This ceremony was a great joy for the deanery of the Far East. There were a lot of people who attended and many more who helped to make this ceremony a big success. Our preacher Nina Dimitriyeva, took the chair coverings and the kneeling cushions out of storage, which were used for the wedding of Torsten Griess-Nega and his bride Heike on September 5, 2010 (see www.luthvostok November 30, 2010; “Wedding in Hanseatic style and in Bavarian Dirndl” . Our sexton Edik Mischenko built the wedding sign; and Svetlana Waschanova blessed us with delicious food and drink.

Alexander and his bride Oksasna deserved this! Alexander Lapotschenko is a faithful and servant pastor for our deanery of the Far East and has served as pastor for 10 years at St. Luke’s in Arsenyev. He became acquainted with Oksana as she was a parishioner of his congregation. For some time she has been helpful to Alexander and his sick mother. She brings two children into this marriage and Lapotschneko’s new family now consists of five members and three generations.

This is a relationship in which everyone is helping each other. Alexander and Oksana after much forethought chose the following bible verse for their wedding: 1 Corinthians 7:3: The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband.”

We wish God’s richest blessings to this new family! And also for St. Luke’s congregation where Alexander Vladomiritch Lapotschenko has been serving since November of 2008. (see photo and www.luthvostok.com December 24, 2008). We hope this family is a blessing to the congregation.

Manfred Brockmann, Dean of the Russian Far East