{"id":4919,"date":"2015-01-16T16:02:52","date_gmt":"2015-01-16T14:02:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/?p=4919"},"modified":"2015-03-06T18:07:53","modified_gmt":"2015-03-06T16:07:53","slug":"one-ukrainian-church-finds-joy-during-tragic-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/one-ukrainian-church-finds-joy-during-tragic-times\/","title":{"rendered":"One Ukrainian Church Finds Joy During Tragic Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

After the attack on a civilian bus<\/a> this week you might wonder if there’s anything good happening in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

How can Ukrainians find joy in such tragic times?<\/p>\n

Our church, Hope for People in Odessa, Ukraine recently decided to help people see through the sadness by putting on a special outdoor Christmas festival for the neighborhood!<\/p>\n

\"10520631_932496960093640_5103689084551054565_n\"<\/p>\n

They called the festival “Joy at Christmas.” The purpose was to share the gospel by telling the true Christmas story using live actors and animals.<\/p>\n

\"10885192_932496993426970_2824628939138452893_n\"<\/p>\n

Ukrainians celebrate Christmas on January 7th but Christmas related activities can continue for at least a week after Christmas. We held our outdoor Christmas reenactment and festival on January 10th and 11th.<\/p>\n

\"10906255_932497153426954_3988255660933715114_n\"<\/p>\n

I had the priviledge of being one of the wisemen. It was overwhelming to see the sea of stocking caps and little heads turned our way as we made our way down the path.<\/p>\n

\"10868258_932497100093626_5789982797956377117_n\"<\/p>\n

Our oldest two, Naomi and Mishael, were angels who hailed the Messiah’s birth from the top of our building.<\/p>\n

\"10923559_932496600093676_6207387363276372557_n\"<\/p>\n

We had over 75 actors participating from several different churches.<\/p>\n

\"10915190_932496830093653_3192442636012747978_n\"<\/p>\n

In addition to horses we also had a donkey, goats, pigs, chickens, ducks and ponies.<\/p>\n

\"10922473_931933753483294_2454640282308738623_n\"<\/p>\n

We were worried about the weather because just a few days before it had been -4f. Thankfully it warmed up to +35f just in time for our festival!<\/p>\n

\"10930912_932496546760348_5790472107311767748_n\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In addition to the reenactment of Jesus’ birth we also had 12 stations with games for the kids to play. We brought in a group of 40 ophan refugees from Eastern Ukraine who are living in a sanatorium a few miles from our church.<\/p>\n

\"10931029_932496780093658_4084554608465529769_n\"<\/p>\n

We invited a team of Ukrainian cooks from a nearby Church to come and cook Ukrainian veriniky for over 2,000 people!<\/p>\n

\"10906169_932118320131504_6397500331771683513_n\"<\/p>\n

Most importantly we told the story of Jesus to a couple thousand people. We explained who he was and why he came to earth.<\/p>\n

One woman asked my wife, Christina,<\/p>\n

“What kind of organization is this? How can I join it?”<\/p>\n

\"10384234_798554486864725_4171929133638164720_n\"<\/p>\n

Thank you for praying for us! It made a difference! Please continue to pray for the over 2,000 people who attended, some of whom may have heard the gospel for the first time!<\/p>\n

You can find many more photos on our church’s facebook.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After the attack on a civilian bus<\/a> this week you might wonder if there’s anything good happening in Ukraine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ministry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/10931029_932496780093658_4084554608465529769_n.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3izZc-1hl","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4320,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/not-even-war-will-stop-the-church-in-ukraine\/","url_meta":{"origin":4919,"position":0},"title":"Not Even War Will Stop the Church in Ukraine!","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"September 1, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I've never lived in a country that was at war with-in its own borders! Knowing that I could get in my car and be in a war zone in just a few hours somehow changes your perspective. Knowing that a foreign army is moving your direction causes certain priorities to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ministry"","block_context":{"text":"Ministry","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ministry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Women run from shelling in Donetsk, Ukraine. (AP Photo\/Mstislav Chernov)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/church-goes-on.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/church-goes-on.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/church-goes-on.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4842,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/happy-new-year-from-the-sukos\/","url_meta":{"origin":4919,"position":1},"title":"Happy New Year From The Suko’s","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"December 31, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Dear Friends, Christina and I and all our family wish you many blessings in 2015! May your year be filled with the peace and joy that can only come through God's mighty power in your life. May you have abundant opportunities to serve Jesus in and out of the Church.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Family"","block_context":{"text":"Family","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/family\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/DSC02409.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/DSC02409.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/DSC02409.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4902,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/novorussia-promises-to-destroy-the-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":4919,"position":2},"title":"Novorussia Promises to Destroy the World","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"January 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a very strange Christmas greeting by Maria Katasonova from Novorussia (Eastern Ukraine). Joy to the People Death to the enemy Merry Christmas from Novorussia The enemy will be defeated The victory will be ours and if we don't win then we will destroy the entire world! Well, I think\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ukraine"","block_context":{"text":"Ukraine","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ukraine-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/novorussia.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/novorussia.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/novorussia.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4870,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/why-ukraine-celebrates-christmas-on-january-7th\/","url_meta":{"origin":4919,"position":3},"title":"Why Ukraine Celebrates Christmas on January 7th","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"January 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Today is January 7th and it's Christmas day here in Ukraine. I've received a few questions about why Ukraine doesn't celebrate Christmas on December 25th, so here's an explanation for you. Religious holidays in Ukraine are determined by the Orthodox Church, which follows the Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Cesar\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ukraine"","block_context":{"text":"Ukraine","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ukraine-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/10893317_10152534286352405_417121065_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/10893317_10152534286352405_417121065_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/10893317_10152534286352405_417121065_n.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1665,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/benefits-of-celebrating-christmas-2-weeks-late\/","url_meta":{"origin":4919,"position":4},"title":"The Benefits of Celebrating Christmas 2 Weeks Late","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"January 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"If you already took your Christmas tree down then today would be a great day to grab it out of the trash and put it back where it belongs! Just because December 25th is now 2 weeks behind us doesn't mean that Christmas is over, especially if you're \u00a0from Ukraine.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ministry"","block_context":{"text":"Ministry","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ministry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/soldiers.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/soldiers.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/soldiers.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":331,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/new-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":4919,"position":5},"title":"New Life","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"May 31, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"This is past weekend was our last in Minnesota. We have had a great time staying with Dick and Joy Ivance. Christina translated for the Ivances about 15 years ago when on one of their first trips to Ukraine. They have continued to travel to Ukraine several times a year\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Updates"","block_context":{"text":"General Updates","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/updates\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4919"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4937,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4919\/revisions\/4937"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}