4th of July Fun

Today we had an incredibly moving experience at Grace Place in the Park.  Over 50 believers were baptized in front of a thousand supporters!  Our Orphans shared in the celebration which included water guns, swimming in the river, lots of food, cotton candy, and popsicles! The weather was awesome … not too hot or cold!  Valera ran as fast as he could, devouring food and attention so he could bounce it back with his huge smile and constant chattering.  We managed to gather up the troops from all of the fun in time to head over to the Daniels home for some horse back riding. The kids loved feeling like a cowboys! Now we are waiting for the rain to pass for some fireworks!

–Clark Stoesz

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Fourth of July happily fell on a beautiful Sunday morning this year, leaving us to start our day at church. What a blessing it was to not only celebrate our national freedom but our freedom through Christ as well. The children all attended children’s church while the adults enjoyed the pastors sermon. Church was held in the park so we got to enjoy the fresh air and the whole congregation that is normally split into several services. After the service was coming to an end it became time for lots of baptisms. All the children who attended church joined us for the first portion of the baptism service. They all sang a song they learned in class and then sat down and watched some of the children get baptized themselves. After enjoying the rest of the service, and watching the adult baptisms, we all joined up to enjoy a church wide lunch in the park. We enjoyed lots of grilled items and were left to watch the children play. The park included water sprayers, lots of climbing material, and a part of the river which was developed for summer swimming. Fully clothed, all of the UOO children got soaked playing in the sprayers and the river. It was as great way for them too cool off and get wet. It was such a joy to watch them enjoy such a great playground and freely swim in the river.

Sunday afternoon we enjoyed taking the children on horse rides. All were so curious and excited about being on the animals for the very first time. As the children rotated through riding the horses, they enjoyed running around and burning of some energy. They were checking out the new area and watching friends enjoy their rides. After rides, all who were there, enjoyed a refreshing afternoon snack.

– Taura Kula