His perfect life... His horrible death... the wonderful mercy and grace He bestows.
Usually, we do this remembering in church -- at least in America we do. We have Good Friday services which bring us to the cross and we have Easter Sunday services which celebrate the glorious power of our resurrected Savior.
Our Easter in South Sudan was a bit different.
Good Friday, a normal workday -- as it probably is in America -- was only significant in the hearts of those who know Him -- the remembering was done in our hearts and minds.
Easter Sunday was seemingly insignificant as well. As we drove out to a church start located a couple of miles on the other side of town; we passed by the market bustling with the commerce of any normal day. We saw one church, celebrating the resurrection; but for the most part, this Sunday was not dissimilar from any other Sunday, or any other day of the week.
As we arrived at the church start no one was there. We were not surprised. We have been coming to this place for five or more Sundays and there never is anyone present when we arrive. Eventually two small boys come carrying the drums which will announce services. A few minutes later two teenage boys approach, greet us and sit with us on the tree limb which form the pews of this outdoor sanctuary. They pick up the drums and begin to beat out a rhythm calling whoever is willing, to come and worship.
In the distance we recognize a young woman who has come several times before, along with her is a small boy. They both carry plastic chairs upon which the honored ones will sit. The chairs are bigger than the boy -- and if you look closely you can see that he is carrying two of them! He stops, puts down his load, hikes up his shorts and carries on. We smile.In total, four women came and the two teenage boys but none of the men showed up. We prayed together remembering Christ's sacrifice and thankful for His mercy in our lives, then we talked about this church group. One woman told us that we need to come back on Wednesday morning; that the people of the church will come together on Wednesday morning to talk about the disposition of the church, whether they will try to continue to meet together or disband completely. We don't know when the church stopped meeting together. We know they were active two years ago, but the church leader went off to school in Wau, another town 4 hours to the north; and as there was no missionary presence and no one took over leadership...
We are concerned that this is the state of many of the Baptist churches in South Sudan. The illiteracy rate is very high, even if they had Bibles, many would not be able to read them. Even though there are several churches in town, the need is for local, village churches to form. Only the most dedicated of believers would be willing to walk three or four miles to town one way to go to church on Sunday morning. We pray that this church start will continue. We pray that someone will rise up to lead these people. But more importantly we pray that the people of this village would understand their need for a Savior and the love of Christ.