Pics

2009-04-09T13:11:00.000+06:00

2009-04-02T10:26:00.002+06:00

So we pulled her out of the horrid dark place. But helping doesn't just stop there. So my friends, Nick, Tyler, Sergei and I have started letting people know about her, and raising money.

She doing fine at the moment. Just resting. She has a little friend now that comes and hangs out with her. That's really nice because she is not lonely. Little cat comes and stays nights in her room. I don't really know where he came from, but I'm glad he did.

I told her that she should probably start walking more and kinda getting her strength back.

Sergei right now is trying to get her passport back. He has been going to the Kazakh embassy, and filling out paper work for her.

Nick is in Saints Petersburg, trying to find her son.

So things are happening in the right direction.

Once we get her passport we will drive her back to Kazakhstan where she has a place to live and would have a pension.

It costs a little more to get her documents, but we will not have to continually support her.

At the moment we have a little more than 130 dollars for her, and it usually costs about 200 dollars to get the documents, and another 100 dollars to get her back.

Well, I'll keep you posted.

Blessings,

Jengish

2009-04-02T10:03:00.002+06:00

So last week we found a lady in the homeless shelter. When we started talking to her, she told us that she is from Kazakstan. That she sold her house there to move to Kyrgyzstan. Her pension was not enough, and she decided to move to a bordering country that was cheaper to live in, which was Kyrgyzstan. Her first night here, someone attacked her, and took all her money that she had for buying a new house.

They beat her up. I mean, who does that?!! That's crazy. She is just a sweet little old lady.

Anyway, people called an ambulance. The doctors looked at her, and stated that was just in a major shock. So the ambulance took her to the homeless shelter, which is not really a homeless shelter at all. That place is horrid. Maybe you guys saw the photos. But that shelter is very depressing. The blankets are filthy, no bed, tons of crazy people hallucinating, throwing up, coughing and spraying the whole room with TB infected saliva. I mean, you get the picture, right? And there she was, little Babushka(Grandma) Maria, left in a mad house.

We spotted her a week ago. She was never drunk, always thankful for what we gave her. Poor lady looked like she was just waiting for death to come and take her...She didn't seem to see any other way of getting out of this situation.

My friend Nick was very sad (it was his first day at the shelter). He couldn't believe it. He cried.

So him and I decided that we were going to help her. Nick had some money at his disposal, not much, but enough to pay for a day in a cheap, I mean, very cheap hotel type looking thing by Osh market.

We paid the lady that worked there. Then we went bought some clothes for her.

Tomorrow we will go, and look at a house where we can rent a room. If it's good enough we'll pay for it for a month. After that? Hmmm... We'll do everything we can to get her documents back. I don't know how we will do it yet. We'll take her to the Kazakh embassy. I'll let you know how that goes.

Also, I have officially run out of money for the homeless. If you want to help out with homeless lady, please feel free. Participate in saving a granny's life.

What else, there were three more ladies at the shelter. I told them I would come back for them. But when, I don't know. I wish I could help them, but we'll see.I hope they don't catch TB there.

There is also a kid that was stabbed and his intestines are hanging out. He is homeless, and he hasn't gone to the doctors since it happened.It happened ages ago. He just decided to put his intestines in a medical rubber glove. I need to hunt him down and take him to the hospital.

Well, I gotta go now.

Tata for now,

Yours truly,

Jenish

2009-01-13T13:30:00.004+06:00

A nurse from Margaret's center helping a lady with burns...

I sometimes wish I went to Med school instead of University. I could've helped so many people. Oh well, I still can bandage some gnarly looking wounds without passing out. So that's at least good I guess.

2009-01-13T12:34:00.003+06:00

So I disappeared again. Sorry for that. I have been very busy lately. Running around and helping people. In the evening when I come home I have no desire to write on my blog. Today, I decided to post a photo of a man that has TB. Another one of those guys that will most likely die on the street.

I'm not being harsh, I'm being realistic. Without help, or medical care, a person with a TB doesn't really live that long on the street. It makes me sad, but really, there is not much I can do for him. There are hundreds like him on the street. All have TB. Fresh out of the prison.

I'm meeting one tomorrow. He came out of prison 7 days ago. I should take him before he becomes used to living on the street. Right now, the street freaks him out. He hates it. That's good. That's really good...

