Nataliya, our facilitator, wearing her April Fool's costume. Paul and Yuri took turns wearing this stuff and Nataliya took photos on her camera. Too bad we don't have access to her camera right now.
In Odessa, April 1, is a major holiday. It is called the "National Day of Humor" in Ukraine and Odessa is considered the "humor capitol" of Ukraine. They closed down streets and had a big parade downtown. There are people is silly costumes, beer gardens, outdoor concerts, etc. Kind of Halloween, Mardi Gras and April Fool's all combined into one. We avoided the crowds and stayed safely confined in our apartment this afternoon. ;-)
We attended Palm Sunday service with the Becker's at the Trinity nondenominational church. Since they do not have palm leaves in Ukraine, they substitute branches from weeping willow trees and call it "Weeping Willows Sunday". National Humor Day is so pervasive in Odessa, it even influenced today's church service. The worship leader pulled a cute, little April Fool's joke on the congregation. Then, when the pastor stood to deliver his sermon, he was wearing a big, red rubber nose (like a clown). He took the nose off to preach. His message was not focused on Palm Sunday but on the true meaning of joy using today's holiday as a starting point.
This evening we had dinner at the Becker's. We took time to begin to prepare Yuri for his new life in our family and living in the United States. Tanya translate a list of items we prepared for Yuri. Everything from our daily routine, to a list of family rules and what to expect at school and so on. Yuri had the opportunity to ask and answer questions.
That is it for today. Yuri is staying with us tonight and tomorrow we have our court appointment at 9 a.m.
Prayer Request - For a smooth meeting tomorrow with the judge. That the officials at the Internot will allow us to have Yuri live with us for an extended period of time.
2 comments:
I remember when we were there it was the National day of Humor but it was the first day we got to Odessa and we couldn't get anyone to sign our paper to see Cole because of course they were off work for this very important holiday. That was also the reason we couldn't get a private train compartment because everyone was traveling to Odessa. Glad it falls on a Sunday this year!
We will be waiting and praying for good news tomorrow.
So did you guys do your hair up as well? That would have been some good pictures ; ) It was nice that you could meet Yuri's grandma. I remember the pictures that Kyle and Susi took of her and Yuri when they were there.
We will be praying that all goes smoothly tomorrow.
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