The Third Week of Advent- Sort of

This was the third week of Advent as you can see by the candles we lit.  Well, sort of.  We had accelerated everything so that we could do the nativity play to correspond with the lighting of the fifth, Christ candle on December 15.  

But as you can see from it just being the three of us, we lost five of the seven of our cast and crew along the way.  Sharifa and Cyrill went to visit a sick grandmother and William to stay with an aunt when school ended.  Lulu and Josey were traveling with their mom Helga and Oupa Garrett to visit family this week.

The candles were made by the Sunday School- one set of five for the sanctuary and each family with pink, white and purple tissue paper over tin cans and toilet paper rolls and a paper flame to glue on top with red glitter.

Each week we decorated the sanctuary a little more and lit an Advent candle which was a new tradition for them.  Candles and stars the first weeks, then this week we added tissue paper flowers that the Sunday School children made in the pink, purple and white of Advent. 

Geraldo and Jaydine were there every Sunday.  I am wearing the purple stole given to me by the Montebello Plymouth UCC in California for my mission to Namibia to celebrate Advent.  The churches in Namibia did not use liturgical colors and used the blue, black and white vestments of the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa year round (the cross and the dove on the blue background you can see on the wall behind us is their symbol).