Ever since I was a child, I loved Easter. Maybe it was more about straightening my hair or putting on a new dress that excited me most, but still I loved Easter. As I got older I still found joy in Easter, realizing that the real Easter story wasn’t about eggs or bunnies but about Jesus’ resurrection after dying on the cross. As gruesome as the details are surrounding Jesus’ death, there’s light and hope at the end of the tunnel, or on the 3rd day, when we find out that’s he’s alive!!
Most Christians, regardless of domination, know Easter for it’s religious significance. For others, particularly those in America, they may see Easter as a time where families gather to eat, the kids find hidden easter eggs and the cutest Easter Bunny pictures are taken.
Regardless of how you see Easter, one thing is for sure. In America, whether you celebrate it, or even believe it, almost everyone, if not everyone, has heard of Easter.
So imagine a place where they don’t know what palm Sunday or Easter is? or imagine a place where they’ve never even heard the name Jesus?
Allow me to introduce to you, Battambang Cambodia. With Buddhism being the official religion of Cambodia as over 95% of the population is buddist, it should be of no surprise that there are people here who have not heard of Easter or even the name Jesus.
Currently in Cambodia I along with my team have the pleasure of teaching English. As this is the week leading up to Easter, we were able to teach English through sharing the story of Easter.
It’s not a new revelation to me that there are people in this world who don’t celebrate Easter. After all there are plenty of people in America who also don’t celebrate the holiday. To me, what has been surprising is that they’ve never heard of Jesus. Most people I’ve encountered, though they may have little knowledge of who Jesus is, they have, at the very least, heard of his name.
To think Jesus will be shared for the first time to these students feels like an important mission. To share Jesus and what he’s done for the first time to someone who has never heard of him, good bad or indifferent? What a task! I feel like I’m letting these kids in on an amazing secret, or a hidden gem. I feel like I’m literally sharing with them good news!!
I have had the opportunity back at home to share the Easter story using resurrection eggs (scroll to the bottom if you don’t know what that is) and that was exciting but sharing to students , from the ages of 6-15, who have never heard the story of Easter, Jesus and his ultimate display of love, it has been my absolute pleasure!
Given that many of the students are learning English, even with a translator, it is possible they still may not grasp it all. Nevertheless to be given the opportunity to introduce Jesus to them first makes my heart smile.
Mark 1 describes John the Baptist preparing the way of the Lord and verse 1 starts off by saying, “The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah” and literally that’s what this introduction feels like. It’s only the beginning as I hope they’ll have other opportunities to hear but to introduce Jesus to them, first? I feel honoured!!
These are resurrection eggs – Each egg when opened, in order, tells the real meaning of Easter.
Below are some pictures of how we shared the Easter story during the week.
For Palm Sunday we made Palm branches
We later talked about the last supper/passover and Judas’ betrayal using a good ole felt board.
To really make sure they understood we would share the story in English and a Cambodian teacher would translate the story in Khmer, which is the local language
We made pretzel crosses and shared the story of Jesus’ death
We then shared with them the best part of all, Jesus’ Resurrection!! 
Currently Cambodia is an open country in terms of allowing other religions, besides the predominant religion of Buddhism. So at present there are believers here getting the good news out while they can and they need our support in prayer before the time comes when they no longer can share.
Here’s a picture of our ministry host family. They’ve been here for 3 years and have big God inspired dreams. Remember to pray for them.
