I have to admit Easter is my favourite holiday! It wasn’t always; Christmas was, but the more I am humbled and in awe by what our Lord and Saviour did for us on the cross the more I love spending time meditating with the Him on so many levels during Lent and Easter week!!! And, I am not the only one…here on the M/V Africa Mercy the Chaplaincy department spends a great deal of time and effort to create an atmosphere of benevolence to all the crew whom want quality time revering Jesus and what His resurrection means to us!
This is my 3rd Easter on the ship and I have to say the effort that goes into making Jesus’s death on the cross in reparation for our sins and the joy we can have knowing that He will fulfill His promise of us seeing Him again is indeed a time of celebration rather than sorrow and I have never seen that more clearly shared than right here on the ship…my Easter experiences here have definitely contributed to this being my favourite holiday…:)
This year many of us started our Easter celebration by including a Lent and Easter devotional 
to our department devotionals at the start of Lent. I went a bit further and got a copy from Chaplaincy to make it a daily devotional for 54 days. I have to say, Mr. Nouwen has given me a lot to meditate on and I have thoroughly enjoyed his devotional (even though sometimes I don’t agree with all His interpretations). I have been challenged on many levels, spent some great moments with the Lord and have grown spiritually in all I have been given to meditate on in great this little book.
Last Saturday we started “Africa Mercy Easter:”
The Upper Room:
A place to go and take communion that is setup so that you can sit and spend time alone in silence with beautiful, meditative music playing softly in the background
The foot washing command is confusing for me. My friend Susan and I washed each others feet, and then I washed a sister’s feet, and for sure there is awkwardness, but such gentleness and thankfulness too, yes thankfulness also???? 
I don’t really have insight into what Jesus wants to teach me in this gesture of washing each others feet; although, I have had a fair amount of people try and explain it to me – I will remain obedient to what He asks, but I think He will have to give me an epiphany!
The Garden of Gethsemane was an amazing place to spend time pondering the cross. It is open all night on Maundy Thursday and I was blessed to stay there until 3.30am. No one else was there at that time and I loved the time alone in such a profound setting.
Friday night a number of crew put on the show “Godspell,” have you seen it? They did an amazing job and we laughed and laughed. Here’s a bare bone look at the cast…
Church this morning was very good. There was amazing worship and 30ish different nations stood up and recited “Christ is Risen” in their native language.
There was a children’s choir…
Lovely, all of it!
Our Managing Director gave us an Easter message. 
All told it was beautiful and special! 
“Listen to your heart – It’s there [in your heart] that Jesus speaks most intimately to you. Praying is first and foremost listening to Jesus who dwells in the very depths of your heart. He doesn’t shout. He doesn’t thrust himself upon you. His voice is an unassuming voice, very nearly a whisper, the voice of a gentle love. Whatever you do with your life, go on listening to the voice of Jesus in your heart. The listening must be an active and very attentive listening, for in our restless and noisy world Jesus’ loving voice is easily drowned out.” ~ Henri Nouwen
Now on to brunch – food – yes - the bonding of all special events…In the devotional I’m reading by Henri Nouwen there is a quote from his book, The road to daybreak: A spiritual journey in which he states, “After the resurrection Jesus had breakfast again with his friends and showed them the importance of the small, ordinary things of life…It is such a comfort to know that Jesus’ wounds remain visible in his risen body. Our wounds are not taken away, but become sources of hope to others.” Hmmm, reflection…
Seriously, we have sooooo much talent on board this ship that when an event like this gets organized everyone’s socks are knocked off, or should I say blessed off!!! ha, ha, ha LOL
And now I would like to bestow the Hebrew Priestly Blessing upon you…
The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make HIs face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The Lord turn His face towards you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:23-27)
God be with you!
Love, hugs and prayers,
xx Carol, (Daughter, Mom, Godmother, Bestfriend, Friend, Sister, Aunt and Great Aunt) :) xoxox
