Women's Day Tea

Here in Russia, as well as many other European countries, we celebrate International Women's Day on the 8th of March. As an outreach, we decided to do something we have never done before and hold a tea party for the ladies in the village. We initially wanted to invite the mothers of the many children who have attended Sunday School or our VBS programs, but we felt it would be a great opportunity to allow everyone to see more of what we are about. Some people are curious about our family and what we teach but for many different reasons they initially shy away from attending services. It often takes quite a bit of time and personal visits until people feel comfortable enough to come to a service for the first time. By holding a tea party, we felt Dee Dee could take a few minutes to explain a bit about our ministry here in the village in a less intimidating environment. It would also be an opportunity to show kindness to the ladies and spend a nice, relaxing afternoon visiting with them.

So, with that idea in mind, the work began to prepare for the big day. We printed up invitations and began handing them out. Another idea was to make a small gift of a flower pin for each lady to be given out the day of the tea party. We were so grateful for Katie Northcutt who helped greatly in the making of these flowers. Matt and Katie Northcutt are currently living in Krasnoyarsk while they learn the Russian language before beginning their ministry in the Far North region of Siberia. 

 The flowers were made out of silk/polyester material with buttons for the centers. (For the ladies who are interested, hopefully Dee will have a personal blog going soon and she will provide the link which includes instructions on how to make these flowers.)

Before we gave them out, we used the flowers as a decoration by laying them out in the shape of an "8" for the 8th of March (the candy bar was laid in the middle by one of the younger girls).

Along with streamers and Spring-themed confetti, we used photos of the children who attend Sunday School in frames made by them as centerpieces. The ladies could take the photos home as well.

With everyone in attendance, Dee was grateful to have four ladies attend the party who had never been to a service or activity before. Three of these ladies have children, grandchildren, and even great grandchildren who have attended our services or VBS. What a blessing it was to have them come!

Dee was excited to have Eddie's (Sveta's husband) grandmother, Nina, as a guest. Two of her great grandchildren also attend Sunday School.

This lady's grandson has attended our VBS program.

Sveta's younger sister, Liza, has been attending Sunday School for years and has made a profession of faith. Liza has often brought both of Sveta's sons to Sunday School as well.

One lady whom Dee was looking forward to inviting lives about five houses down from us on our street. Her name is Tamara. She is always very friendly and loves our children. Upon spending some time with Tamara during a visit to her home, she was so curious and very interested to know what was so different about the Orthodox ways she had been taught and our beliefs. It was such a blessing to see her excitement as Dee Dee invited her to the tea party. 

Tamara

The girls at their table.

Ladies enjoying tea and sweets.

We also enjoyed playing a few games with the ladies. 

Sveta accepting her prize.

The younger girls worked together as a team.

While the older girls worked together as a team.

More game fun.

Grandma Nina received a prize for being the most "mature" guest.

The ladies were very excited to choose their flowers to take home.

Sveta helping Grandma Nina choose just the right color.

Sveta with Angelina, Grandma Nina, and Tamara

The girls quickly learned Katie's name and wanted to have their picture taken with her.

As the afternoon came to a close the ladies were all so grateful for us inviting them. Several mentioned a desire to come to the services. They also wanted to know if we could do it again next year! Please pray that this outreach will be profitable in us seeing more souls come to Christ.