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Thursday, September 29, 2011
40 Days of Prayer, day 2
Day 2: "Today, pray for your Pastor to have guidance and provision as he seeks to follow the Lord's command to care for the orphans."
Did you know that the Bible mentions the importance of caring for the fatherless more than 60 times?! Christians needs to stand together and care for the orphan. We need to visit them in their distress. And it starts at church.
Churches are the most influential source of care and support. Orphan care is being provided through the church in many areas. Orphans continue to receive the best care when the local church, in collaboration with other partners, is at the foundation of program development. As the distribution center for hope in a community, the local church is positioned to identify needs and support interventions for orphan care.
The Church is the Hope for the Orphan. The Church has:
1. The largest participation
2. The widest distribution
3. The simplest administration
4. The fastest expansion
5. The longest continuation
6. The strongest authorization
7. The highest motivation.
(Saddleback Church Orphan Care Initiative)
It is time for churches to rise up make answering the call to care for children without families a priority. Pastors and the leadership of your local church need to understand that God's heart is clearly for the fatherless and doing nothing is a sin.
Did you know that the Bible mentions the importance of caring for the fatherless more than 60 times?! Christians needs to stand together and care for the orphan. We need to visit them in their distress. And it starts at church.
Churches are the most influential source of care and support. Orphan care is being provided through the church in many areas. Orphans continue to receive the best care when the local church, in collaboration with other partners, is at the foundation of program development. As the distribution center for hope in a community, the local church is positioned to identify needs and support interventions for orphan care.
The Church is the Hope for the Orphan. The Church has:
1. The largest participation
2. The widest distribution
3. The simplest administration
4. The fastest expansion
5. The longest continuation
6. The strongest authorization
7. The highest motivation.
(Saddleback Church Orphan Care Initiative)
It is time for churches to rise up make answering the call to care for children without families a priority. Pastors and the leadership of your local church need to understand that God's heart is clearly for the fatherless and doing nothing is a sin.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Day 5, Taraz
We all had a much needed good nights sleep. We have not been too bad with the jet lag but always hit a wall around 3 pm. We got up and left for the orphanage at 9:30 am. Once we arrived we started to get ready for our volleyball tournament. We walked over to the school but were told the children could not play because they were not allowed to leave school. Another "go with the flow" moment.
We walked back to the orphanage and played with the children that were not in school. Kiefer got involved in a soccer game, those boys are good! Lori played with a little girl named Tanya who she wanted to put in her pocket and take home. Emily was the one all of the kids swarmed around wanting to play Angry Birds on her iPad. We stayed for another hour or so and then headed to the Umit baby house.
We were greeted at Umit by the Deputy in charge because the director is under investigation for some very bad things. This woman has been the deputy for a long time and recognized the children in the pictures we brought by their Kazakh names. Thank you to the families that took the time to send pictures of your children. She looked through the pictures at least 10 times while we were there and commented many times on how beautiful the children are. She thanked us for the donations (we brought Bumbos, sleepers, snowsuits, hats and hoodies) and told us to tell the families that she wishes you health and happiness.
There are 100 children at Umit right now. We had about 45 minutes to play with a group of 4-5 year olds. These children are gorgeous! They were very well taken care of and most of them were even chubby! We were very impressed with how clean and well groomed they were. They were all pretty quiet and really weren't sure what to do with the toys, they were almost like soldiers. You can tell they don't interact with the outside world a lot.
After leaving Umit we went to eat pizza and did some souvenir shopping then headed back to the house to pack. For dinner we had Plov, yummy(!!) then headed to the train station.
We are on the train now. This train is not as nice as the other one and I am pretty sure it was built in the 1800's. Two very drunk women wanted to pay us to sleep on the floor of the train! Let me just say, the facilities are not usable!
One hour left until we arrive in Almaty then we head straight to Karakastek to start painting.
Keep up the prayers, we are feeling them on this side of the world!
Pictures coming as soon as I can download them.
