What a Lovely Easter :)

Here in Uganda, Easter weekend is a big deal. And I don’t think it’s just because I’m in a Christian organization/community – I’m pretty sure I heard people talking about how there are many people who travel on this weekend.

Both the Institute class and the NHU admin office had Friday and today off. Last time we had a four-day weekend, I was blessed with the opportunity to go out to an island on Lake Victoria for a little vacation. Last month as I thought about the Easter break, I knew there were a couple other places I’d like to go visit…….but at the same time I just felt like I wanted to celebrate Easter here at Kasana, in the place that has become a new home and with the people who have taken me in as part of their family.

And boy am I glad I decided to stay – because this weekend (especially yesterday) has been such an amazing blessing.

Friday morning I did laundry and spent some time continuing the Bible study/reading I’ve been working my way through (fairly slowly, I must admit…) this year. I think I may have also spent some time reading either a devotional by C.S. Lewis or one by Anne Graham Lotz.

Mid-afternoon I headed over to the church for the Good Friday service there. Uncle Jonnes talked for a while about Jesus’ humility at not answering His accusers, and about how we should do likewise rather than allowing ourselves to be imprisoned by anger and bitterness. Then we watched the last 30 minutes or so of the Jesus Film, from Jesus’ time in Jericho (healing the blind man and discipling Zacchaeus) through His ascension.

I’ve watched the Jesus Film before….but not like this. Because there are many in the congregation who come from the surrounding area and may or may not speak English very well, we watched the Jesus Film in Lugandan. (For the same reason, Uncle Jonnes’ teaching and each week’s church service are translated into Lugandan by an interpreter. So there’s kind of two speakers every week J) Having seen the movie before, and being pretty familiar with the story, I was able to follow what was being said for the most part. But I certainly noticed things I might not have noticed otherwise (I might write more about those another time).

I also enjoyed hearing the people in the church with me interacting with the movie as we watched it. The laughter when Jesus bested the religious leaders trying to trap Him. The applause when Jesus reappeared alive. The murmurs of many repeating the prayer at the end. And then during dinner, the conversation with one of the couples about how all representations of Jesus look the same—how do we know what He looked like?

Saturday I must admit I didn’t spend my time as productively. I took advantage of a “second Saturday” by doing what I wanted to do – reading about cute animal stories and just amusing myself (choosing not to think, if you look at the etymology of “amusement”). I also enjoyed the fan thanks to the power being on most of the day!

After a trip to the market and some dinner, I heated water for a “shower,” thanks to power still being on! But then it went off, so I showered by star-light and lantern-light. My roomie had turned our banda into a nail salon again, with four ladies painting nails by candlelight. Before I joined in, I couldn’t help but go out and stare at the stars. That’s the best part about the power going out at night. The stars are so amazingly beautiful here, but when power is on it’s still harder to see them. So I had to take advantage of the darker sky thanks to moonless-ness and powerless-ness.

After we had finished decorating fingers and toes for Easter, we just chatted and/or sang worship songs (and danced to them some J). Of course then power came back on ;-)  Called my parents for a while and had a good chat, then fell asleep before 11.

Sunday morning the roomie was making pancakes for our Institute village breakfast, so I pitched in. They were so yummy. J Then she handed out some gifts to the families we live near, thanks to her church back home and her friend who came to visit. Seeing the joy of the children and the parents at receiving even “simple” gifts such as Bibles and dresses made my heart so happy. J

When we walked the short distance to the church at 10, I was surprised by how many people were already there! Usually the 10:00 start time finds the church only half full, and it slowly fills up. But for Easter, there were many more people there on time! And what a morning it was J I’ve never been to a more joyful Easter morning service.

Ugandans usually worship with more vocal/physical exuberance than my home church, and yesterday they were even more excited and celebrating even more loudly than normal. It was so fun to watch and to take part in. Uncle Jonnes was the preacher for the morning, and his message focused on the fact that Christ’s death has freed us from our bondage to sin! Always such a good reminder!

After a delicious Liberian lunch (preparation led by a Liberian here to go through the Institute) and some dinner prep work, I blogged for a while and enjoyed listening to the afternoon’s rain shower. Later in the evening I went over to my family group for dinner.

While we were waiting for it to be finished cooking, two of the Worcester sons and daughters taught me to play “Ludo” (I think?). It’s very similar to Sorry, but with a couple different rules. It was so fun laughing with them.

The daughter taking her turn to cook did an amazing job! The beef and rice tasted so great. J And even though it was a simple meal by most standards, it was special compared to their normal daily menu of posho and beans (I need to do a food post sometime….).

I am so thankful for my Worcester family – I felt so blessed to be included in their evening. The four girls and the parents have been so sweet and welcoming toward me whenever I have gone to visit. And the six young boys are fun to watch as they run around and play together.

Today they did not have school either – so I went over on the bright and early side to help them work in the garden. We spent a couple hours planting white sweet potato clippings in the furrowed mounds of dirt. My first row took me more than an hour, but the second row took less than an hour. I came back dirty and tired, but again blessed and thankful to have a family here who takes joy in having me involved even in simple daily things.

And that’s the story of my weekend and why I’m so glad I stayed here at “home” rather than travelling to some other place. I am so very blessed J