Saturday morning, October 8, started out grey and foggy. There were some worried phone calls: "Will it stay like this, or will it change...?", but in the end God gave us a warm, sunny day!

And this is how it was:

The Sunday School class left from the Christian Ministry Center at 10:00 am with children ranging in age from 2 (in strollers) to 12 years, parents and teachers in a comfortable bus - literally God's gift, considering the cost of train tickets! Upon arrival the quiet of the village was shattered by the voices of the children, the local dogs joined the excitement, and our happy crowd crossed the bridge over a pond and entered the autumnal forest.

We quickly found a suitable meadow and mobilized everyone to collect firewood. The forest was full of fallen branches, so the collection didn't take long! After a prayer of thanks to the Father for his provision for us of our daily bread, we refreshed ourselves with a light snack of tasty sandwiches. Having restored our strength, we plunged into the games: tug of war, untangling trick knots in teams, a sack race, and a relay race with hoops. Who is best at throwing a ball or reeling in a fish? And then we had interesting crafts!

In the mean time the dads built a sturdy frame for the kettle, to heat porridge and tea over the fire. During a break between games our students received instruction in how to start the aforementioned fire with only one match, and without paper! Later we had the porridge, steaming and well seasoned with spices carefully chosen by our cooks! We drank lemonade and tea, which was almost forgotten in the rush! How tasty it was!! We walked by the pond, tried to catch frogs, made friends with the local goat, took pictures of the flowers on the banks of the pond, roasted hot dogs on sticks, and much more! You can see some of it in the photographs, but a lot didn't make it into the pictures: the fragrence of the autumn forest and the smokey smell of the fire, the rustling of the leaves and the cool of the pond, the songs of the birds and more, which can't be captured in a photograph, but reveals to us the Creator, the perfect artist, our Lord! He gives us his gifts - take them, use them and enjoy them! At first glance they are simple and ordinary, but at the same time complex and perfect as you start to look at the details! Look at a leaf with its veins and cells and think how it grew! And soon, in the spring new leaves will grow! Look at the pond, soon its surface will be covered by the patterns of ice crystals, no two of which are the same! Look at the details, and you will see the greatness of God! We thanked God for his creation and care for us, and for his greatest gift to man - life and salvation in Christ!

We invite all of you to join us, who weren't able to be there to touch, smell and listen to everything that was given to us in love!

Andrey Churkin