Day 8, Karakastek/last day

We headed out this morning for our last day of painting.  We stopped at the bazaar in Uzynagash to get some lightbulbs to replace the burned out ones in the bedrooms we painted.  While we were there everyone was able to do a little shopping.  We got track suits, Kazakh traditional dresses and hats, etc.  The merchants had never seen Americans at the bazaar before so it was fun to see them get so excited to serve us.  We got some great deals.

We arrived at the orphanage and delegated the work that needed to be done.  Two people to each room to do a second coat of paint and two people to the room that had not been painted yet.  It went by so fast, it was amazing.  On day one we knew there was no way we would finish but Praise the Lord on day 3 we were done and cleaned up by 4 pm, and we even got to play with the babies for an hour.

By the second day the babies were excited to see us and today, day 3, they were crying when we left.  It is such a sad place. No love, no stimulation but I do have to say that the children looked healthier and "meatier" than last year.  Even the babies looked better and some even had little chub rolls.  I believe the water filtration systems we installed has made a huge difference along with the vitamins.  The nutrients they are able to get are being absorbed.

A few of the children cried before we said goodbye, and of course the entire team was crying.  Before we left the orphanage we prayed over it and the children.  It was my favorite moment of the whole week.  We all sobbed as we lifted up these precious babies in this orphanage and all the other children we visited.  It was a very emotional time for all involved.  As we headed out I thought I know we can't change the way they live as a whole but this week we changed the world they live in.  It is now bright and beautiful, full of life and color.

On the two hour ride home we all talked about our favorite moments of the trip.  Everyone had a different moment and it was so awesome to hear but the common was that we started off as a team and ended up as a family.

We hit the Tsum store for some souvenirs and then out to our last dinner.  After that we headed back to the hotel to pack.  We left around 1:00 am for our 3:30 am flight out of Almaty.  Our flights were awesome (long but smooth) and we are now in Chicago.  This is where we all said goodbye.  Sad but all of us are ready to see our family and sleep in our own beds!

This week was physically and emotionally hard for every member of our team and our friends in Kazakhstan that traveled with us.  We have the most amazing in-country team.  This week we ate horse, played with over 300 orphans, replaced bed covers and curtains, took a Soviet train, painted 7 huge rooms in 3 days, built murals out of wall decals and paint, bonded as a family, laughed, cried and drank lots of tea, ate wonderful food and lots of it, got slammed in doors of elevators, hardly got to talk to our family in the US because of bad WiFi, slept less than 5 hours most nights, were treated with the utmost hospitality, listened to the Dombra being played, saw orphanages that were wonderful and some that were not so great, came within inches of car wrecks, shopped at village bazaars, danced and saw men cry and most importantly, brought glory to God.  I am sure that I did not mention everything but in a nut shell, that was our week.

This week would not have been possible without all of you!  We want to thank everyone who supported this trip, whether it was by sending donations, financially, spiritually or emotionally.  We felt your prayers.  We are so grateful for the 7 other people that sacrificed their time and money to join us as we were the hands and feet of Jesus by making a difference in the lives of these orphans.

We are forever grateful.

Day 7, Karakastek

Today we headed out to the baby house again.  As soon as we arrived we started painting.  We had 3 people cutting in so we didn't have to tape and the others were working on the murals and rolling the walls.  It was so much fun to watch God at work.  We weren't sure we would be able to finish all the rooms in 2 days.  It went so fast.  We were able to finish 5 and half rooms before we left!

The walls are in very bad shape.  They are moldy, covered in mildew and the plaster is peeling.  The windows are rotting out.  They are replacing the windows and the linoleum but it needs so much more work.  My prayer for this orphanage is that it shuts down.  I hate to be so blunt, but that is what it really needs.

The painting and wall decals have brightened up the rooms a lot and it actually looks beautiful.  The colors we painted are pink, blue, green, yellow, purple and orange.  It has been so fun to work with everyone on our team.  We have laughed constantly and there never has been a dully moment.

At one point during the day Lance and I were painting the yellow room (which is the room my youngest daughter was in) and I heard a single baby crying on the floor above us.  It was so so surreal that these children have no one.  I wanted to run to the baby and comfort it.  The emotions are so strong here for all of us.  We have cried through our smiles and yearned to bring every single child home.

While we were there a thunderstorm came through and the entire 3rd floor, the baby floor with about 30 children, started to cry.  It makes me so sad to know there are no adoptions going on right now and these children are probably destined to life here.

Around 5pm we went to play with the toddler and older children.  Today was much better with them.  We gave them all hot wheels, cookies and bananas.  They were more engaged and open with us.  They laughed, giggled and played.  It was a much harder day to leave them.  Seeing the children who were babies last year (when we were here building the playground) was especially difficult.

We left the orphanage around 8pm and headed to dinner at The Patio, pizza and sushi.  We got back to the hotel around midnight.  Tomorrow we head out for our last day at the orphanage.

Keep praying for our team.  Thank you for all the encouragement and comments.

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Day 6, Karakastek

As soon as the train arrived in Almaty we headed straight to the hotel to shower and ate then got back on the road by 11 am.  We are exhausted but still running strong.  This trip has been very physically exhausting.  Not so much from working but all of the traveling has been hard on us.

We headed to Karakastek, a 2 hour (one way) drive.  The orphanage has 42 children, ages birth to 4. We stopped in Uzynagash to buy cookies and bananas, and arrived at the orphanage around 1 pm. The toddler kids were sleeping so we delivered donations (we brought slippers, blankets, hoodies, Desitin, pajamas, medicine and snowsuits) and went to play with the babies.  They were so dirty, this is the worst orphanage we have visited out of the 5, by far.  Everyone loved on the babies until we were "spoken to" for stimulating them too much and whisked away.

We had lunch in the kitchen, it was very hard for us to eat because of the smell and lack of cleanliness of the orphanage.  Then we started scraping and peeling paint, prepping walls, and hanging murals.  When we are finished the walls are going to look so beautiful and give some much needed color to this place.  We are praying it will help the children with sensory issues, they need it badly.

Before we left we went to play with the toddlers.  They were locked in their room by themselves, banging their heads and crying.  We brought bananas and they shoved them in their mouths as fast as they could, most cried when they couldn't have another.  Some were even trying to eat the peels.  It was heartbreaking to watch and disturbed us all.  We all wanted to stick every one of them in our pockets and take them home.

Remember the babies we are trying to bring to the United States for life-saving surgery?  This orphanage is where they live.  We met the girl and took video and photos for the doctors in the states.  Please keep praying we can bring her to America.  She is in desperate needs of this surgery.

The boy has already had emergency surgery here because his situation has worsened.  The surgery was last week and he has been moved out of intensive care.  He is doing well.  Please continue to play for both of these children.

The orphanage director and the staff loved looking at the family pictures and seeing how much the children have grown!

After Karakastek we went to have Chinese food with some local friends.  We wet a lady today who works as the Kazakhstan country manager for the SPOON Foundation.  Her name is Saida and she is a beautiful, wonderful lady.  We learned all about the great things SPOON is doing with nutrition in the orphanages.  They have changed the menus in the orphanages with much resistance at first but now they love the change. Currently they have 8 orphanages on vitamins and new menus.  Some have both, some only have one. SPOON was told from an orphanage that receives both that the children are much less sick.  It really is much needed and a great program for these babies.

Tomorrow we head back to Karakastek to start our painting.  We have 7 rooms to get done in 2 days.  Pray we get it done and cleaned up so the babies can move back into their rooms!

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Day 5, Taraz photos

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