Easter Week
(Written by Mike)

This time of year is holiday for the people of South Africa. School was out for over two weeks through the Monday after Easter. Most working adults had the Friday before and the Monday after Easter off from work, and some even had the entire Easter week off. This is because they have national holidays coinciding with Easter such as “Family Day.”

Because of these holidays, many of the people/kids we’ve been working with were home with extended family. So we had to find other things to do, such as visit downtown Pretoria. It was the kids’ first time riding on a public bus, and boy were they excited! (You would have thought we were going to Disneyland!!!) While in downtown, we visited the African Window Museum, which had excellent displays on Africa’s history. We visited Church Square which has a central park with statues of some of the original Dutch settlers. We stopped at Steers (kind of like a Burger King) for ice cream as we waited for the bus ride home. Then the kids got really excited when our bus ride home turned out to be a double decker!!

This was also a good week for Reed, Lacey, Darcy, and I to get our hair cut. Lacey and Darcy got a trim, while Reed and I got a buzz. Our friend Debbie is quite the hair dresser!

Starting on Thursday we had a special time together at Pangani with the NCSA staff. We started off with a Passover celebration by eating some foods that symbolized different parts of the Passover story such as bitter herbs and bread without yeast. We ate roast lamb with all the fixings and toasted with wine and juice. We involved the kids in the Seder dinner by having them read questions, and we all sang songs to God.

Then on Friday, each one of us from the NCSA community set up and went through the “Stations of the Cross” at Pangani. This was a very meaningful time for all of us as we went through the story of Jesus’ last days on earth. Reed and Lacey were able to participate and both gained a greater understanding of what Jesus did for them.

On Sunday, we celebrated Easter at the braai. We invited people from the community of Pretoria to join us and enjoyed a dinner followed by an Easter egg hunt for all of the kids. Then we celebrated communion and sang songs together. Everyone who came had a great time.

The twelfth station from Friday’s “Stations of the Cross” was the tomb. On Easter, we opened that tomb to show that it was empty except for the cloth that they had wrapped Jesus’ body in. This is the foundation of Christianity. It’s the final proof of God’s great love for us – that He would send His Son to pay a terrible price (that we were not able to pay) for all of our shortcomings and mistakes. It’s this great love that motivates us to also love others. That’s why we’re here in South Africa – to help show God’s love to others. And that is also what all of us were put here on this earth to do.

It’s our prayer that the reality of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead would have a profound affect on your understanding of how much you are loved, and how much you are to love others.

Much love and thanks to all of you!