Kazakhstan Missions

We are currently supporting missionary Dereje Wondmu with Horizon Missions as he continue his work with orphaned children in Central Asia. Check here for the latest Mission Moment from Dereje. If you would like to help Holy Cross support Dereje please put your donation in the offering plate or send your donation to: 

Horizon Missions
7702 Indian Lake Rd,
Indianapolis, IN 46236

Please make checks payable to "Horizon Missions" or "Holy Cross" with the memo "Contribution" as well as a paper stating that your contribution is for Dereje Wondmu in Kazakhstan and the specific need you want to sponsor. 

(Horizon will provide a tax receipt at the end of the year)

Current Need:

• Prayers for older orphans as they transition to life outside the orphanage
• Missionary support of 3600/mo.
• Hearing Aids for Nina (Cost $2010)

NIna

​Mission Moment:
 
Message from Dereje-

May 2018

Greetings,
How do I prepare to make another visit to the Handicapped Children's House?  It may not seem like a lot of preparation, but it is!  I make a list of the names of the groups I plan to visit; no matter how disabled they are, they are very much responsive to the calling of their names.  This week I visited one particular group of 11 of them; I took slices of apples and bananas and helped feed them at their own pace; they take longer to eat the apples, but the bananas are easier. To help I need to be on my knees and be at their level.   One would not return unchanged after such a typical visit!  During my visit one of the mothers was visiting her five-year-old child; he is paralyzed below the waist and has been there three years.  I saw them outside sitting on a bench and I called her son’s name and he immediately responded.  I got to witness to her in our conversation. They are also included in the random photos below. 
I thank the Lord for allowing me to have a chance to do this service in such a closed governmental facility.  To be there loving on them in Christ’s name.  What a challenging task for the group mom doing it day in and day out.  How they welcome my visits with their smiles are just beyond description. Appreciate your prayers for the whole program, and especially for the group moms.
This week at another orphanage. An older orphan, vasili, turned 18 and left today to live in the Government Youth House.  Two days before we had an outing together.  I took him and another two orphans for a bus ride to the mountain outside of Almaty and we hiked for over an hour and addressed issues he might face as he leaves for a less supervised environment. He is in a carpentry school now over a year and eight months. Appreciate your prayers for him as he makes this transition.
 Also, a small note on the visit with Masha to that specialist nose doctor.  She had a sudden, acute shortness of breath and difficulty in breathing; the nose seemed closed.  I am very grateful to that doctor, who with a short notice, allowed me to take this 15-year old orphan for a visit.  After seeing her, he ordered a nasal spray, and this will do until an X-Ray and more detailed examination will be done in a month.  He did not charge us anything for the visit.  Appreciate your prayers for Masha.


Thank you for your partnership in the Lord's work.

In His Service
Dereje
Central Asia
Psalm 86:12 ( with all  my heart I will praise you,o Lord my God,I will give glory to your name forever)

March 2018

Psalm 94:18-19 When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy. The word “slipping” is made very clear to my feet in this severely cold region. This verse struck home early one morning. I was walking alongside a river as snow filled the streets. Walked too quickly I slipped -- luckily into a pile of snow. A man behind me noticed and laughingly asked if I was all right. We kept walking and the conversation turned to the topic of fear and walking alone so early in the morning. That topic eventually led to sharing the psalm and  my request for him to have peace. He responded and prayed after me a sinner’s prayer-- a man 63 years old experiencing Christ! I will be sharing a Bible with him in the next few days. May the Lord get the glory!  This month I was also able to distribute more of the much-needed warm scarves and hats along with many Bibles. Thank you all for your support. Please continue to pray for the believers, and for boldness to share the good news of Christ.

Blessings,
Dereje
Central Asia

February 2018
Greetings to all, 
Thank you for your great response to the needs of the orphans in Kazakhstan. The vitamin drive is underway and we are very close to the goal. Of the 390 needed, already provisions have been made for 351. A request was sent out to sponsor Bibles in January and was quickly covered.

Recently we were visited by the father of an adopted orphan. In 2003 a family adopted a child born with a cleft palate. The child is now 19 and in her first year of college. During the visit,  God opened a door for the father to share his adoption experience. He got a chance to express gratitude to the care givers and the directors, and also meet with people who had been working in the orphanage during the adoption. We were able to share a meal with several orphans and share the Goodness of God and how God leads in the adoption process. One subject discussed with the orphans was that we all are adopted into the kingdom of God (those considering Christ as our Savior.)

During the week long visit we visited the handicapped children’s home and were able to provide two wheelchairs. What a blessing to be part of this gift. We also saw the apartment complex where the young adults live, and joined in a Bible study that evening.  It was stressed to put God first and the need for a community of believers to encourage each other and to pray for each other, and how reaching out to the lost should be a daily routine.

What an encouragement to many orphans the visit was!
I thank the family for sending the Dad here. What a blessed time! This was his second visit after he and his wife adopted the child.  At that earlier visit 12 years ago, he brought his two biological children who were teenagers at that time. 
Thanks again for being involved in the lives
​of the fatherless.
Blessings,
Dereje
Central Asia