Continuing our missionary work in the village of Zavorsklo, we held a Family Festival for local couples. Only a few people came, but in rural areas any event like that is a rarity. So with full confidence we can say that this is the start of something big that we are sure that the Lord will bless!

 

This festival was held on 15 February (immediately following Valentine's Day). Despite the fact that Valentine's Day is not an official church holiday, it was still a good opportunity for fostering a spirit of warmth and blessing in family relationships. Twelve people from Zavorsklo came to the festival, including three married couples. The couple of the longest standing had been married for 61 years. This couple received a special keepsake in recognition of their fine example of a good family relationship. There was also a special award for the newest family, who had been married for eight years. As is customary at our family festivals, each couple had their own table, decorated with pussy willow, hearts and candles. In addition to the decorations, our sweethearts also had sweets and tea. The hall was filled with a warm and comfortable family atmosphere.

A young couple from Salvation Church, Sergey and Irina Reshitko, made their debut as master and mistress of ceremonies. They took their role very seriously: they prepared interesting games, prizes and skits, and of course the evening would not have been complete without speakers. The first talk "Relationships in Marriage" was presented by David and Oksana Summit. They spoke about mutual understanding between husband and wife. The other speakers were Roman and Lyudmila Zhuk. They addressed a relevant issue for modern society: "Conflict Resolution."

Maya Golovash enchanted everyone at the festival with her wonderful voice, accompanied on the guitar by Vyacheslav Morohovets. They performed romantic songs dedicated to the eternal theme of love. Another highlight of the evening was the violin performance of Oksana Summit. Before the end of the event, the spouses were asked to write a romantic letter to their "other half". The wives at the festival wrote letters to their husbands who had stayed at home. Let's hope those love letters result in a much bigger turnout at the next meeting.