2008-09-10T06:33:00.003+06:00

Dear friends,

I know it's been a while since I last blogged. I've been having computer problems. I got a virus from somewhere. Probably from one of those Russian disks. They all come with viruses nowadays. My virus(I call it mine now because I spent many hours trying to get rid of it, and I even kind of got attached to it) is very, very smart. Eveytime you start any program that has an Anti Virus written on it, it turns it off. Then it does little tricks. It will send people links to web pages using my Yahoo Messenger. Also it will change the language when I'm typing. It's basically like a little kid.

Make no mistake, though attached to it, I am going to get rid of it. It really is stopping me from working on my photos, and writing my friends. It crashed my computer, twice. My hard drive sometimes just doesn't work because of it.

Well, anyway, enough about the virus. Let me talk about the news.

I got some exciting news. I will be partnering with Simpledreams I really feel like it's going to be very exciting. I will be able to help a lot of homeless people through that organization. And of course working with awesome people always is good. I'll talk more about it later when I start doing stuff with them.

Also there is a family from US. They are here to solely work with the homeless. I've been hanging out with them and talking about different ideas of how we can serve the homeless community and what's the best way to reach them. We already did a little tea party with the homeless the other day. It was awesome. One of homeless guys was completely drunk(what a surprize) and was trying to kiss everyone. I have gotten used to it. When drunk homeless friends of mine love to kiss and hug everyone:) They are cool. It's very exciting also, because finally there are people wanting to work with homeless.I think it will be so much more productive working in a team.

Speaking of teams. There will be two teams. One from US and the other from Mexico. I invited the one from Mexico and hopefully they will be able to work with the homeless too.

And also,
this is another homeless man I found on the street. He needs help. He had a stroke(or whatever it's called) and his left arm and his left leg doesn't work properly. He is only 45 but looks 65. I'm sure if not helped he will die in winter. I'm going to try to take him to the hospital, but I have no money for that just now. John and Julie Wright gave me money for the homeless ministry before they left, but I ran out of that money. I will just trust God that He will provide and this man will be helped.

Please pray for the ministry here. For my well being, pray that I'm able to get rid of this virus, and that I don't lose all my information on my computer. Pray that God would give me wisdom.

Thank you guys for all your support and prayers. Love ya'll(I feel like I'm from Texas when I say YA'LL:)

God bless.

2008-08-22T09:16:00.002+06:00

This is another homeless family. A grandma and a grand kid. They could easily be helped, simply because they don't do drugs, and they don't drink alcohol... Little kid needs to go to school, and grandma could work somewhere.

2008-08-11T02:34:00.000+06:00

So I went to the Teen Challenge rehab center to visit men there. There are 5 students now, one of them is graduating soon. His name is Jamal and he has done really well. Bazki, one of the workers there, said that he thinks that Jamal is the best student he has ever had.

Jamal is one of the homeless guys I picked up on the street. It's amazing what God has done in his life, and how much he has changed.

Ok back to the man with cuts on his face. I posted his photos on one of my previous notes. He had a broken leg, and someone made cuts on his face...

Ivisited him today. He is doing really well. He is officially saved now. Workers at the rehab center are very happy with him. He is very disciplined. They are just saying good things about him.

When I was talking to him last week, he said that he has started praying, and when he prays he thanks God for a chance God has given him. I think it's amazing. God is good:)

2008-08-01T02:30:00.000+06:00

This guy is an ex drug addict, who spent lots of year in jail. But God found him there and totally changed his life. He is now an awesome man of God. A great servant. Everyone loves him. He just graduated a Bible College.

Though he has a Fascist Swastika on his chest, he loves everyone. I thought I'd take a photo of him, and post it online.

The tattoo on his chest might say something bad about him, but his life shows that he truly loves God. I really am happy when I see people like him. God has done an incredible job. A hater became a lover. A lover of all people.

2008-07-24T09:47:00.000+06:00

So I got some money recently for the homeless ministry from Possibilities International. I was quite happy. Without money you can't really do much. I mean, you can hang out and talk to the homeless, but when you meet someone that needs to be taken to the hospital and you don't have the money you can't really do anything.

So anyway, right away I met a person that was begging in front of the Narodniy store. I stopped and started talking to him. I don't really mess around any more. I straight up asked him how long has he been on the trassa(the streets). How did he end up being a homeless. So told me his story.

