The night before Easter, our neighbors held an all night pooja (worship) event. This picture was the stage that was directly outside of my window. Its a stage full of plastic gods, with the central statue named Durga, the idol they prayed to. All night long there was loud chanting, singing, music. They do these all night pooja sessions from time to time in light of special events like getting a new job or having a birthday.

I woke up on Easter morning in a funk. A combination of the noise, heat and hormones kept me tossing and turning all night. And I knew that this was a big part of the reason for my sour mood. But another thing was, our Precious Savior has RISEN and...nobody cares. Instead, they would rather worship plastic.

When I walked outside, my well meaning neighbor asked me why I hadn't joined them all night. I told her that it was a very special holiday for us. I tried to tell her why we celebrate. I tried to tell her about the amazing miracle that J did for us. But the thing is, the miracle of it is lost to her. Her culture is filled with stories of gods who make a physical appearance on earth after their death all the time. In her mind, she probably thought "whats the big deal"?

She still didn't really understand why I didn't participate. To them, its a social event. She offered me some sweets that had been offered to the idols the night before. A deep sigh..no thanks.

I walked around all day with the reality of Resurrection not really affecting my heart. Despite being sleep deprived, I did go to church and spent the afternoon with a sweet national family who welcomed us into their home for Easter lunch.

In the evening, I met with some others for house fellowship. We spent some time singing and worshiping our Living God. And we sang the words

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future. And life is worth the living just because He lives.

Something inside of me shifted. Feelings or emotions don't define reality. He does. And He was the One who defeated all of our fears. And that is a story worth telling.

Jesus is Awive

One summer day, when sweet Jenna about around this age, I was talking to her on the phone. I asked her "what did you learn at Vacation Bible School today"?

She said 'Jesus is awive...'

What?

Jesus IS AWIVE Aunt Cathy...

Awive?

Yes, the stone was rolled away...I can't beweve it...Jesus is awive

I can't believe it either...



Happy Resurrection Day!

Workshop

This is the group of gals that I worked with during the week. They spoke a language called Xhosa with the X sound being a click sound. This is one of the girls telling the J Calms The Storm story on the last day. We worked on several others but this story was the one they chose to perform in front of the group. I didn't know it at the time but these gals were not actually believers. By the end of the week, they all expressed interest in wanting to know more about Him. One girl said " through these stories I learned that J is very powerful'. I was very encouraged to see our great Father work in their hearts as they learned the stories. This workshop is very similar to what I will be doing at the end of May h ere in South Asia.

These are our girls. One girl said "our hearts are breaking that you are leaving" Dramatic but sweet.

This is one of them telling the story about J calming the storm on the lake. Notice she has alot of clicks and clacks in her language. Pretty cool

South Africa

I just got home from a week in Johannesburg, South Africa. I went down there to take part in a workshop that helps nationals craft stories in their mother tongue. I mainly hung around a conference room so I didn't get tons of pictures. But here is a picture of the skyline, the sunsets and sunrises everyday were beautiful!

We visited a craft market one day and so this was as closest I got to "real" Africa. These guys were out in the street putting on a native dance for us.

all the zebras and various other animals I killed while down there. :-)

Here I am practicing telling stories to the locals. I wanted to get good practice in before the workshop started.

My Sadhu story

So, in Hinduism, a sadhu is a religious person who chooses to set himself apart to focus on their own spiritual practice. They live a life of renunciation on the edges of society. And actually, they are just plain weird.

However, in my neck of the woods, there is a sadhu who follows after only JC as Lord. He has chosen to remain in his society as a follower of J in order to be salt and light to his community. Just imagine one bright candle in the room full of darkness. That's Sadhu. I don't even know his real name, I just call him Sadhu. Well, anyway, I just happen to have had a few chance meetings with him . He is surprisingly down to earth, funny and insightful. In a world where I have to constantly be on guard with the opposite gender, he is a safe person that I can relax a bit with.

This afternoon, I just happen to see ol Saddy (as I like to call him...ok maybe only in my mind...) And he asked me "who is J to you lately'? And I thought for a minute.

I said "Well...I guess I would say J has been my Friend. In a time of turmoil and change, He understands my heart"

Ol' Saddy stroked his long black beard in a contemplative and wise way for a few moments. And then busted out with this BEAUTIFUL song using the words I had just said. He said " there is your song"

Tears fought to come out of my eyes. It was such a peaceful song.

I just never thought in a million years that a Sadhu would compose a song for me about J being my Friend that almost made me cry

And thats my Sadhu story.

Sleepover

I don't know why I thought this would be a good idea two days before I am suppose to leave for a another foreign country. But yesterday, I went to go visit our old language helper. It had gotten dark and she asked if I just wanted to stay the night. I was just about to decline her offer and just head out but then she reminded me that I had some old clothes at her house that I could wear if I stayed. Staying for long periods of time in a strictly Hindi situation always does my language skills good. It was a cool starry night. So, I thought why not? This family that I stayed with takes care of water buffalo and they live in this little house right next to them. They usually sleep up on the roof of their house because its cooler. (the family, not the water buffalo) The idea of laying underneath the stars all night sounded nice. But I didn't keep in mind that mosquitoes LOVE water buffalo. And my lily white skin. They immediately start attacking every exposed surface on my body the minute I laid down. To top it off, I kept getting the Hindi word confused for mosquito. I kept calling them fish. "Oh the fish keep eating me". And of course that made everyone laugh at my expense. The family decided that I needed to move into the little room that is on the roof to get some relief. So, I laid on the concrete floor in the stuffy room. I was willing to be hot and stuffy if that meant no more mosquitoes. I laid there in peace a short while and THEN...the cattle started lowing.... Apparently water buffalo don't sleep the whole night. The family's youngest daughter decided that she would sleep in the room with me. And this is just so typical...she decided to sleep RIGHT ON TOP OF ME. She really had plenty of space for herself. But oh no...she needed to be right there with me. There is an expression here that says "come sit in my armpit" It just means, sit close. Well...she was sitting close alright... Just about the time I drifted off to sleep, the sister in law decides its time for everyone to get up. There is work to be done. Cows to be milked. Food to be cooked. It was still predawn. I drug myself off the concrete floor forcing my bleary eyes open. Of course everyone wants to talk right away so they are up in my face. My goodness is EVERYONE a morning person around here? I sip on my chai and then excused myself to go home. They are actually a very sweet family. And the experience did help my Hindi. But still, as I climbed onto the rickshaw I thought "now why did I do this again'? Sleepovers are just not what they used to be. :-)

Navratri

Yesterday, was the beginning of another religious festival. With so many deities that they worship, its hard to keep all the festivals straight. I feel like I am stuck in a Greek novel. The beginning of autumn and the begining of spring are two important events in the lunar calender here. So, around here, they take these times as opportunities to worship the divine mother Shakti. Navratri represents celebration of the goddess Durga, the manifestation of Shakti in the form of energy and power. (I don't bother to keep it all straight so don't feel bad if you are confused) This festival lasts ten days with the various forms of Durga being worshipped with fervor and devotion. Navratri is celebrated four times a year for 10 days, right now they are celebrating what is called Vasanta Navratri (the beginning of summer) I thought it interesting that the goddess Durga is known as the "inaccessible one" It just makes the fact that HE died and rose again so that we could have ACCESS to God so much sweeter. Keep in mind the folks of South Asia these next 10 days.