and then leave again June 6^th.  It’s just everything in between that’s still not figured out – like a place to stay, arranging to get my personal running around done, finding funding for eating and to continue this calling, and so on and so on.  But I know that will all come together at the right time, and that God didn’t pull off a lot of miracles to have me do this to begin with only to leave me in Canada standing in the middle of the road so to speak.

While I am in Halifax I would be happy to come to your church or community group or even your house with your friends to share my experiences of life “on the road.”  Just let me know if you're interested and we can make arrangements.  There’s not much new news to tell right now as McJoyful has been all of the latest news up to now.  I’ll just post a few more pictures that speak for themselves.

If you would like to help with my support or my work here please click the LinK 127 donations link at the right side of the blog to donate on line or you can mail a donation to the address below.  Please remember to specify that the donation is for me.  You can also set up a monthly sponsorship.  Canadian donations are tax deductible and every dollar counts.

Please continue to keep me in your prayers.  Thank you for your support and for seeing my heart.  Till next time…Я люблю тебя!

LinK 127

34 Wynn Castle Dr.
Lower Sackville, NS
Canada B4E 2H5

I would like to wish all my friends and family in Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and our Orthodox family a very merry Christmas!!   

С Рождеством Христовым!!

This is when we took McJoyful to the TB hospital.  I even wore the silly hat.  Other days while we were at the restaurant there were simultaneous McJoyful deliveries going on to the disabled homes for those who can't get to the restaurant.

Things can get a little silly sometimes at McJoyful...well okay...a lot of the time.  My hat doesn't look quite as silly now.

Happy McJoyful New Year!!

This past week has been a VERY busy week with the 1^st week of McJoyful Christmas and what a blast we’ve been having!! 

For the 3 people who don’t know what McJoyful Christmas is, this is where Loads of Love raises money take the kids from the orphanages, boarding schools, the kids’ rehab centre, as well as the disabled homes in Krivoy Rog to McDonald’s to have a birthday party for Jesus.  For most this will be the only celebration they’ll have for Christmas and it is a huge highlight of their year.  They are also supplied with a year's worth of vitamins.  At the end of the event we’ll have taken over 2000 kids to McDonald’s for Happy Meals, games and to be told the Christmas story.

During one of our groups this week the power went out at the restaurant as we were finishing up with one of the groups.  It just happened that the McDonald’s staff had JUST finished making the order for the next group which was the last group before our lunch break.  So we continued on in the dark and after lunch we resumed again at the other McDonald’s down the street. 

I just can’t say enough how amazing and how wonderful the staff at both McDonald’s in Krivoy Rog are.  I have been with different groups in both restaurants over this past year and they always make it so easy for us and treat us so well.   They are the best!!

We’re taking a 2 day break for New Year’s and resume again on January 2^nd and go till Christmas Eve (January 6^th).  We are all very tired but yet very happy to be a part of this amazing event.  I’ll let the sampling of photos speak for themselves.

Happy New Year!!!  С Новым годом!!!

Me in my wise man costume with gifts in gold boxes.

What's a birthday party without balloons...

...and party games?

This represents Jesus' birthday cake

One of the games is to put as many "candles" on the cake within a certain time and then be the fastest to eat them without using hands.

Playing games in the dark with some of our friends from Boorie Ooglie...

...and then after lunch at the other McDonald's