Sunday May 10, 2009

May 9 is the Ukrainian equivalent to Memorial Day. It is a time to honor the veterans of the "great wars." Everyone who can afford to goes on holiday for a long weekend. On Sunday night, however, the children's choir provided an hour and a half of music and drama devoted to honoring Mother's and Grandmother's who stayed home and cared for family while the men were away at war.

Beginning with this shot of the front of Grace Church, here are some pictures from Sunday's services:

The sign over the door reads: Christ is Risen!

This photo shows the proximity of the Children's Shelter to the front door of the church. The children are very much a part of the church family and are reared in the shadow of the sanctuary.

This is about one third of their Adult Choir. Being a holiday Sunday they were low in number. We are bringing back a short video of this anthem in hopes we can play it for you on a Wednesday night.

The next series of pictures show a display and shots of individual paintings done by 6 to 10 year olds in the Grace Sunday School program. They are done in water color and are on display in the foyer of the church with each child's name and age.

I wish we could upload all of them with pictures of the young artists. This is a great tool for Bible Stories to be shared with the younger children.

Sometimes those 2 hour church services can just tire a fellow out! This is the son of Andrew and Julia Bandura, younger brother of Pastor Igor Bandura.

Children's Choir presenting their program on Sunday night. These children stayed on stage for over 2 hours! They presented songs, solos, duets, ensembles and dramatic readings and short plays. Pastor Igor Bandura is seen on stage right.

The youngest children from the Shelter singing and giving their memorized parts in the program.