(For regular updates and more pictures, please "like" us on facebook)
We walked back to the orphanage and played with the children that were not in school. Kiefer got involved in a soccer game, those boys are good! Lori played with a little girl named Tanya who she wanted to put in her pocket and take home. Emily was the one all of the kids swarmed around wanting to play Angry Birds on her iPad. We stayed for another hour or so and then headed to the Umit baby house.
We were greeted at Umit by the Deputy in charge because the director is under investigation for some very bad things. This woman has been the deputy for a long time and recognized the children in the pictures we brought by their Kazakh names. Thank you to the families that took the time to send pictures of your children. She looked through the pictures at least 10 times while we were there and commented many times on how beautiful the children are. She thanked us for the donations (we brought Bumbos, sleepers, snowsuits, hats and hoodies) and told us to tell the families that she wishes you health and happiness.
There are 100 children at Umit right now. We had about 45 minutes to play with a group of 4-5 year olds. These children are gorgeous! They were very well taken care of and most of them were even chubby! We were very impressed with how clean and well groomed they were. They were all pretty quiet and really weren't sure what to do with the toys, they were almost like soldiers. You can tell they don't interact with the outside world a lot.
After leaving Umit we went to eat pizza and did some souvenir shopping then headed back to the house to pack. For dinner we had Plov, yummy(!!) then headed to the train station.
We are on the train now. This train is not as nice as the other one and I am pretty sure it was built in the 1800's. Two very drunk women wanted to pay us to sleep on the floor of the train! Let me just say, the facilities are not usable!
One hour left until we arrive in Almaty then we head straight to Karakastek to start painting.
Keep up the prayers, we are feeling them on this side of the world!
Pictures coming as soon as I can download them.
(For regular updates and more pictures, please "like" us on facebook)
40 Days of Prayer, day 1
Today we are starting "40 Days of Prayer for Orphan Care."
40 Days of Prayer is a resource given out by the Christian Alliance for Orphans, creators of the Orphan Sunday movement. Please join us in praying for the fatherless for 40 days, ending on Orphan Sunday.
Pray alone when necessary and meet whenever possible to join together in agreement in prayer. Gather two or three (or more) people in a home or church or anywhere and the Lord will be with you and hear your prayers as it says in Matthew 18:20, "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of it."
We ask that today you pledge, along with everyone at Two Hearts, to commit to the next 40 days. You can pledge your support publicly by commenting on this post and helping us spread the word, or privately. Just commit.
Day one: "Today, pray that the Lord would give you a personal sense of responsibility for the next 40 days (and beyond) for praying for orphans, your pastor, your church, and your community. Ask Him to break your heart for the orphans. Ask that He would help you see orphans with His eyes and His heart. Ask Him to use this 40 days of prayer to change you and your church."
Orphan Sunday 2011 from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.
40 Days of Prayer is a resource given out by the Christian Alliance for Orphans, creators of the Orphan Sunday movement. Please join us in praying for the fatherless for 40 days, ending on Orphan Sunday.
Pray alone when necessary and meet whenever possible to join together in agreement in prayer. Gather two or three (or more) people in a home or church or anywhere and the Lord will be with you and hear your prayers as it says in Matthew 18:20, "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of it."
We ask that today you pledge, along with everyone at Two Hearts, to commit to the next 40 days. You can pledge your support publicly by commenting on this post and helping us spread the word, or privately. Just commit.
Day one: "Today, pray that the Lord would give you a personal sense of responsibility for the next 40 days (and beyond) for praying for orphans, your pastor, your church, and your community. Ask Him to break your heart for the orphans. Ask that He would help you see orphans with His eyes and His heart. Ask Him to use this 40 days of prayer to change you and your church."
Orphan Sunday 2011 from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Day 4, Taraz
We arrived in Taraz at 4:40 am and were quickly taken to the house by our driver. The train ride was great, most of us slept and the facilities were fine. Once at the house some of the team went back to sleep, some took showers and drank coffee. Around 9:30 am the driver arrived to take us to Ulan, about a 15 minute drive.
Ulan is home to 97 mostly healthy orphans between the ages of 3-17. There are 18 special needs children. Most of the children are "true" orphans and have no parents. The children here are all Kazakh.
