Today is Easter and, since I am currently in Ecuador, Easter looks a little different this year compared to previous years. Earlier today I talked with my family back home (Indiana/Ohio), where it was a lovely 65 degrees Fahrenheit, while I sat in 90-degree weather with 87% humidity. I realized that everything from the weather to how we celebrate Easter is so vastly different here in Ecuador. So I thought it might be interesting for you to see what a holiday on the Race looks like.
For starters, Ecuadorians call Easter “El Dia de Resurreccion” (the Day of Resurrection). This got me thinking, why do we call it “Easter” anyways? Apparently, the name Easter comes from the word Eostre, which was an English goddess, who was celebrated at the beginning of spring. The name stuck and remains so for Germans, English, and Americans. I thought this was interesting, although not surprising, as I feel like many Christian holidays have turned into more of a chance to eat delicious food and gather together as family and friends, rather than a celebration of what the day commemorates.
With this being said, today doesn’t really feel like Easter. I think one of the reasons I feel this way is because all of the hype leading up to the holiday is missing. Back home, my family prepped for Easter by planning the breakfast and lunner (the meal between lunch and dinner) menus, decorating the house, as well as the cake, stuffing the Easter baskets with scrumptious candy, and hiding Easter eggs. I am not saying these traditions are bad things, but this excitement and planning leading up to Easter is missing for me this year.
It feels kind of strange – foreign if you will. But what I’ve realized is that it also allows me to have a simplified perspective of Easter. Without all of the “extras” it takes me to the root of the holiday itself. It helps me to better REMEMBER and to have more GRATITUDE for what Jesus did for us. The Gospel is so simple, yet SO weighty. This side of heaven I will never be able to fully understand all that He did taking on all of our sins on that cross so many years ago. For shedding His own blood to create a new covenant with us that will never be broken because He did it for us. For the communion, mercy, and grace I get to enter into because of what He did. For conquering death and coming back to life, so that we can forever live with Him in perfect communion. Dang. Today, I am reminded of just how good that Good news really is. And for that I am oh so thankful.
Day In the Life of Team YOJ: Easter
5:15 am – Wake up and get ready for our host’s sunrise church service.
6:00 am – El Dia de Resurreccion service: It was in a large building without air-conditioning, fancy lights, or good acoustics and was all in Spanish. Although I speak a little Spanish, religious words are a whole other ballgame! So I spent the majority of the sermon spending time with God and reading through the Easter story in each of the four Gospels (if you haven’t done this before, you should…it’s a cool perspective!).
9:45 am – Come back from church and walk to the bread man! Down the street from our host is a guy who makes THE BEST homemade bread rolls (I wish I could send the freshly made bread smells over the internet!). We bought bread and eggs for breakfast.
10:30 am – NAP!!! After waking up early and sitting in a 3.5 hour service, we were exhausted! I also got the chance to Facetime with my family. I swear Facetime is the best invention since sliced bread 😉
2 pm – Lunch made by our host’s wife, Gema. She makes AMAZING food…she is too good to us! We had chicken and rice, watermelon, and Tang (the unofficial official drink of Ecuador).
5 pm – Watch the Passion of Christ. This movie always hits me hard. Some of my teammates had not seen the movie, so as a team we decided to watch it together.
7 pm – Dinner (leftovers from lunch)
And that’s what Easter 2019 has looked like for my team and I. I hope it has given you a little glimpse into what holiday Race life can look like. I pray you all had a blessed day with family and friends celebrating the Resurrection of our glorious Savior!
Easter family picture!
The church service.
The bread man and his massive oven!
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- Our squad will leave for Peru on Friday, April 26th. Please pray for safe travels…this will be very long (40+ hours!).
- Please pray that we would finish these last two months (how are we already going into month 10!!?) strong and fully present.
