What a blessing this holiday has been. The remembrance and celebration of our Lord's death and resurrection has truly been a rich time here at Tenwek. Amidst the busyness of working at the hospital, spending more time with tasks than anticipated, it has been such a glorious reminder of what we are living for.
On Friday we attended a Good Friday service where we were struck by the forgotten intensity and magnitude of Christ's sacrifice. The service was wonderful, placing us in a time of reflection and sorrow for the beautiful sacrifice that was committed for our sakes. Following the service we watched the Passion of Christ. This film struck me in a new way. I literally felt nauseated and cried during much of the film, as the reality of scripture came to life. The amount of power that Jesus was withholding while he was being tortured from the time of his arrest to his death is astonishing. That is the same power that he gives to us to truly live. Josh and I returned to our apartment sorrowful but so grateful that we were being struck by the realness of the the crucifixion. I am saddened by how often I say with my actions or complaints that Christ's sacrifice is "not enough." I am so often not joyful, not content, and striving to accomplish my own salvation. I praise God for the abundant grace that he shows despite my ungratefulness.
Saturday morning we awakened extra, extra early to hike up to the top of a mountain here called Motigo to see the sunrise. It was gorgeous. We were blessed by the beauty of creation and the promise of new mercies each morning. After taking many pictures of the incredible landscape and scenery we returned. Josh headed up to the hospital to see patients and perform procedures while I did laundry and cleaned. Around 11 am we headed to the high school field to play ultimate frisbee. We were sort of short on players for the big field, so we counted Josh as 2.5 people and continued to play (Josh's team won each time despite being always down at least one man- is ultimate frisbee a spiritual gift? If so, my husband is definitely blessed with it. ) After frisbee came lunch and a short nap, followed by Josh going to the hospital again and me performing additional homemaking tasks. Me and an friend made snickerdoodle cookies to share with the guest house then walked to an unclaimed garden to pick lettuce and zucchini to make a salad to go along with our pizza night. All the fresh vegetables (which are very difficult to find) have to be washed in either bleach or chlorine before eating, so far there have been no reports of illness from the salad last night :) ). We enjoyed a night of fellowship with about 15 other guesthouse members and pizza, salad, and Boggle.
This morning Josh and I attended our first ever sunrise service. We gathered in the yard of one of the missionaries while it was still dark and welcomed the new day as we read scripture and sang praises to our God, remembering the hope found with the resurrection. It was a beautiful service which concluded with each person placing a flower on the cross as the sun rose over the mountain in front of us. Wonderful. Josh then went to the hospital to round and then we attended the regular service at nine. During the service I was very excited to look down the aisle and see a wheelchair. It was Gideon. He was sitting there among the Muzungus with a huge smile on his face. I am even more convinced that the Lord is working in his life. I doubt that he could understand much of the service, as it was in English, but he seemed very grateful to be there. His father was not with him, which makes me realize that I need to be in prayer for him during this time, especially with his illness looming.
The Galat's have graciously invited us into their home for Easter lunch. We are very excited about this opportunity to fellowship with them and have a unique lunch. We were instructed to come at 1:00 because the goat would not be done until then... I think we are having lamb also. Yes, it will be different, but I'm sure we are going to enjoy ourselves. Josh is currently trying to get tasks done at the hospital before lunch so that he will have a free afternoon. We are having company for dinner, a couple in the same position as us- 4th yr med student going into Ortho, we are looking forward to that fellowship as well. The Lord has blessed us this weekend and we hope that each of you have had or are having a wonderful Easter, savoring the magnificence of our Lord's resurrection. Happy Easter!!!
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