As I got older, I began to more deeply understand the significance of Easter. It's about our risen Savior. I would attentively listen to my Sunday School teachers deliver the story I knew well. I would read the passages of Scripture which tell the story I knew well and I would celebrate with the other people at church over God's perfect redemption plan and His power over death. But...Easter Sunday still had a lot to do with getting to wear a new dress.
Then as I began serving on staff at a church, Easter took on some different meanings and I didn't even realize it. It became about making sure I had Sunday's lesson planned perfectly for all the kids that would be visiting for the first time. It became about planning parties and egg hunts and making sure there were enough snacks. It became about having a back-up plan if we ran out of chairs. Now...all of these things are perfectly fine...it's just that sometimes I allowed these things to become more important to me than our risen Savior. I let the stress of busy-ness steal my joy...and that is not perfectly fine.
This year was different. My teammates were on vacation, my supervisor was out of town, and we had a company Easter celebration on the Saturday before. I decided to go spend Easter with some friends in a town about 3 hours from here, called K-Town. Our Jman friend, Scott, and 5 guy volunteers are serving out there. They spend weekends in K-Town, but spend most of their time in various villages outside of K-Town. The main one is called the Dunes.
Here's the story...to the best of my knowledge...of the Dunes. Several years ago there were 2 Jgirls doing the same thing that my teammates and I are doing. They crafted a chronological Bible story set into the language of the Dunes. They recorded the Stories and distributed the tapes. They never got to see any of these people choose the Jesus Road. BUT after they left, the power of God's Word reached a handful of these people and resonated within their hearts as the truth that it is. So Scott encourages and equips this handful of believers in the village. He has modeled and taught Christian living and leadership and is essentially training one of the men to be the pastor of this village church.
Saturday night, when I arrived in the village, I got to meet everybody, got settled in, set up my tent, and took my bucket bath (I was a little out of practice, but I realized I REALLY missed being in the village). Once everybody was gathered together, Nya (the leader of the group) began to lead us in the Lord's Supper, and it was absolutely, hands-down, my favorite experience since I've been in Africa. There was no table at the front of a sanctuary holding all the platters of bread and juice. There were no deacons spanning the pews to pass out the elements. No little cups. No crackers. I wasn't sure how it would go. By the time we all congregated, it was completely dark outside. There were about a dozen of us, sitting wherever we could find a place, crowded around a flashlight in the middle of the African bush.
The guys had brought in some bread from K-Town and Nya proceeded to make the juice. We used a drink mix called Jolly Jus in cola flavor. One packet of this stuff makes 2 liters of juice...Nya used 2 packets for 1.5 liters. It was pretty stout. Then Nya read the passage of the Lord's Supper from a Bambara Bible and then spoke about it in his own language. Scott translated a little for me. I couldn't even tell you what all Nya said, but it was the most powerful Lord's Supper experience I've ever had. Maybe it was because I knew so little of what was being said. Maybe it was because there was little to look at besides a flashlight. Maybe it was because I knew that this was the first time this group of believers had ever taken part in this ordinance together. Whatever it was, I've never been so aware of what the original Lord's Supper must have been like. I've never been so aware of how important it is for us to partake in it in remembrance of our Savior. And I've never felt so connected to fellow believers...even though we don't speak the same language.
Then Nya gave each of us half a loaf of bread and a (pretty big) cup full of Jolly Jus. As he individually handed the elements to each of us, he said what they represented and why we do what we were doing. Again...pretty powerful. And then we all ate and drank. Then we sang!
The next day, I put on my best tie-dye and we all just hung out together in celebration. Scott would read Scripture passages of the weekend's events. I went with two of the guys to visit their village. Went and met some more people in the Dunes. Unbraided a little girl's hair and let some other little girls braid mine. Watched Scott kill dinner. All in all a great day. Then everybody met back up to eat together. We had chicken and pasta...one of my favorites! I shared a bowl with two of the African men (this usually would never happen, but I was a guest and it was Easter). In our bowl was the chicken's entire head, some giant organ, and a big beautiful piece of white meat. The head was closest to me, but as I was looking at it, figuring out my attack mode, one of the men flicked it toward himself, the organ toward the other guy, and the white meat at ME! Happy Easter!
Later that night, we gathered again. Nya read from the Bambara Bible and then spoke for a short time. And then we all sang again. We sang lots and lots of songs in various languages. I think some were Bambara, some were the Dunes language, and some in English. It was just a great weekend...definitely the best time I've had in Mali, and probably the best Easter ever. It was so encouraging to get what one of the guys called "a glimpse into our future." Abby, Sarah, & I are working furiously to finish a Story set in the Sunny language, but we know that we will most likely not get to see the fruit of it. Although we try to strike up spiritual conversations whenever we can, we probably won't get to lead a Sunny person to Christ, or watch a Sunny person's face as the Truth clicks. But Scott and the guys were very convinced and very encouraging that a few years down the road, a group of Sunny believers will also be having the Lord's Supper for the first time.
