Last week we had the honor of celebrating Thanksgiving with our amazing orphanage grads. Since we've been feeling so grateful for all of the support and the beautiful things God has been doing, we decided to go ahead and make a big event out of the American holiday.
Celebration began at our weekly Wednesday night grad meeting here in Sumy. We made hand-print turkeys, took pictures as pilgrims, decorated cookies, and took the time to share our thankfulness with each other for what God has given us. Each kid wrote down what they were thankful for on a feather for our very own thankfulness turkey and wrote down what they were thankful for in others on their respective turkey-hands. The beauty of how little these kids have experienced is that they are willing and excited to participate in everything now; we took full advantage of this fact and brought them back to Kindergarten - they loved it.
Actual Thanksgiving Day became Thanksgiving prep in the Open Arms Home for our weekend outreach with grads from throughout the region. We managed to squeeze 18 of us in our cozy apartment for a full-on Thanksgiving feast, desserts, games, and a slumber party for the kids in the living room. The best part of the whole celebration was that for many of these kids, this was the first holiday experience they had ever really had. They devoured the food (especially the mashed potatoes), laughed well into the night, and continually thanked us for putting the whole thing together. It was a privilege to watch them have so much fun in a family environment; it is so clear how much love can impact a person's heart and we are excited to see where God is going to continue to direct our ministry with these unbelievable kids!
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