Celebrating Easter on the Africa Mercy

The preparation for Easter is done so well on the Africa Mercy, that some people even plan their times of service with Mercy Ships so that they can participate in the Easter season.  We missed Easter last year in Guinea, and looked forward to this experience in the Congo.

On the Africa Mercy, preparations started back on Ash Wednesday which included an Ash Wednesday service before work.  Each week we were reminded to make this season of Lent a meaningful time in preparation for Easter.

Beginning with Palm Sunday, there were daily events to help the crew prepare for Easter.  The Sunday Community meeting and worship service included some excellent teaching about Palm Sunday with a study of the Gospel texts about Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The International lounge was filled with palms which were collected from local palm trees.  The entire room smelled of palms.

Monday and Tuesday nights showed the movie The Greatest Story Ever Told. This 1960 era movie never really caught on, and there are much better movies produced since then.

On Wednesday night, we watched a DVD showing of J.S.Bach's St Matthew's Passion.  This beautiful work was performed in Holland, and is sung in German.  Fortunately, we had English sub titles.  Our German speakers on board even appreciated the English subtitles.  The performance was wonderful. The emotion and musical arrangements were beautifully performed and it provided the audience with three hours of time to reflect on Matthew's text.  Apparently, this is a tradition in some parts of Europe.  One of our crew mates from Holland said he grew up listening to this.  It was a subject of conversation for much of the week.  It was certainly a highlight for me.

Thursday was Maundy Thursday.  There were three main activities.  The first was a foot washing taking place on one of the upper decks.  This was followed by a time in the upper room.  This was the Queen's lounge set up with the stations of the cross.  It provided an atmosphere to reflect and pray.  It culminated with the Lord's supper.
The third area was the Garden of Gethsemane.  The international lounge was transformed into a garden setting where we were encourage to pray and reflect.  This area was open for this purpose all night long until Good Friday.

Good Friday was a ship holiday, so we had a morning service in the Garden of Gethsemane.
In the Evening, the movie  The Passion of the Christ was shown. (This was the Mel Gibson movie from 10 years ago.)  It was a sober reflection on the depth of Christ's suffering.

Saturday had some events for children including Easter Egg coloring and an animated movie.

With all this preparation, we could not wait for Easter.
At 5:45AM we gathered on the top deck for a Sunrise service.  It was cool and windy on deck 8 which was very pleasant.  Later at 8:30 we celebrate in the International lounge (no longer a Garden) for a worship service including a bell choir from the school academy, children's choir, and interpretive dance as well as joyful singing and a message.  During communion, I joined  with six other men in a small ensemble to sing three wonderful songs we had been practicing.

At 10:30 a spectacular brunch was offered.  This was a choice of either breakfast or dinner  (or both for some) with a lot of homemade breads and deserts.  We chose breakfast omelets and enjoyed the dinner leftovers in the evening.  

In the afternoon, there was an Easter Story for children with Resurrection eggs and an egg hunt.
Debbie reported back that the children were told how many eggs they could collect for themselves and then they had to help others find their quota.  They had a great time helping each other find those chocolate eggs!

Easter Monday was a ship holiday, and while there were some hospital functions requiring attention, the day was mostly a holiday.  In the evening several crew families opened their cabins for open houses  (or as one crew member called it a cabin crawl).

Certainly, this type of extensive Easter celebration is unique.  For me it was the most time I've ever spent in reflection and preparation for Easter and one I feel privileged to have experienced.

We hope that wherever you are in the world, you had time to reflect and enjoy the celebration of Christ's Resurrection.

Chuck

This was the entrance to the Upper Room.
The picture on the right was taken the following afternoon, so there is a lot of light coming through the windows.  The evening was much darker with only candle light (although we used electric candles on the ship)  We would move from one station to the next at an individual pace and at the end take communion.

This is the garden as it was modified for Good Friday.