He stole some building materials from the place where he was working and got caught. They put him in jail for 5 years, and let him out after 3 for showing good discipline. But when he came out he realized he lost his family. His wife left him. His brother died. So he hit the streets. Started drinking, and collecting bottles.

He is new to being homeless. He told me that just recently the homeless people that he was hanging out with died. And that he didn't want to die like that. He said that he was saving up for the detox.

Well I said, you can come with me to the rehab center if you really want to change your life. His eyes lit up, and he asked me to take him. He said that he would become my brother if I helped him.

Anyway, I took him to the hospital. A car ran him over and didn't stop. So he has a broken leg. The doctors told me that it was going to be alright. It started healing by itself. Also someone cut his face with a blade for no reason. Just for fun. Can you imagine? I don't know why people hate the homeless so much.

2008-06-28T22:01:00.002+06:00

I took this photo in Kant. It's a city 45 minutes away from Bishkek. When I saw this guy I thought it's going to be an interesting photo. A guy in a wheel chair wearing a t-shirt that says "Security". I don't know. You tell me what kind of feelings does this photo bring up for you.

2008-06-18T23:00:00.002+06:00

So I'm back. I've taken lots and lots of photos since I last posted. I'll be posting one now and then. I've also bought a digital camera. I don't have lenses, but I have started saving for a decent lens. Camera without a good lens is like a nice car without an engine.

Anyway, this photo was taken in a place that a lady named Margaret has started. She is basically a Mother Theresa of Kyrgyzstan. In her center they bandage wounds and give free medical treatment to the homeless community. That place is pretty crazy sometimes. There are a lot of people sometimes.

This particular lady had burns all over her body. I don't remember how she got them, but I thought it looked really painful. I didn't ask her if I could take a photo of her. She asked me to take a photo of her. I don't really know why she wanted to have a photo taken of her...

2007-11-20T17:38:00.000+06:00

I know it's been a while since I last posted anything on my blog. But I'm back:) So here a photo of Helenna. Isn't she cute?

2006-11-24T12:34:00.000+06:00

kyrgyz village...

2006-11-24T12:28:00.000+06:00

I like this photo because it came out interesting and not at all blurry. I thought it would be really blurry because I took it with Centuria 200 film and believe me it was really dark. I don't have tripod and since it was really dark I had to put it on really slow shutter speed and hold the camera steady. So yea it's not blurry, let me know what you think about it.

2006-11-24T12:25:00.000+06:00

Perspectives

2006-11-24T12:20:00.000+06:00

I already miss spring. Winter is cool but I like spring the most. Everything is coming back to life and flowering and I love the smells of spring. Also people are friendlier and you see more people smiling.

2006-11-24T12:14:00.000+06:00

This is Manas' tomb. And this is where he was burried. He was one of the big leaders that fought for freedom and independence of kyrgyz people. So if you go to Talas you have to go and visit this place. It has a little shop where you can buy all kinds of cool stuff. There is a big museum that you can visit. It has some interesting things.

2006-11-24T12:11:00.000+06:00

This is one of my "uncles". I don't even know how this guy is my uncle. I have hundreds of uncles, no kidding.

2006-11-24T12:06:00.000+06:00

I went to Talas not very long ago. It's a little valley where I grew up. I went to my granpa's house and my little cousins were there. I think they are very cute. I took bunch of pictures of them.

2006-11-24T12:03:00.000+06:00

I can't take good nature pictures but this one I like the best. What do you think?

2006-09-04T10:35:00.000+06:00

This old man gave us a ride. We were hitch hiking all day and were going to just walk the rest of the day, but when it seemed fun to ride on a horse cart(or whatever you call it). Trip to Issyk Kul was fun.

2006-09-04T10:26:00.000+06:00

Very interesting kid. He is from Rot Front too. Too thoughtful for his age. He had scars on his face and he wouldn't tell me where he got them.

2006-09-04T10:12:00.000+06:00

Kid from Rot Front

2006-09-04T10:01:00.000+06:00

I took this photo on our trip to Issyk Kul.

2006-08-26T17:04:00.000+06:00

This is the house that my parents are building.

2006-08-26T16:41:00.000+06:00

If you haven't seen an angel before, here is your once in a life time chance to do so. Her name is Helenna.

