Sunday, April 4, 2010

Pasaka Njema - Happy Easter

This is Easter week; I say Easter week because the Christians start celebrating early in the week rather than wait until Easter Sunday.
Most of our churches started at least on Wednesday with fasting and prayers for the rest of the week until Easter Sunday.
Our house is located on a hill and unfortunately we are the recipients of all the various sounds that are projected through sound systems that are turned to full blast in not only a number of churches but also several of the local bars. There are no noise restrictions in Mwanza so everyone can make as much noise as they want for as long as they want; and they do.
So, since Friday, there have been non-stop church services with choirs and preaching; all projected at the highest volume possible through large sound systems. The music has been mostly good so it hasn't been too bad except at night when the bars crank their systems up and then we have a mixture of the good and the bad; each trying to be heard over the other.
As with Christmas, there is nothing of the commercial about this religious holiday. We saw no Easter bunnies, Easter candy, Easter Egg hunts, Easter decorations or any of the other things that are part of the American celebration of Easter.
Instead, they celebrate the Risen Savior with great joy and enthusiasm; singing many of the same songs that we associate with Easter.
Yesterday, KVCC, our largest TAG church in Mwanza, showed the film "The Passion" that we had loaned them. The pastor told us today at church that the church was packed yesterday with mostly unsaved people to watch the film; at the end of the film almost the entire church stood for salvation!
That's what Easter is all about; the reconciliation of the lost to their Heavenly Father through the sacrificial death of Jesus. Because Jesus died and rose again, we too have eternal life. PTL.

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