A Home of Hope

In the fall we learned that three of the children from one of our orphanages were taken into a foster home with 8 other children.  This came as a surprise to me, as foster care is pretty new here and there are very few people who are taking children into their homes, let alone this many.  The other interesting fact is that these three children were all special needs children.  When I hear about a situation like this, there is always a slight tendency for me to doubt the authenticity of the family.  I wonder what it is in it for them.  I wonder what they plan to do with the children.  Thankfully, in this case I was so completely wrong.

Last week we went to see our children to see if the foster mother and father would allow us to continue sponsoring them.  We were ushered into the dining room.  As we sat at the table, they slowly brought many of their children into the room.  Several of them had to be carried, due to physical disabilities that prevented them being able to walk.  Two of our boys were helping with the younger children.  It was so fun to see them already fitting in with the family.  They seem to be very happy.

I was amazed at this husband and wife. They have grown children of their own, but have taken in 11 children with disabilities and made them part of their family.  What impressed me the most was their love for the children and the way they have already taught them to be able to do things for themselves.  The mother and one of our boys are in Almaty now looking into a surgery he needs.  While they are there, they are picking up another brother who just had surgery.

I am so thankful to this family for showing me how hope is fostered.  I was challenged by the softness of their hearts and their willingness to see a problem and do something.  I want to take this opportunity to learn how to love better as a result of this great example.  

Catching Up

I am getting settled back into life in Kazakhstan.  This week has mostly been spent catching up with people and trying to get the office computers operational again.  Most of our computers apparently decided to try to die a slow death while I was gone.  We also have to take our copier in for service tomorrow.  I spent half a day trying to troubleshoot the problem, but was unsuccessful.  The bad thing is this is the only copier with a finisher in town, so the person fixing it is learning everything for the first time.  We are hoping to get it fixed before we have to prepare for delegations.  I figured I'd give you a list of some of the highlights of some of the last few weeks.  It's really good to be back home in Kazakhstan, although my body is still trying to get on the right schedule.

• Spending time with family and friends in the States
• My cousin Jeff came to MT to visit and he, Steve (my brother-in-law) and I got to go skiing.  I was glad I hadn't forgotten everything in the 10 years since my last trip down a mountain.  I was also super thankful I didn't break anything before the flight.  It was probably one of my most enjoyable times skiing because the slopes were empty.  The windchill was between -5 and -11 at one point.  
• Eating besparmak with my Kazakh family when I returned 
• Seeing everyone here in Kazakhstan again
• Babysitting my niece
• Celebrating a friends birthday
• Helping Comfort with some projects at her business
• Decorating my apartment with pictures I took and Comfort printed for me as a Christmas gift
• Watching football with my family
• New Years with Comfort, Steve, and Nivi
• Making sushi with my family
• Finding actual rice cakes (not wheat cakes) in the store today
• Finding out the road to Almaty is now open, which means nice roads and a quick trip
• Learning IKEA has come to Almaty
• Delivering a camera to a boarding school for children with disabilities here in Taraz 

Now that I am settled, I will get back to posting more regularly and will make sure I share some funny stories.