Ladies' Banquet preparations

Probably the biggest "extra-curricular" project we missionary wives work on throughout the year is banquets, and this is the main one for us.... the March 8th, International Ladies' Day banquet. I know this is not a holiday in America, but it is one of the biggest days on our calendar here. So, what is International Ladies' Day and who celebrates it? Well, basically it is a mixture of Mother's Day and Valentine's Day, and on this day it is customary for men to give the women in their lives - mothers, wives, girlfriends, daughters, colleagues, etc - flowers and small gifts. This holiday is celebrated by Eastern Europe, Russia, and the former Soviet bloc countries.

We begin preparation many weeks in advance, so before I show you the actual banquet pictures in my next post, I thought I would start with a post showing the preparation work. Most of the planning, designing, and organizing was done by our pastor's wife, Mrs. Judy Van Sant. This year she chose the theme "Exceeding Great and Precious Promises of God" (Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: 2 Peter 1:4). We focused on the promise God gave Noah in Genesis 9, through the rainbow.

Mrs. Judy is talented at making big events become a reality, and this day was no exception. Here are some of the pictures taken in her home and then later at the church:

WORK BEGAN IN THE VAN SANT'S HOME, WEEKS IN ADVANCE, AND MANY OF OUR CHURCH PEOPLE TOOK PART IN HELPING WITH THE PREPARATION
RAINBOW MAGNETS, ORDERED FROM ORIENTAL TRADING COMPANY, AND ASSEMBLED BY OUR LADIES

NELYA AND LENA, HARD AT WORK

PASTOR BOB AND MARINA, WORKING ON PROGRAMSCOMPLETED MAGNETS, BOOKMARKS, AND PROGRAMS

Since the banquet was held on a Monday afternoon, we found ourselves working at the church late into the evening on Sunday, turning our church auditorium into a banquet hall:

DAVID AND I, BUILDING A RAINBOW OUT OF BALLOONS

I am so grateful for how our church people got involved with the preparation work of this banquet. This church is certainly no longer a "missionary church" (where everything is done by the missionaries only), but a church made up of many members who are involved! Praise the Lord for this!