Odds and Ends

I love the month of April!!! Even in Kazakhstan it is Spring time and love is in the air (as well as a lot of dust and the beginning of pollen season). The two most important women in my life were born this month. Mahana, our beautiful daughter was born in Florida on April 9th - which was also her Chinese Grandfather's birthday. Viviane, my eternal companion, was born in Tahiti on April 28th. I found this sign carved in the river ice during one of our walks. The sign will eventually melt (although it does take a while in this part of the world) but my love for these two daughters of God will last for Eternity!!


Today while doing some errands we saw these men walking in traffic. No drivers slowed down or seemed to care much. There were no safety cones, the lanes were not blocked, and no police to block traffic. So we watched a bit to see what they were doing. They had a long rope that was stretched out with someone standing on each end to keep it tight - while traffic went back and forth across it. Another man walked the length of the rope with some chalk to mark the rope line. We assume that this is in preparation for painting traffic lines on the street. Once the line was marked they took one end and walked the length of the rope to mark another section. Very high tech!!















We met a young man in an office supply store as we were trying to buy supplies for our wheelchair training. He spoke a bit of English and so we gave him our business card and invited him to come to English Club if he wanted to practice his English. That was 2 weeks ago. Since then he has called us many times, texted us many times, and been to our apartment twice on Monday evenings for his own English practice (he works during the time we usually hold English practice). He is such a nice young man. His name is Shakarim and he comes from a small village in south central Kazakhstan. It will be interesting to see where this relationship goes.

Last week we went with our wheelchair project partner (standing next to me in red) to visit with a handicapped lady from a city (Kostanay about 740 km NE of Astana) that will receive some of the 500 wheelchairs and a delegation of handicapped from Japan. The Japanese were here to share life experiences as handicapped with the Kazakhs. It was a fun and humbling meeting. The lady in the wheelchair on the left is Kazakh and does ballroom dancing in her chair. The lady on the right in the wheelchair is Japanese and has written 11 books and as a result of this trip is going to write a book about their shared experiences as handicapped in their societies.

Viviane is back in Primary!! She is the president, teacher, and music leader for our two primary children - Noah and Olivia Craig. They are very well taught and trained in their home. Olivia is 5 years old and reads at a 4th grade level and loves to read the scriptures. We have no reverence problem and staff turnover is nil. So far we have 100% attendance. The spirit they bring to our small church group is amazing. They are surrounded by Grandmas who love them.


Life is good for us as missionaries. No matter what the frustrations and issues with our projects or with the government religious laws, we are able to see the Lord's influence in His work as He opens doors and hearts - including our own hearts - and puts people in our path that He wants to bless. As we recognize and respond to these opportunities, we are richly blessed.

Some international proverbs ...

Holland -The windmill doesn’t care for the wind that’s gone past.

China – A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.

Kazakhstan – All that you have seen in the nest will be helpful during the flight.