Family Fun Day

On 16 September 2006, St Nicholas Orthodox Church had a family fun day, and how wonderful it was! The Weather was fantastic, the children were happy and the day was a great success.

The children played, competed and had fun. The parents socialised and enjoyed the company of their children. The parish people gathered to join in the enjoyment but most importantly, everyone, old and young, sat together and prayed.

The day passed very quickly. Father Dimitri started the Morning Prayer and spoke with his usual passion about the importance of bringing children to Sunday School, his words were a reflection of his deep faith and philosophy. Father Antonio spoke about reflecting on young children’s words and actions, he meditated with his spiritual personality on the holiness of young children. We enjoyed listening to the priests and reflected on their words.

After praying, we were all ready to start the business!

There was an interesting exhibition in the Church’s hall demonstrating samples of the children’s work in Sunday School. Icons, prayer ropes and books were also displayed.

The mini golf was busy all day, children (and parents) enjoyed practicing and competing, but at the end they all won because they all had fun.

The laughing clown was the pleasure of many children especially the young ones, they loved inserting balls in its mouth and winning plenty of prizes, why not if play was unlimited.

The basket ball competition got the attention of everyone, young and old. We all enjoyed throwing the ball in the air no matter if it got in the ring or not, giggles were filling the air and this was the most important!

Hand ball was a real hit. It was easy to assemble and provided children with lots of fun and practice.

Fathers had a real business over the tennis table. Inside in the Sunday School room, games were very hot, exciting and SERIOUS!

Mums, dads, teachers and of course children hurried to have their faces painted. Presbytera Clare was professionally decorating the children’s faces and hands and putting smiles in their hearts.

But wait a minute, where were Rita, Margaret and Terri? Oh here they were, working hard on the popcorn machine. All you hear from children and parents was “YUMMY”

Anymore? Not now. The children were ready to have lunch. Many thanks to the Akkari and Kurban families for providing us with different kinds of yummy pizza. Everyone enjoyed the fantastic taste and had twice and three times more.

After lunch the children were ready to continue their adventures. Father Dimitri and Father Antonio invited the parents for a talk to speak about their experiences with their children coming to church. Father Dimitri highlighted the importance of participation in the Holy Liturgy and Sunday School and Father Antonio gave a beautiful testimony about his life and how he became a priest in the Orthodox Church, this had triggered some parents to talk about their experiences with their children. This talk was a huge success.

When the talk was finished, we joined Sister Virginia who was teaching us how to make prayer ropes. What an experience! We have learnt how to make the knots but we also learnt, with her, the importance of putting ourselves continuously in the presence of The Lord. Thank you Sister Virginia, this was very precious.

The day had finished, it was time to go home, but who wanted to go home? Children were not ready yet. Don’t worry kids a beautiful day like this will be on very soon. Stay tuned and wait for the announcements.

All activities and food were free. Big thanks for all the donations received.

God Bless you all.
By Natalie Nehma