I’m sorry, my dear friends, for not writing for so long. More than two months are gone already since my last update. Many things happened. You all know some portions of them, but let me give you more details about our life. I said our since from now on my updates will talk about two people :)
WEDDING AND FAMILY LIFE
It was amazing time. I cannot even really say that it was so stressful. God took care of so many things through our friends, relatives and people whom we didn’t even know. That was a period filled with miracles. We started without any money or resources to have a wedding, but building was giving for free by our church, dress was free, rings were free and custom made, our friends were decorating, cooking, driving, we even received a lamb as a present for the banquet (which was really something I’ve never experienced before).
WEDDING AND FAMILY LIFE
It was amazing time. I cannot even really say that it was so stressful. God took care of so many things through our friends, relatives and people whom we didn’t even know. That was a period filled with miracles. We started without any money or resources to have a wedding, but building was giving for free by our church, dress was free, rings were free and custom made, our friends were decorating, cooking, driving, we even received a lamb as a present for the banquet (which was really something I’ve never experienced before).
One of biggest miracles was to see some of my best friends. I was so blessed that they were able to come. Of course, I wished to see many more people, but I realize that it is very hard to visit Kyrgyzstan.
Being surrounded by friends and miracles it wasn’t that stressful as it was described to me before. I wasn’t worried or scared. I was sure about my choice all the way and never had a doubt. The day of the wedding went by very fast. You wake up in the morning one person and in the evening you are totally different. When we were planning the wedding, we tried to get rid of different traditions and “rituals” that we didn’t like and didn’t want; as a result, we just had an official ceremony in the church in the morning and banquet in the evening.
Being surrounded by friends and miracles it wasn’t that stressful as it was described to me before. I wasn’t worried or scared. I was sure about my choice all the way and never had a doubt. The day of the wedding went by very fast. You wake up in the morning one person and in the evening you are totally different. When we were planning the wedding, we tried to get rid of different traditions and “rituals” that we didn’t like and didn’t want; as a result, we just had an official ceremony in the church in the morning and banquet in the evening.
The day after the wedding, we opened all the envelopes that were our wedding presents, went to the travel agency and in two days we were already in a hotel in Turkey. It was great to be away after the wedding just as much as it was great to be surrounded by people before and during the wedding. We spent amazing 10 days there, mostly sleeping and eating)) I think I gained about 4 kilos in these days, but I lost them very fast when we came back.
When we returned home, we still didn’t have the place where we were going to live, so we spent 5 days being homeless (sleeping hotels and at my mom’s house). It was “fun”. We were looking for an apartment, but prices are crazy right now in Bishkek (comparing to the salaries). For 300-350 dollars apartments looked similar to a dumpster, but with electricity. Finally, we found a two room apartment that we liked. It was in a good area, landlord was a nice lady and the conditions were ok. We decided that we will pray in the evening and make a decision next morning. So we did. God said to us that we should call that lady next morning. I dialed the number, reminded her who we are and said that we would like to rent the apartment, but she said that she just gave it another tenants. We very frustrated, mostly, by the fact that we knew God wanted us to call her. In five minutes she called back and said that she has another apartment for rent that just became available yesterday. We went to see it and fell in love with it. The apartment itself is ok, but the view from the windows is truly amazing!!! That is where we live now. (Needless to say that apartment is even better than the previous one. God is great and loves humor).
Another miracle is how we pay for the apartment. We could never afford it by ourselves, but we pay only 50$ and other 300 is paid by God.
So here I am. I married man with a place to live and a job that I like a lot. What else do you need? Human are bad in being happy with what they have. At least, I am. I often catch myself on the feeling that I want this or that. Maybe a better car, maybe a better food, maybe a better salary… It is a struggle. I can say that those moments, that I can get rid of “I want” and feel grateful for what I have, are the best moments. Be grateful, folks. Be grateful for every new day, be grateful for every new breath, be grateful for the things that you don’t own: for sun, for rain, for nature, for people around you because, in fact, you don’t own anything – everything is a gift to you from God.
When we returned home, we still didn’t have the place where we were going to live, so we spent 5 days being homeless (sleeping hotels and at my mom’s house). It was “fun”. We were looking for an apartment, but prices are crazy right now in Bishkek (comparing to the salaries). For 300-350 dollars apartments looked similar to a dumpster, but with electricity. Finally, we found a two room apartment that we liked. It was in a good area, landlord was a nice lady and the conditions were ok. We decided that we will pray in the evening and make a decision next morning. So we did. God said to us that we should call that lady next morning. I dialed the number, reminded her who we are and said that we would like to rent the apartment, but she said that she just gave it another tenants. We very frustrated, mostly, by the fact that we knew God wanted us to call her. In five minutes she called back and said that she has another apartment for rent that just became available yesterday. We went to see it and fell in love with it. The apartment itself is ok, but the view from the windows is truly amazing!!! That is where we live now. (Needless to say that apartment is even better than the previous one. God is great and loves humor).
Another miracle is how we pay for the apartment. We could never afford it by ourselves, but we pay only 50$ and other 300 is paid by God.
So here I am. I married man with a place to live and a job that I like a lot. What else do you need? Human are bad in being happy with what they have. At least, I am. I often catch myself on the feeling that I want this or that. Maybe a better car, maybe a better food, maybe a better salary… It is a struggle. I can say that those moments, that I can get rid of “I want” and feel grateful for what I have, are the best moments. Be grateful, folks. Be grateful for every new day, be grateful for every new breath, be grateful for the things that you don’t own: for sun, for rain, for nature, for people around you because, in fact, you don’t own anything – everything is a gift to you from God.
