Sunday March 31, 2013
When each day passes, we continue to be reminded of many
small things we no longer have access to that we would take for granted back
home. This Easter was incomparable to any other Easter we have ever
experienced. No Easter Bunny. No Easter baskets. No Charleston Hesston’s “10
Commandments”. No ham, deviled eggs, potato salad, or sweet tea. No option of
which service to attend. No Peeps. No Cadbury. No plastic eggs. No Rangers
Opening Weekend.
Instead, we experienced the raw goodness of His victory. The
night before Easter, Chris suffered from a strong round of warfare from the
enemy. He spent the entire night tossing and turning in attempt to fall asleep
while battling thoughts from darkness. He felt physically sick and exhausted.
We were not able to make it to our community gathering for Sunday morning, and
Chris finally fell asleep around 10 am. Becky stayed back to pry for him by his
side. When he woke up, he said he dreamed that he was on his knees in pryer, asking
for Father to relieve him. Talk about a very unusual Easter. But to us, this
was not unusual. Knowing what day it was on the calendar was a huge sign to us
that this is not a favorite day for the enemy.
Originally, we had the day planned for about 25 guests to
come over to our home for a potluck dinner and Easter egg hunt. We ended up
having to cancel our planned event because of our morning we experienced. Come
to find out, the people originally coming over were no longer able to make it
for various reasons anyway! Here comes the cool part. Last minute, Becky got
together with the other foreigners in town for an impromptu Easter egg hunt
with some of their neighbors and friends. They were able to share the meaning
of Easter, have an egg hunt, and play games with about 10 local children who
had never heard the message before! The crazy part is…. all 25 people who were
originally going to come over for an Easter egg hunt were ALL family members
already! These 10 children and their mothers were NOT family members, and got
the chance to hear for the first time!! It is crazy awesome how these things
work out. We saw the raw goodness of His victory! We endured battle and sought
His winning.
This is a glimpse into our reality over here. It is not
meant to scare you, but to let you see the life we are living as the enemy is
doing everything in his evil power to steal the hearts of the lost away from
our Father.
Thanks to Chris’ momma, Becky was able to dye Easter eggs
with her Intercultural Class students (210 of them) and share the meaning of
Easter! It is beautiful to see the connection between the simplicity of an egg
and the celebration of new life.
