Sunday, March 21, 2010

Ladies' Day Banquet

The beautiful auditorium-turned-"banquet hall" on Monday morning:
We were so happy to see that most of the balloons that we had blown up the night before were still inflated!:The place settings:Head table: deaf interpreter - Alla, deaf pastor's wife - Tanya, hearing pastor's wife - Judy, and special speaker - HelenThese were my three special guests (below) who traveled overnight by train to be with us. Jessica Curtis, a missionary's wife in Kharkov, Ukraine, and I have been keeping in touch though we had never met until banquet day! She brought her interpreter and a lady from her church with her, and it was a joy for me to host these gracious ladies! By the way, you can go see Jessica at her beautiful blog here. The meal: chicken cordon bleu, rice, crab salad, and a roll - Dessert - a beautiful rainbow jello that was perfect for our theme!:Gift to our special speaker (who also traveled on an overnight train to be with us)...(Below) Jeff and Helen Christian, missionaries in Odessa, Ukraine, who serve with their two sons, Jacob and Jeffrey.
Skit "Blessings from God:"Special music by the group of faithful church men who graciously served us:
Skit by "Mary, Martha, Miriam, Ruth, Deborah, and Esther" on the topic "How to get a man to church." Each Biblical character gave her own ideas on how to get a man to church in light of her own story. (For example, "Mary" suggested washing his feet, "Martha" suggested cooking a meal, "Esther" suggested preparing a banquet....) Very creative!
Tickets were randomly drawn and door prizes were given throughout the program. However, Lena, (who broke her right arm the day before the banquet!), won the final prize... a beautiful quilt!
Special song, "God hath not promised..." Words can be found here.
Ladies enjoying themselves, while being served by our "bow tie" waitors:
At the end of the banquet, pictures were taken by our rainbow-balloon prop. Here is an example of one of those pictures. (This is a family... two sisters, with their two daughters)...
Group shot... 87 ladies attended!... Not only were the men great servers, but they cleaned up after us as well!A back-breaking job, as illustrated by Pastor Bob! Guess we ladies can only expect this once a year!

9 comments:

  1. Looks like a really fun time. I recall being there last year. Or was it the year before? Time flies. Just stopped by to say hi. I love the banner on the top of your blog. You are the creative one. Nice. Blessings on your day.
    love, Coleen

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  2. Thank you so much for all your hard work and for inviting us. We had a great time and it was definitely worth the long train ride. Look forward to visiting with you all again! (LOVE the picture of Pastor Bob VanSant!)

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  3. Everything looks AWESOME!!! You all worked hard and were very creative. Lots of teamwork. Thanks for sharing your banquet with me via your blog.

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  4. how awesome, Jolene. Do you have a script for the skit? It sounds adorable. Thanks for sharing these pics and your life.

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  5. Hey Jolene, Love, love, love your Blog. I really enjoy reading yours and Maria's blogs. Such an encouragement. Your ladies banquet was beautiful. This is one of the things I look foreward to the most when becoming a pastor's wife. The Lord has already given me a couple of themes.

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  6. Amanda,

    Sorry that we don't have a script for the skit. One of our girls here found it online in Russian... can you believe it?! While I'm sad it isn't in English (or it may be, and I just don't know it), I'm also glad that the girls here are beginning to find good resources online in Russian! This is a breakthrough, for sure!

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  7. Jolene,

    I love reading your blogs.

    Mrs. Shaver

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  8. Thanks, DavidandJolene Sloan, I didn't know you had me in your blog.

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Thank you for your encouraging comments! "As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country." Proverbs 25:25