LIGHTHOUSE
Last time when I wrote an update, we were preparing to train another group of mentors for teenagers from the orphanage. In March just before the wedding, we finished the training, and we have two groups. Actually, we are planning to have our third training for mentors in the end of this week. I’m more than excited to have another training. Also, there are already children that are waiting for their mentors. Also, we are praying about Kyzyl-Kija – a small town on another side of our country. We plan to start a group of mentors there. It is a hard place to work since the town is full of drugs and criminal activity, but the need there is great, and we praying about it for a while already. We are now looking for a potential staff member there that will become our coordinators there, and thinking about flying there in the second half of June. That is how our program is developing right now.
Last time when I wrote an update, we were preparing to train another group of mentors for teenagers from the orphanage. In March just before the wedding, we finished the training, and we have two groups. Actually, we are planning to have our third training for mentors in the end of this week. I’m more than excited to have another training. Also, there are already children that are waiting for their mentors. Also, we are praying about Kyzyl-Kija – a small town on another side of our country. We plan to start a group of mentors there. It is a hard place to work since the town is full of drugs and criminal activity, but the need there is great, and we praying about it for a while already. We are now looking for a potential staff member there that will become our coordinators there, and thinking about flying there in the second half of June. That is how our program is developing right now.
Also, many miracles happened to our finances. For about two month (February, March) we were sitting almost without money. Staff didn’t receive salaries and it was hard to pay the rent even for our tiny office. But we were praying, and God answered! One organization agreed to give us money for our project, some of you, my friends, decided that you want to become part of Lighthouse’s supporters. We are able to pay all the salaries, rent and other expenses now. We continue our fundraising, of course, since we are growing and soon will need to hire more staff, but crisis is definitely over.
Speaking about staff. Ieva will be leaving Kyrgyzstan first of July to start her own exciting project (which I won’t tell you about ask her). As a result, now we are looking for a psychologist on our team. We have a good candidate, who is now praying about working with us, as we pray about her too. Also, we are looking for a person who can work with marketing and fundraising. If you have experience in that area and crazy enough to work in Kyrgyzstan, tell me :D Also, soon we will be looking for another coordinator for our mentors since we are growing in number of them.
KING’S KIDS
That is one of my favorite part of my updates. This ministry that Ulyana and I are doing is truly a blessing to us. It is great to see how God works in the hearts of our teenagers, how they grow in their faith and mature in character. As I was telling you, we plan to go for a small mission trip in July with our KK teenagers. God clearly called us to go to Pakistan. We are a bit scared and more so excited. Not everyone will be able to go since some parents are not as excited as we are, and it is understandable. Yet, we are hoping for a team of at least 7 people. Right now we are trying to find good contacts with Christians in Pakistan and also starting to gather money for the trip. Even though, Kyrgyzstan is relatively not that far from Pakistan, there are no direct flights, so we need to fly through Abu-Dhabi which is expensive. But we believe that if God wants us to go, He will provide the means. As He always does.
We also renewed the gatherings for men that I do with teenagers from our group, and Ulyana started the same group for girls. We decided that we will do these gatherings every other Sunday, so we could use our apartment.
PRAYER NEEDS
We really appreciate all of you who pray for us, our work and ministries. If you want a more specific things you can pray for, I made this list:
For Lighthouse:
- For our new group of mentors
- For new group in Kyzyl-Kija
- For new staff members
- For finances
- For Ieva and her way that God showed to her
For King’s Kids:
- For our teenagers
- For our trip to Pakistan
o Contacts there
o Finances
o Permissions from the parents
- For our gatherings for boys and girls
For our family:
- For Ulyana to have more projects with graphic design
- For our car that gets broken all the time (to fix or buy a reliable one)
- For us to grow in love toward each other and be the light to other families
- For my parents (they are fighting again over family business)
Speaking about staff. Ieva will be leaving Kyrgyzstan first of July to start her own exciting project (which I won’t tell you about ask her). As a result, now we are looking for a psychologist on our team. We have a good candidate, who is now praying about working with us, as we pray about her too. Also, we are looking for a person who can work with marketing and fundraising. If you have experience in that area and crazy enough to work in Kyrgyzstan, tell me :D Also, soon we will be looking for another coordinator for our mentors since we are growing in number of them.
KING’S KIDS
That is one of my favorite part of my updates. This ministry that Ulyana and I are doing is truly a blessing to us. It is great to see how God works in the hearts of our teenagers, how they grow in their faith and mature in character. As I was telling you, we plan to go for a small mission trip in July with our KK teenagers. God clearly called us to go to Pakistan. We are a bit scared and more so excited. Not everyone will be able to go since some parents are not as excited as we are, and it is understandable. Yet, we are hoping for a team of at least 7 people. Right now we are trying to find good contacts with Christians in Pakistan and also starting to gather money for the trip. Even though, Kyrgyzstan is relatively not that far from Pakistan, there are no direct flights, so we need to fly through Abu-Dhabi which is expensive. But we believe that if God wants us to go, He will provide the means. As He always does.
We also renewed the gatherings for men that I do with teenagers from our group, and Ulyana started the same group for girls. We decided that we will do these gatherings every other Sunday, so we could use our apartment.
PRAYER NEEDS
We really appreciate all of you who pray for us, our work and ministries. If you want a more specific things you can pray for, I made this list:
For Lighthouse:
- For our new group of mentors
- For new group in Kyzyl-Kija
- For new staff members
- For finances
- For Ieva and her way that God showed to her
For King’s Kids:
- For our teenagers
- For our trip to Pakistan
o Contacts there
o Finances
o Permissions from the parents
- For our gatherings for boys and girls
For our family:
- For Ulyana to have more projects with graphic design
- For our car that gets broken all the time (to fix or buy a reliable one)
- For us to grow in love toward each other and be the light to other families
- For my parents (they are fighting again over family business)