Happy Easter!






This weekend was our first Easter celebration in Tulear. Last Easter we were still in language school, and that Easter atmosphere was much different. Antsirabe has a heavy influence of Christianity, and you can see it during the Easter weekend. They turn the whole town into a huge fair ground...with ferris wheels, blow up toys, cotton candy, and much more. In Tulear, you wouldn't have even known that there was a special holiday this weekend! Businesses were open, there were no decorations in town, and life seemed to carry on as every other weekend. There is definitely a spiritual darkness here!

It was fun to see how our church celebrates Easter. The younger youth led a "concert" on Saturday morning and the older youth led a "concert" on Sunday afternoon. During one of the concerts they performed a miming act. Several people wanted to tell me what was going on in the story, just in case I didn't understand. I couldn't help but smile...I guess they thought I needed a translator for more than just the Malagasy language!

Eli had a fun Easter (although he was quite naughty during church!). When he woke up, he got a special Easter basket from the Easter bunny...well, actually most of it came from Grandma. His buddies, Luke and Jojo came over before church and they had an Easter egg hunt. Eli had a blast and was soooo precious!

What a special weekend to be able to celebrate here in Madagascar. We have waited so long to be here with our people to share the good news of what Christ accomplished on the cross for us! How our savior died for us, and rose from the dead! My prayer is that we will see a stronger presence of Christianity here in Tulear every year during Easter weekend. That we will go from living in a town where no one gives this weekend a second thought, to living in a place where people stop to rejoice and celebrate this very special day!

Comments

Cara said…
Eli is SO incredibly adorable! :D Praying for you guys!
April 5, 2010 at 11:49 AM
Burrowing In said…
I decided it was time to stop "lurking" and tell you how much I really enjoy reading your posts! I stumbled across the blog a few months ago and always delight when there is a new addition. Africa - the whole of it - is a place I have yet to see in the world, and I feel that it is a must, though not possible just yet. You let me see it and feel it and hear it. Thank you for sharing.
April 16, 2010 at 10:14 AM
Technology for the Classroom said…
I'm glad that you enjoy reading it! Living here has been such a crazy adventure - I love sharing it with people. Africa is such an amazing place, so different (and yet so the same) from what I had always imagined. I hope you get to experience it someday! :)
April 29, 2010 at 1:13 AM
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