2006-08-09T15:05:00.000+06:00

We took this lady to this rehab center. Look what I found in one of the old buildings around it. I destroyed the needles and stuff in that little bottle.

2006-08-09T14:48:00.000+06:00

The same urt that I lived in. It had to be taken apart and set up again.

2006-08-09T14:38:00.000+06:00

We went to the mountains hiking. Hiked all day. It was beautiful up there. It was worth walking and climbing for 8 hours.

2006-08-09T14:30:00.000+06:00

Bishkek...

2006-08-08T20:56:00.000+06:00

The same protest...

2006-08-08T20:15:00.000+06:00

There was a protest near white house, and of course I was around to take some photos.

2006-07-23T16:15:00.000+06:00

We were taking students from Teen Challenge to the village and we decided to stop to drink kymyz. So this lady was in charge of that place.

2006-07-05T12:39:00.000+06:00

I was living in a urt(nomadic house made out of wool and wood.) and a big wind came and blew it away. So these guys came and helped me to put it back together. They were pros. They probably have done it so many times. Because up in the mountains you have to know how to this kinda stuff. I like this photo because this guy on this photo is a real kyrgyz. Not like the ones that you see in the city. He is a real highlander. Keeps horses and sheep. Doesn't talk much. Always thinking about something.

2006-06-29T13:44:00.000+06:00

This is my friend Tony. A really cool guy. Works with Greenhouse club.

2006-06-26T22:01:00.000+06:00

My courtyard...

2006-06-12T21:51:00.000+06:00

I took this picture at the college where I work. I was waiting for someone and this guy was just fixing lights. It would come on for sometime and go off. He finally got it working again. It reminded me of a movie, Bruce Almighty. When God comes down from one of those holes in the ceiling. This guy looked like he was trying to open up that door. I don't know, let me know what you think.

2006-06-09T19:32:00.000+06:00

Hey guys. You all know Rebecca. Well probably not all. Anyways I took this photo of her and it turned out really good. I like it.

2006-05-21T20:12:00.000+06:00

Bishkek, a corner of Chui and Manasa streets...

2006-05-21T19:58:00.000+06:00

Without home and without hope...

2006-05-14T17:49:00.000+06:00

We took kids from the orphanage to the museum and I pulled out my camera, I wanted to take some photos, but this old lady came up to me, and nicely told me that I couldn't do it. Well I said, than can I take a picture of you. She started saying that she was old and that she wasn't pretty. I said No no you are beautiful and took her photo.

2006-05-14T17:28:00.000+06:00

Kids from the orphanage.

2006-05-14T17:13:00.000+06:00

A kyrgyz man...

2006-05-13T18:31:00.000+06:00

Eating plov

2006-05-13T18:13:00.000+06:00

This guy is a spiritual leader in rehab center... Really cool guy. I love talking to him

2006-05-13T17:59:00.000+06:00

These guys were just sitting and talking to each other, and they reminded me about the monkeys from that little japanese netske? I think this is how they call it, say no evil, see no evil, hear no evil. So I asked them to help me out a little bit, and pose. Three of them are worker at the Teen challenge rehab center where I work, and one on the far end(right side) is a student. He didn't know what to do, because there is only three of them on the little statue(netske) so he decided to be say no evil. i hope you guys will like this picture.

2006-05-11T20:09:00.000+06:00

This is my best buddy Pash. We went to the mountains, it was really hot and humid day. But it was fun. Beautiful mountains. Jim, Pash and I came back with poison ivy(really don't know how to spell it) marks. Yea I like this photo.

2006-05-11T19:47:00.000+06:00

People really like this photo. I decided to post it online so I can show it to bigger audience. Let me know if you like it. I took it while we were hiking in the mountains. We spent a night there. It was beautiful up there. Yea if you ever come to Kyrgyzstan I'll show you where it is.

2006-04-23T18:35:00.000+06:00

These are my buddies from the orphanage that I go to and play soccer. Denis is really good at playing soccer(at right). I really like this picture, and I don't really know why.

2006-03-11T22:46:00.000+06:00

Hey everyone. I just decided to post some pics online. I was thinking about it for a while but I was always too lazy. So today I finally created this blog and I hope you'll like my pictures that I took.

This kyrgyz man raises horses and sells them.