When we arrived we were greeted by several children dressed in their beautiful Kazakh attire handing us bread and pastries. All of us were overwhelmed with emotion, it was truly beautiful. Our team was then interviewed by a journalist for the local Taraz newspaper. The journalist interviewed the team members that have children born in Kazakhstan and their siblings.
We then went to watch a "mini concert" that the children specially prepared for us. We saw singing, dancing, drama and more. Of course I cried through most of it because I could not shake the overwhelming feeling that these beautiful children had no parents to perform for.
In true Kaz mission trip style, we had a "go with the flow" moment when we arrived here and were told that all the beds had already been put together. Plans changed and so we visited every room to put new bed covers on and hang curtains. The children were so appreciative about the beds and covers and thanked us many times. The children are being taught English and loved practicing with us.
We were invited to a traditional Kazakh meal of Bishparmak that the children helped prepare. It was outstanding. The hospitality was wonderful. Over lunch the Director talked to us about how the orphanage runs. She teaches the children life skills, anything from doing their own laundry to cooking their own food. You can tell just by speaking to her how deeply she cares for her kids. She cried through about half of our conversation, especially when talking about the kids not having parents.
After lunch we handed out donations and went to play with the kids. We let each girl pick out her own doll and each boy pick a Beanie Baby and Hot Wheels toy. They also picked enough candy to rot their teeth for months! We painted faces and arms, played hopscotch, soccer and duck-duck goose. The children loved the one-on-one attention. One little girl even cried when Lance had to leave. It was sad but it did not feel hopeless there. We felt like there was a lot of hope for the kids with such a wonderful director.
We left Ulan and headed around town to see a few sites, including some beautiful parks. We then went to dinner (because we had hardly eaten, hahahahaha). Once again we were served like kings. We had Greek salad, Manti, bread, homemade jam and pickles, and tea. We ate a lot and all felt like penguins. Ayman played the guitar and sang to us. We laughed more tonight than I have in a long time.
It was a fantastic day of serving our God and bonding!
Tomorrow we have a volleyball tournament in the morning...the Americans verses the Kazakhs (children of Ulan). Wish us luck, they are one athletic bunch!
Thank you for your continued prayers!
(For regular updates and more pictures, please "like" us on facebook)
Ulan is home to 97 mostly healthy orphans between the ages of 3-17. There are 18 special needs children. Most of the children are "true" orphans and have no parents. The children here are all Kazakh.
When we arrived we were greeted by several children dressed in their beautiful Kazakh attire handing us bread and pastries. All of us were overwhelmed with emotion, it was truly beautiful. Our team was then interviewed by a journalist for the local Taraz newspaper. The journalist interviewed the team members that have children born in Kazakhstan and their siblings.
We then went to watch a "mini concert" that the children specially prepared for us. We saw singing, dancing, drama and more. Of course I cried through most of it because I could not shake the overwhelming feeling that these beautiful children had no parents to perform for.
In true Kaz mission trip style, we had a "go with the flow" moment when we arrived here and were told that all the beds had already been put together. Plans changed and so we visited every room to put new bed covers on and hang curtains. The children were so appreciative about the beds and covers and thanked us many times. The children are being taught English and loved practicing with us.
We were invited to a traditional Kazakh meal of Bishparmak that the children helped prepare. It was outstanding. The hospitality was wonderful. Over lunch the Director talked to us about how the orphanage runs. She teaches the children life skills, anything from doing their own laundry to cooking their own food. You can tell just by speaking to her how deeply she cares for her kids. She cried through about half of our conversation, especially when talking about the kids not having parents.
After lunch we handed out donations and went to play with the kids. We let each girl pick out her own doll and each boy pick a Beanie Baby and Hot Wheels toy. They also picked enough candy to rot their teeth for months! We painted faces and arms, played hopscotch, soccer and duck-duck goose. The children loved the one-on-one attention. One little girl even cried when Lance had to leave. It was sad but it did not feel hopeless there. We felt like there was a lot of hope for the kids with such a wonderful director.
