Easter in Community

He is risen!

Easter Sunday looked very different for me this year than it has in the past, but it was full of incredible blessing nonetheless. Driving home last night, I was struck by not only the incomprehensible act of grace that Easter represents, but also by the beautiful gift of Christian community that has its roots in the death and resurrection of Christ. Yesterday I experienced this community in two vastly different ways, but each one showed evidence of a love that exists as a reflection of the love of Jesus.

I started my Easter Sunday by going with Joe and Duncan to Jikaze, a community about 30 minutes away in the Great Rift Valley. Over the past eight months, I have had the privilege of getting to know the people of Jikaze and have been welcomed into their lives in a humbling way. This community of about 800 people came together when the disputed presidential election of 2007 sent about 600,000 Kenyans away from their homes. Most of the people in Jikaze left their homes in Western Kenya for fear of violence, and the government provided them with this plot of land in the Great Rift Valley to form a new settlement. The people have almost nothing, but they hosted a special Easter church service yesterday to dedicate a piece of land where they will soon build an interdenominational community church. Joe, Duncan, and I were invited as honored guests and friends because of some work that we have been able to do to help the people establish themselves, and we were given an experience that really touched our hearts.

The church leaders at Jikaze had prepared an amazing service to celebrate Easter. Several teams of children performed songs and dances, and a couple different choirs sang special songs under a big tent set up in a field. Joe, Duncan, and I were each given the chance to encourage the whole community, and it was incredibly humbling to speak in front of the group. They truly seemed to soak up every word we said, and even though I didn't feel as if I really said anything of meaning, we were rewarded with rousing applause and intense appreciation. There was so much joy in that service from everyone involved, and it was easy to see the pride on each person's face as they continue to grow and develop as a town and as a community.

Later in the afternoon, I went over to a friend's house for a big Easter dinner. It was a pot-luck meal of sorts, so everyone provided a different dish for our amazing feast. I contributed some cornbread and chocolate-chip cookie mix (thanks mom!), and we all spent several hours between the kitchen and the ping-pong table, cooking together and laughing a lot. I'm so thankful for this kind of personal, encouraging community - we had ten people together last night of all ages from all backgrounds, but we are each here trying to work for the kingdom of God in our own small ways. I left the house last night feeling loved, encouraged, and most of all joyful, praising God for friendships and for fellowship founded in a celebration of His Son!

Both of these experiences yesterday showed me the amazing capacity that the gospel has for bringing people together. Sometimes God brings me community with struggling Kenyan families through a raspy PA system and Swahili songs, and other times God gives me community with fellow Americans over a ping-pong table, but in every case His presence is felt. I'm so thankful that God didn't call me to live as a believer in solitude, but that He called us to live together, to work together, to encourage each other, to learn from each other, to worship alongside each other, to share with each other, and to grow closer to Him - together.