Sun, FOOD, Fellowship, FOOD, more Fun and even more FOOD

Good evening friends, it has been a vitage day in every respect here in Odessa. Becuase May 2nd is also a national holiday and families get together, we have had a wonderful day off work with our friends and families from church. Our morning study was on the discipline of intamacy with God. Past generations of Christians talked of "practicing the presence" of God, by spending time with Him in the morning in order to keep God at the forefront of their passion, purpose and joy the rest of the day. As a team we prayed for more of this, and we have not been dissapointed today by God's goodness.

Illinka a bright light on a hill.
6 Years ago my good friend Sasha Domuschi took me to this little rural village outside Odessa where he had  just started converting an old bungalow and was building a little church. Grace church wanted  to love the people there and share Jesus Christ with them. NOW what was originally a big prayer and passion has turned into a glorious reality.

 

Their first intention was to build an orphanage, accross the road from the church (you can see the church in the background)  ,but God had something even more wonderful in mind. The church now teach many children from the area in their school where they have classrooms, Many of the local children come from backgrounds that are hugely helped by the goodness, gentleness and love of God's people. The work of this little place is far reaching as children grow up to develop in other schools, and bring their families to church for presentation services. Many of them come to find the eternal friend that is spoken of, and so many prayers have been asnwered in this special little place. The hearts of friends who work there are wonderfully transparent and loving. The extensive veg patches, chicken coops, greenhouses, all supply beautiful food, fruit and veg. The hand pushed rotorvator continues to work hard, and the military precise rows of onions, raspberries and beetroot are ready to feed a village for another season. The beautiful childrens playpark and free exercise apparatus has soft land rubber matting underneath, and is consistantly populated with people from the village. I cant help thinking we have missed a trick here in the UK and that more churches should build a play park in front of their welcoming front door.
The classrooms are beautifully constructed and presented.

Of course they were empty today, and so our purpose in beingthere wasn't just to hear about the work but spend some time with the children from church as they had a fun day out. The sun was scortching, the sky was blue.

Emlyn brought new fooballs, catch balls, basketballs and volleyballs for the children, and they absolutely loved it. He also brought with him a pump (always prepared) and plenty of patience for those who wanted to play catch and football with him, (the queue was not short). After a couple of games of football, the sun was baking hot and we were reprieved by lunch in the church grounds.... and what a lunch!
BBQ meats, potatoes, beautiful salads, cakes, buscuits, drinks by the gallon. We were struggling with the appealing prospect of sleeping in the shade when we were ushered over the road.. what for we wondered, It transpired that they also had a spread ready for lunch, BBQ meats, poatoes, beautiful salads etc. It took us a few seconds before we realised this had also been prepared for us. Jiohn took one for the team and followed up his 7 sausages with a couple of kebabs. I think they see it as a sport... kind of endurance eating, can we give the gentlemen from England bellies as big as the footballs theu bring, and make sure they return with meat sweats! It was worth getting through for the fellowship and singing that came after. Here is a short clip ...
A vintage day just got better as we have picked up Joe and Rob from the airport, looking remarkably fresh after a trouble free flight.

I will go and enjoy a celebratory cuppa with the reunited team. Just one more photo from today. What do you do if you live in a rural area , have no access to a gym, multigyms are too expensive, yet you still need to work off all the vegatables you grow ? The answer is simple. Get two buckets or plant pots. Join them by a metal bar and fill said buckets with concrete. The result is genius, and a very hench church pastor.

Chat tomorrow, thank you so much for your prayers.
P