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!

Mom's new book

I would like to direct you to my mother-in-law's blog and encourage you to begin following her newest project, a book-in-the-making entitled "My Kids and Me." I really appreciate the fact that she has decided to share it with us as she writes. This is very unselfish of her, knowing that she may lose "buyers," all in the interest of helping us Mommies today!

COVER TO MOM'S FIRST BOOK

This amazing couple, my father- and mother-in-law reared eight children. Every single one of those children are married to their first spouse, and every single one of them are not only in church but are faithfully serving and laboring in their respective churches (all as missionaries!). I must say that my parents-in-law are "heroes of the faith," and I am so happy that the Lord allowed me to become a part of their family and their amazing legacy.

Now, I don't know about you other Mommies out there, but I have three little treasures living under my roof that I want to see grow into solid, hard-working, loving, faithful Christian adults. And, I am always looking for examples such as Titus 2:3-5 teaches, "teachers of good things;" Well, look no further. This humble, godly Christian woman has some great insight into child-rearing, and I am thrilled she is using her time to help us young mothers through this very important phase of our lives. So, without further a-do.... go visit Mom here! (And be sure to leave her an encouraging comment!)

Baby orphanage "Yolochka" - various last pictures

This will be my last post on the Yolochka baby orphanage. I hope you have enjoyed these pictures! For those of you who are adopting from this orphanage, I really hope that these pictures have dispelled some of your fears... by showing you that the sweet darling who awaits your arrival is living in rather good conditions. Of course, nothing replaces the love of a father and mother. Yes, more than anything, these children need the undivided love of parents! However, I do believe you can rest assured that they are being taken care of while they wait for you.

The rest of these pictures are random. They did not really fit under any of the previous categories of posts. But, I wanted you to see them anyway. Enjoy!

(An adopting family getting to know their new little girl)

(I asked for a bathroom and this is where I was taken)

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. James 1:27

Please leave a comment with your thoughts on what you have seen through this series of posts... Is a Ukrainian orphanage worse than you thought? Better than you thought? What were some things that stood out to you? I'd love to hear from you!