Craig and Debbie Rayner

Back in the 70's a certain Australian prime minister got into a lot of trouble for his mis-quote of George Bernard Shaw. This has been a theme of our past month, with a number of things in our lives requiring the strength found in the courage of attempting, and in the doing, we found the delight of a loving father and the gratitude of many here in Kazakhstan. The first item was the rebuild of a couple of servers which had been through the wars with uncounted shutdowns caused by power outages, virus infections and equipment failures. The two machines, which are meant to share the load of ensuring that people can connect to the school system had reached a point in which one machine would grant access to material that you should not see and the other would deny access to anything. One would connect you to a printer, the other would delete your printer. So one weekend, courage required, the system was completely rebuilt, and now the machines talk happily to each other, printers remain and users are happy. The second task was one of teaching. The Y-family are currently running the same course that Debbie and I did in Colorado Springs in the final months of 2009. I was asked to teach a section of the course. The subject, the nature and character of dad. So, a number of nights of research and a another dose of courage and I stepped into a small space of time (only 5 hours) in the lives of the ten students doing the course. The students are a great cross-section of Central Asia, with all of the countries to the immediate south of us represented, as well as Kazakhstan and the U.S., so the course is presented in Russian and English. They are a great bunch of students and are so hungry to learn about dad. A delightful time. Your support in chatting for these young men and women would be a huge bonus to them, and even to you.

This is a question so many friends and family have been asking. Is life simply surviving or is there more? I think when we are making big transitions and going through big changes, surviving is a great goal to have. But longer term, I don’t want to simply survive here in Kazakhstan I want to grow, learn and live life fully! To be honest the first 6 weeks were survival. By the weekend both Craig and I where happy to go food shopping and come home and cook something at least one of us thought of as comfort food, spend loads of time at home and just be. I think we started moving out of this a couple of weekends ago when we decided to explore the bizarre a bit more. We found a coffee grinder for Craig, fabric for the photo wall, the photos where developed, and the elusive bath mat was found (now they are everywhere!) So one day of solid shopping lead us to the tremendous challenge of buying a gas stove, and having it delivered. As ever, when facing a huge challenge, we asked Papa for help, actually we where very specific, with price size and an English speaking sales man. Amazingly we walked into a shop that was having a sale on small (our size) gas stoves and we met Vitalik who just happened to speak a tiny bit of English, ok much better than our Kazakh! And so we worked out delivery! Hooray. It was deliver last Saturday, and we will have the technician come and install it next weekend. Just starting to find things and buy them has being hugely encouraging for me. I love seeing our house becoming a home. The other thing we have started to do a bit more is eat out once in awhile at the local restaurant. We reserved a table for my birthday party and there was great feasting and dancing…no not on the tables. SO yes we are surviving and more… thanks for all of you who have been sending us encouragement and support as He grows us here.

The structure of the Kazakh time on Sundays is familiar, People of the same heart meeting; a time of singing and reading remembering the Beginning and the End, teaching and sharing with each other. However, how to participate fully when we have not yet got language has been a time full of surprises and grace. We had decided that we would not worry about how much we understand, just agreed to be immersed in the language and do our best to observe the traditions and enter into the time with the MD as much as we could. There is no set time for these gatherings, well a start time, but the end is very much dependant on what needs are shared and what is set up to meet the needs. For example, a couple of weeks ago during our sharing time, one person asked for help because she was struggling with alcoholism. Well this was immediately lifted up and then seven people volunteered to cover this need each day that week. All set up and organised on the spot. I thought that was very practical and loving. Another thing that Craig and I have both found, is that we recognise some of the tunes, helpfully they have words projected, so we join in (reading is coming along) and even though we have no idea what we are saying (YET!) at the same time we both find that we are happy and filled during the time. I thought it would be impossible with out language to get refreshed, and learn. I was reminded that time with others focusing on the MD is what we are made for. And even without having understanding of mind, there is a great unity of spirit. It sounds very odd, but it is a wonderful gift and I am so thankful for His presence and outpouring of love during the times together.

Contact Details

Phone:
Australian Phone: +61 (0)2 6100 3637 This phone number connects with my Skype account and has a messaging service.

Our E-Mail Addresses: and

Current (Kazakhstan) Postal Address:
10a Basenova St
Almaty 050060
Republic of Kazakhstan

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Contact details were last updated on the 18^th December, 2009.