Craig and Debbie Rayner

What’s been going on since the Y Family 50th… Debbie
We had a few days of catching our breath, and seeing off the last guest. We have finally seen our team come to life, since the Kayser family left in July we had been talking to various people about joining together and forming a team. So our team is now 8 people from 6 different cultures, always fun! We meet every two weeks for a morning. It is great to be building up each other and holding each other accountable.

On the off week, we are helping with the development of a new idea; that is all about social projects that need funding and us approaching foreign companies here in their behalf. Social projects could be training centres for orphanages, shelters for drug rehab, shelters for abused women and children, and many more. There is a law in Kazakhstan that requires all companies to spend 1% of there profits supporting social groups. The development team has people who are strong on NGO work and who have worked in various settings for the last decade. But they where needing some advising about companies, which Craig and I have agreed to help with during the start up phase. If you thinking it sounds a bit like “need meets resource” you are right, just this time with money! The work at school has been flying by, actually not sure what happened to November at all. We are both back to full time. The servers are built – thanks to the fall break! And we can now print report cards from Craig’s database. We did have a chance for a bit of a dance at the fall formal…dancing the night away under the stars.

A repeat so exciting Debbie
We did our first thing for the second time, we did the thanksgivings – both Canadian and for the American one, where we went to the same people as in 2008. It was such a relief to do something for a second time. I am reminded how much I love being in communities of faith and friendship. And how much I like to celebrate and eat good food with good people!

Cultural Puzzle Debbie
On our way to visit friends, we got stuck in a huge traffic jam, just out of town the street was lined with goats and sheep, an instant roadside market. Only later that day did we find out the animals where for each family’s yearly sacrifice to make atonement for sins. It was a reminder of THE sacrifice made for us and how much is still to be done in this land.

December Craig
Snow has arrived to stay. The locals c a l l D e c e m b e r J e l - T o k - San (желтоқсан). Jel = wind, Toksan = ninety. The ninety days of wind, an appropriate name for winter. The community is starting to gear up for Christmas, with the school Christmas Concert last Friday, a wonderful announcement of the season and secret Santa’s handing out little surprises at school. Both students and staff are involved, with chocolate and fruit, small books and verses, etc, being secretly left for the recipients’ in pigeonholes and mail drop points; all good fun. The children are also preparing for end of semester exams.

Envy Craig
As I sit down to write this newsletter we have been reminded of just how fragile life is, of how often we take things for granted. Arriving in a place like Kazakhstan is a gentle way of seeing this in our daily lives. The type of toothpaste you are used too is not available, or the butcher sells you sausages wrapped in plastic, which all the locals know you have to remove before you cook. I know that each time I catch myself asking why: Why do they do that?; Why do not do it this way?; Why is ...?; I end up robbing myself of some of the joy that could have been mine. Love is defined by Paul in a letter written long ago. He states that love does not envy! Do I envy the locals that they understand how all the parts of their society fit together? In thinking this through I have come to the conclusion that envy is the root of this evil that robs me of joy. It is not that my way is better or there way superior, but just different. I need to embrace and encourage the difference, praising those that do differently and bask in the joy that comes from celebrating others. I need to see in the everyday things about me a sense of awe and wonder as I gaze on those created in the image of love.

Contact Details

Our E-Mail Addresses: and

Current (Kazakhstan) Postal Address:
PO Box 10, Post Office Branch 36,
Almaty, 050036,
Republic of Kazakhstan
Home Phone: +7 727 299 5288

Please ensure that any parcel that you post to us is marked as NCV (No Commercial Value.) Parcels with value are often held for ransom.

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Contact details were last updated on the 9^th August 2011.