We woke up this morning to sounds of activity in the kitchen.  We went to bed last night around midnight after eating fourth supper with sounds of activity in the kitchen.  The dining table in the kitchen is the center of fellowship and activity.  Natasha is stuffing us!  It seems as if every time we turn around we are eating again!  

We ate and dressed for church.  We all anticipated a special time with the church as we worshipped together but I don’t think any of us were prepared for how special it was.  The Orsha Baptist Church family was welcoming, friendly and genuinely glad we were there.

The service began with much music and a warm welcome to the Americans from Pastor Leonid.  The choir sang and did a fabulous job.  It was very cool and almost overwhelming as we sang songs in worship together, them singing in Russian and us singing in English.  I couldn’t help but think about how amazing God is as He understood not only our worship in 2 languages but at the same moment He heard, listened and understood all the languages and worship of the world!  Dan preached.

The second half of the 2 ½ hour worship service included Communion. I knew it would be different when I saw an elderly lady from the congregation bring in the homemade loaf of bread for the service.  It began with removing the cloths covering the elements.  The table had been prepared with a loaf of bread and 2 large silver goblets with red wine.  The loaf of bread was broken into small pieces and placed on 2 silver serving platters.  Pastor Leonid said a prayer of thanksgiving for the bread representing the body of Jesus and it was passed around.  We took a piece from the platter and ate.  He then took a goblet and gave thanks for the blood of Jesus represented by the wine.  When he had finished praying they took the goblets and passed them down the first row on each side of the sanctuary.  As each one drank they passed it to the person next to them.  At the end of each row, they would wipe the edge of the cup with a rag and begin the next row until all in the room had partaken.  It was quiet, worshipful and very special.

Following the service we returned to our home for the week and enjoyed a large lunch together.  Shortly afterward Pastor Leonid said in broken English, “My dear friends…go…rest…ummm…quickly!”  So we visited in the living room and had a short time of some quiet down time.

We went back to church for the 6:00 PM service.  We were told it would be a special fellowship service.  When we entered the building we saw the chairs had been removed and replaced with 2 long rows of tables and chairs.  The tables were set with sandwiches, cookies and Chi (tea).  Pastor Leonid welcomed us, said a prayer and told us to enjoy the fellowship meal.

As we finished the meal people began to sing.  Sometimes it was a small group and sometimes it was congregational.  Some songs were recognizable, not by the words but by the melody.  Music is the universal language.  And then it was time.  Our group of merry melody makers sang a couple of songs for them.  We were met with smiles and nods of approval from the people.  We had Olya interpret the lyrics before we sang so they would have some sense of what we were singing about.  Some of the songs they knew!

Following a time of worship our team had the opportunity to share a little about ourselves and tell what we did in our church and in ministry.  It was a sweet time.

Following the service we headed home only to eat again even after we had eaten.  They are gracious people and wonderful hosts.  They have gone way over the extra mile to make sure we are well taken care of and feel very welcome.