We left Ulan and headed around town to see a few sites, including some beautiful parks. We then went to dinner (because we had hardly eaten, hahahahaha). Once again we were served like kings. We had Greek salad, Manti, bread, homemade jam and pickles, and tea. We ate a lot and all felt like penguins. Ayman played the guitar and sang to us. We laughed more tonight than I have in a long time.
It was a fantastic day of serving our God and bonding!
Tomorrow we have a volleyball tournament in the morning...the Americans verses the Kazakhs (children of Ulan). Wish us luck, they are one athletic bunch!
Thank you for your continued prayers!
(For regular updates and more pictures, please "like" us on facebook)
Monday, September 26, 2011
Day 2 and 3, Chilik
(Sorry no photos, I am blogging from the train)
When we arrived we were all surprised at how beautiful it was. They have gardens and a beautiful playground. The children were outside riding bikes and sitting in strollers. We met them all. One little boy that captured all of our hearts was 5 years old and had Down's Syndrome. He appeared to be the size of a 12 month old and probably weighed 12 pounds but he is very well taken care of and so happy.
For our tour of the baby rooms we had to put on gowns and masks. It is a happy place with beautiful rooms and wonderful caregivers. You could tell that they loved these children. The first room we visited was the cerebral palsy room. There were about 6-8 children in this room laying around. They were not crying and the room appeared to be very clean. They have a therapist that comes in to work with them twice a week to help build their physical strength.
There was one boy that I recognized from Karakastek last year. He has a cleft/lip palate, heart defect and cerebral palsy. He cannot have surgery because he is too weak. Please pray for him to get stronger so he can have surgery to repair his defects.
Next we headed to the toddler room. At least half of our team fell in love; Lori with a boy that was healthy but emotionally shut down, almost mute and me with a girl that is 3 1/2 and healthy but her birth mother has schizophrenia. Because of this, this sweet little girl is destined to spend her life in an orphanage. Lance was making a very sweet boy with Down's giggle while Susan loved on a girl with Encepholopathy (which is a diagnosis they give kids when they don't really know what they have) but she looked perfectly healthy. Chris was with a boy that had Ptosis and was so very happy. Emily was sitting with the brother of Lori's new friend. This sweet boy has hydrocephalus and the boys are in the orphanage because their mother had died and father hung himself. Sean loved them all, what a sweet boy. Kiefer was the official camera man but I caught him playing so sweetly with a little girl.
We then saw the sensory room, medical rooms and headed to the Director's office to drop off our 6 bags of donations. She was overwhelmed with the generosity of everyone in America (thank YOU!). She did ask us to send her 100 mattresses covers, not the fitted ones but the ones that protect your mattresses from liquid that you lay on top of and underneath the sheet.
We then were taken to the room of new cribs we donated a few months ago. There are 36 new cribs and they are beautiful. The Director thanked us for the chance to take in more children.
After our visit we headed to lunch at a local restaurant and had lagman. It was FABULOUS. Then it was time to head back to Almaty for some souvenir shopping at the TSUM and dinner as a Turkish restaurant. We did not have any time to head back to the hotel before boarding the train so I did not get a chance to download photos.
The train is nice, clean and not too small. We are 2 in a room and there are 11 of us; our group, our coordinator and a local friend and her mother.
Tomorrow morning we are off to Ulan. We hear that we will be on TV at 10 am. I guess it's a pretty big deal what we are doing for them. Hopefully we will get a copy to show you all.
Thank you for the prayers, keep them coming. So far this trip has been life changing!
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Day 1, Almaty
Our team of 8 met in Chicago on Friday around 6 pm. Together we flew to Frankfurt and then on to Almaty. This time together was very significant for our team building. We were able to start bonding and get excited for our upcoming work. Our flights were great, service was good. The flight was rough from Frankfurt to Almaty and one team member, Lori, got sick.
We arrived in Almaty and got to our hotel around 3 am. We slept for 3 hours, had a wonderful breakfast, went to purchase paint supplies for Karakastek and then headed to church. It was so awesome to worship with other believers half way across the world. We all agree that singing and praising our Lord in Kazakhstan was the most awesome experience.
