Easter in Malawi

I hope you had a great Easter, celebrating the gift of life that Jesus gave us through his dying on the cross and rising from the dead. Our Easter was rather uneventful as we spent the weekend on beautiful Lake Malawi (and suffered some minor illness, ant infestation, and sleeplessness, but other than that, great getaway).

But I recall a story written by a Canadian colleague who was doing similar work to mine here in Malawi with EI before I came. It's a story of her experience of Easter last year, worshiping with our Malawian friends. Here's a small excerpt: (complete story)

During the mass, my eyes were on Evelyn, who was sharing in the celebrations just as much as everyone else: Evelyn, who, to an outsider, seems to have so little to celebrate in her life marked with suffering, poverty and setbacks.

And I realized that her story was probably common to most of the people in that church that morning. We were a church of suffering, of poverty, of hunger, of AIDS, of unemployment and of abandonment. But, more importantly, we were a church of hope.

Often have I heard that religion is the opiate of the masses, a meaningless concept that people grasp at in their moments of weakness. In some cases I am tempted to agree. But all I could think of that morning was the incredible strength and courage it must take Evelyn to dare to hope and believe in a God whom many would say has forsaken her.

I wonder if it is precisely because of her suffering that she is able to celebrate. If Jesus hadn't been crucified, he couldn't have risen. Perhaps it takes the experience of suffering to fully appreciate the joy of the resurrection.

You can read the whole story of Evelyn and Easter in Malawi here.

you name it, we've got it

This is an invoice I received on Thursday - apparently these guys specialize in, well, just about anything, unlike the "Special List in Mops, Blooms, and Blushes" (in the Zomba photo album). I also picked up the generator that had been serviced at Topper's, a sewing shop.