Here in Kazakhstan we celebrated Children’s Day on June 1st.
On this day the whole city gets together to celebrate all of the children with
fun entertainment, and carnival attractions as well as free ice cream for
everyone. Well that is if you are a kid. So no ice cream for me… This was a fun
filled day with a concert where people from the city donated gifts to certain
children, including a hefty donation from the bankers for the kids at Sarymoldaeva,
the orphanage where I’ve been working.
This was a fun experience for me even though I didn’t really know what
was going on since it was all in Kazakh. I did however know there was a lot of
joy in the room as the kids were receiving their gifts and achievement awards. After
this concert it was back home for a cold shower as it has been really hot here
and over 100 degrees which for an
Oregonian like me is definite melting temperatures. But enough about weather
cause it just frustrates me. I got
my relief though and just in time for another concert at Sarymoldaeva. This was a huge highlight for my trip
for sure! The concert was fun an interesting, but the part I loved most about
this was something completely different. The last time I was in Kazakhstan I
taught English at another orphanage called Ulan. I got to teach a group of
girls from ages 11 to 16. Ulan was closed last year due to budget as well as
lessening numbers of children due to a growing foster system. All of the remaining kids from Ulan
were moved to Sarymoldaeva. I have been able to see most of the girls I had in
my class two years ago, however some of them have graduated so I have not been
able to see them. There was one girl in particular who I connected with while I
was there and she graduated that year. When I came back this year I was sad
because I knew that I was not going to be able to see her. However, when I went
to the concert…SHE WAS THERE! I was so excited to see her and she remembered me
as well. I couldn’t believe I got to see her after all. We talked pretty much
the whole time during the concert catching up on life and how she is doing. Let
me just say God blessed me big time with this conversation. He allowed me to be
able to understand almost every word she said and be able to respond as well
which is the harder part. I was so blessed to be able to see her and find out
she is doing well and studying in college. I have gotten to know many kids over
the years and I have seen them graduate only to never see them again. So you
can imagine how glad I was to be able to see that she was doing well and she
told me about some of the other girls who also graduated and they are doing
pretty good too. The Father is good and He has been so good to me in this way.
Being over here for a longer time has given me so many opportunities to
reconnect with my past relationships that being on a delegation wouldn’t have
given me. He has also allowed me to make many new relationships which I look
forward to strengthening in the years to come. Being able to see Angelina was a
huge blessing for me and a great reminder that God is in control and He knows
exactly what we need and even when we think there is no way. All things are
possible with Him. YAY!
Angelina and me :)
