Dear Prayer Partners,
In the last six months we have been staying put in our California home. Traveling has not been a good option. However, we have been continuing to work remotely with the partners and the couple in Kyrgyzstan to finish up the construction of the building of the 2nd Montessori kindergarten and training center in Bishkek. It has been two and half years since we bought the piece of land. During Covid time, planning, architectural design, getting permits for construction, actual construction through two winters has been very trying for us. There were a lot of obstacles we have to push through and now it is near completion. July 1 we plan to start opening the kindergarten with just a few children. And we are targeting a grand opening celebration August 19 and 20th. Our partners will all travel there for this exciting event. August 19 will be for most Christian organizations and missionaries. They can pray to God for the success of this ministry. August 20 we will invite local officials and parents for an open house to showcase our school. Please pray for all our travel to be safe and the opening be a success. Please see attached three floor building interior taken early June. The month of June they are finishing up the inside and setting up the classrooms.
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the whole world economy is in turmoil. Just in a few days Kyrgyz som devalued from one US$ to 84 to 105. It has since come back down. It is because som is pegged to Russian ruble. This makes the inflation in Kyrgyzstan unbearable to the local people. Although Kyrgyzstan is quite far from Ukraine, but people there are very concerned. There are over one million Kyrgyzs work in Russia and send money back to support their families. A lot of them lost their jobs and have to come back home. Life is very difficult there. Very soon they will experience high inflation and food shortages. May 2022 inflation rate is 14%. Our head teacher in Tokmok is leading other teachers to ask for big raises that we cannot afford. We had to vacate her position for she is only working part time and commanding high salary. We decided to let her go and move up other teachers. This caused a big strife. Her husband and adult son threatened our administrator with bodily harm. It wasn’t until we negotiated a package with her and the scare was removed. Please pray for our school and please pray for the people of Kyrgyzstan.
Christa will stay back in US as she is still not safe to travel such a distance and Kyrgyzstan roads are very uneven. It is too easy for her to trip and fall. Our son Ivan graduated in Chicago and will be back to be with her when I am gone. Our younger son Ryan will also be working from home part of time to take care of mom also. Praise the Lord for our two understanding sons.
Please Pray
- Covid will be reduced in 2022. The world will come back to normal.
- Many people will wake up to know the situation of the world now and proactively make changes.
- Many people in hardship will come to the Lord for help and get to know our Lord.
- Our school in Kyrgyzstan continues to be open safely.
- The new school grand opening will be successful and with God’s blessing.
God bless.
In Him,
John and Christa
1-st floor
2-nd floor
3-rd floor
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