Happy Easter! The LORD is risen, He is risen indeed!
My Easter weekend was very eventful and a fun weekend. Here in Cameroon Good Friday is a national holiday. So, we didn’t have to go to work! Instead, we went to church at 7:30 and were there until almost 11:30! The church affiliated with the hospital and where most of the employees go is directly across from where I live and it is a large Baptist church that is still under construction. There are 4 choirs in the church, 3 from various ethnic groups in this area and one that leads worship in English. On Good Friday service this year there was a baby dedication for one of the main pastor’s baby! So he and his wife were dressed in their Sunday best and it was a large celebration. Something very strange (to me at least!) happened toward the end. It was time for bringing offerings which we all process to bring to the front. Then, there was a time of special offerings, and suddenly, I saw people carrying a chicken down the aisle, leading a young goat down, and carrying large baskets of grain and vegetables. That isn’t so strange, because sometimes that is was someone has available to give in an agrarian community! However, then one of the ushers started auctioning off these gifts to church members. An auction in the middle of church! The money raised from the auction is then what was given as an offering in cash form, not breathing form. Certainly was a new experience for me.
That evening for dinner I and two other Americans here for about the same length as me were privileged to be invited to the house of our main housekeeper and cook, Rose. Rose is an amazing cook and had prepared a feast for us! Her husband was there to welcome us, as well as a close family friend. Rose and Mr. Suliy have 5 children plus 4 that they’ve taken in, a current total of 5 that are living at home, who we also were able to meet. Rose made us some of it seemed like every traditional dish and it was all so delicious! I wanted to keep eating but I was so full and very satisfied. As an unexpected surprise, two of their daughters performed 2 songs for us after supper was finished before we left for home. The whole evening was so wonderful and I feel so blessed to have been invited to their home. On the topic of food, let me just say it is all delicious. I will have to write an entire entry on the food, but suffice it to say that I am not losing any weight here!
Saturday was a normal work day at the hospital. However, after work, one of the nurses had agreed to take me and one of the other women to the open market to purchase some African cloth. How beautiful and colorful the cloth is! We only went into 2 stores for times’ sake, so I certainly plan to return and just wander around the fabric section and try not to buy more than I can carry home.
Sunday morning began early, very early. I grew up going to sunrise service on Easter (Dad had to drag us in the beginning, now I enjoy it), however their idea of sunrise service is a bit different. We congregated around the church at 3 AM and there were young men playing drums rather loudly (if you had any intention of sleeping!). At 3:30 we all started processing and climbing up the road and then up a steep mountain path. It took us an hour to reach the top of the mountain where the youth had prepared a site of us. There were probably 200-300 people there! Once we got there they lit a giant bonfire (15 ft at the apex) of brush and wood. Once again, that was certainly a new experience! I’ve never been to an early morning bonfire as part of Easter Sunday. There was some singing and dancing and then the pastor gave a sermon. At about 5:45 we prayed and started processing back down. This time, everyone grabbed a branch of some tree and we waved them as we marched down the road back toward the church. After a quick breakfast and changing into my only African dress, I and the 2 women headed into the church for the normal Easter service, which included several special song and dance performances before the sermon and another brief auction afterwards.
In addition to a long Sunday morning, I had joined the hospital choir and our concert was Easter Sunday evening! So, I took a quick nap and then headed up to prepare for the concert. We had also invited 2 other local choirs to join us and share some pieces with us. It was a lovely concert and people certainly seemed to enjoy it. There was a lot of laughing when we were singing our second song and suddenly all of the lights went out! Most of us kept singing but we were mumbling the words since we didn’t have them all memorized. Thankfully, it only lasted about 5 seconds and the lights flickered back on and we kept right on singing.
As I said, it was an eventful and busy Easter weekend. It is not one I will be forgetting any time soon! God bless, Racquel