After church we went to eat Shashlik and headed to Ark Village, a private orphanage outside the city. Ark Village is run by a wonderful Italian man named Papa Guido. The village is home to 65 children. It is a beautiful place with lots of love but still a "Kazakh orphanage." The kids come to this orphanage many different ways. Some are dropped off and some arrive from government orphanages. 2 "new" boys (they have been there a year) were brought to the village because someone found them living with dogs, no one else. The village is run like a family. The children are happy, polite and they look and feel alive.
We handed out sidewalk chalk to the kids and they decorated the entire sidewalk without us prompting them. The loved the Beanie Babies and the chocolate was a huge hit!
Ark Village gets no government help. Papa Guido is trying to build a new house so he can house 20 more children. Being in his presence you can feel his love for these children and the way the children love him. He needs to continue doing his amazing work.
Tomorrow we are headed to Chilik, a special needs baby house 3 hours from Almaty. We started supporting them last September but this will be our first visit.
Please continue to pray with us, we are feeling them.
Love to you all,
Stacy and the team!
Enjoy the pictures
Friday, September 23, 2011
Lift off!
We are off to Kazakhstan!
Please keep Stacy, Chris, Lance, Emily, Susan, Sean, Lori and Keifer in your prayers as they travel the long distance to Kaz.
Pray that each team member is lifted up on this journey and their hearts are open to whatever the Lord has planned for them.
Pray for safe travel with no delays.
Pray for the team's health and safety.
Pray for everyone our team will meet in Kazakhstan, especially the children. Let the light of Jesus shine through each team member as we do His work.
Pray the Lord will bless the families of our team members and help them manage in their absence.
We go on mission trips for three main reasons: to create an awareness, build relationships, and to encourage personal and spiritual growth for all participants.
Pray the projects we have planned are able to help us accomplish these three main goals and that the work the Lord has called us to do will be done in a manner pleasing to Him.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
We are on our way!
Tomorrow Team 2 Hearts 2 Taraz leaves for Kazakhstan!
22 bags are packed with over 2000 items along 4-50lb boxes of medical supplies!
Included in those bags are:
Diaper rash cream
Blankets
Hoodies
Crayons
Art supplies
Shoes
Sleepers
Coats
Toothpaste
Toothbrushes
Pillowcases
Snowsuits
Dolls
Beanie Babies
Hot Wheels
Thank you to MediWish International for the 4 boxes of medical supplies. Some of the items included are:
Stethoscopes
Scissors
Catheters
Tongue depressors
Blood pressure monitors
Surgical instrument sets
Gauze
Bandages
Syringes
Pediatric Crutches
Pediatric leg braces
Dental supply kits
Walkers
IV's
Thermometers
Many, many thanks to our wonderful supporters who generously contributed to this trip. We could not have done it without each and every one of you:
Everyone that participate in and supported An Orphan's Hope 5K in 2010. It is because of you that we were able to purchase 100 new beds and mattresses!
Melissa Scott at Dream Prosperity
Mitch Arnold at Peace is the Goal
FillerFinds
Orphan Impact
Mismatched Molly's Boutique
The Warwick Family
The Nielsen Family
The Rossier Family
Miranda Nichols
The Meta Family
The Owens Family
Jim and Jinny O'Leary in honor of Adam Meta
The Clifford Family
Virginia Kreeft
The Ampleman Family
The Lyle Family
The Letterneau Family
The Roach Family in honor of Adam Meta
Jennifer Jeffries
The Sarandis Family
The Hansen Family
The Tague Family
The Dewitt Family
The Kudwa Family
The Floyd-Leggit Family
The Kitzman Family
The Siefer Family
The Rustan Family
The Bell Family
The Hollis Family
The Jenkins Family
Deborah Lawson
The Brown Family
Jody Yeh
Julia McKenzie
The Elrod Family
Maureen Powers
The Combs Family
The Milani Family
The Morrison Family
* If we spelled your name incorrectly or left some off the list by mistake, please email us at info@twoheartsforhope.org
Please remember to keep the team in your prayers! Updates will be posted regularly, don't forget to check back!
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