WORD OF THE DAY - Sunday 06 May 2012 Nikolaev, Ukraine

And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:11)

и всякий язык исповедал, что Господь Иисус Христос в славу Бога Отца. (К Филиппийцам 2:11 Russian)

І щоб усі уста проголошували, що Ісус Христос — Господь на Славу Бога Отця. (Филипяни 2:11 Ukrainian ERV)

 Almighty God, our Dear Heavenly Father ~ Thank you for the brightness of your loving presence in our affairs on this new Lord’s Day. Give us greater understanding of Christ our Lord as we gather in sweet communion at the precious feast – the Lord’s Supper. Receive our sincere worship as Christians around the world read and study the Word, pray together, sing praises to our risen King and bring our offerings. In the blessed name of our Lord Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.

 Saturday morning we were out on the town doing some last minute shopping for our boys at the Boys Home. As it drew closer to the time we needed to get out the door, we had a call from Natasha, our dear friend and the boys "Mama". She asked if we could come at 1.00 instead of 2.00. That meant we had to speed things up with our preparations.

We had two helpers who went with us - Tanya and Nastya. They live in two different areas, so we hired a taxi and picked them up, and then headed out to the peninsula. Everyone had a thrill when the taxi bottomed out on the pontoon bridge and passengers in the back seat had to exit the car. That is Reason number one why we often have difficulty getting a ride out there.

The boys were very happy to see Nastya again and have the chance to talk with her. She gave good comments to the boys on our theme of being an industrious person. The boys were also very happy to meet Tanya, who has raised three boys and knows boys as only a mom can experience. She was an engineer during the Soviet days and told of the great difficulties she encountered at the collapse of the USSR when her job and others suddenly evaporated into thin air. She explained how their family had to start all over again after losing almost everything. This is a common thing you hear in the former Soviet Union. Since over twenty years have elapsed since the collapse of that empire, many young folks have no personal experience about this subject and many if not most schools still use Soviet era text books for economic reasons. People are slowly getting their lives in order, but for some the clock has been ticking faster than their ability to adjust to the current new world order. 

One thing that was the most encouraging yesterday – the boys reciting their memory verses and commenting on the meaning. Thanks for the sincere words of encouragement and the fervent prayers.