Cristos Voskres!

Easter in Russia was a week later than in America this spring. We follow the Eastern Orthodox calendar, so the dates usually are different.

Costya and Ira, our preacher and wife, suggested we have church at their house. They have been working for months to cultivate friendships with neighbors. We planned the service to be attractive to them. The “regulars” met an hour before the scheduled service. We sang a few traditional Easter songs and shared the Lord’s Supper.

Once our visitors arrived, we began church with two songs: Up From the Grave He Arose and Amazing Grace. John, who organized the music, thought that these two hymns summarize the message of Resurrection Sunday. For the praise time, we were blessed three times over. A neighbor let us use his keyboard, so the songs had suitable accompaniment. Also a visitor who attends a church in a neighboring city was in Moscow and offered to share some songs he had written. He sang several throughout the day, and everyone enjoyed his music.

Costya preached about the resurrection from the point of view of the first ones who discovered the empty tomb. Probably this was the first time some in the audience ever heard evidence for Christ’s resurrection.

After worship time, two of our men grilled hotdogs outside while the ladies set out salads and desserts. Unlike most Easter Sundays in America, we had sleet and snow part of the day! That didn’t interfere with the chefs, and the hotdogs were done just right.

The rest of the afternoon was spent getting to know our visitors and enjoying good food. Of the twenty or so adults, at least eight were visitors. It was obvious from all the conversations and laughter that everyone enjoyed getting acquainted. The children were all at a children’s center 5 minutes away, so they were happier as well as the adults.

We rejoice that the Lord led these new friends to our fellowship. Our prayer is that we can incorporate each one into a home group and eventually our church family.