Easter on the Mercy Ship is a special occasion. The build-up to Easter begins the week before, with Meditation at the Cross in the Queen's Lounge running throughout the week. There is also a Good Friday service in the International Lounge - but I never made it to this service as I was watching a rugby game featuring my home team, the Stormers, in the southern hemisphere's Super 14 rugby tournament. My team ended up losing by one point.
Although not linked to Easter and happening for the duration of the Field Service, I joined several Mercy Shippers yesterday in visiting the Bethel Maison orphanage as one of the Mercy Ministries. It had been ages since I'd visited an orphanage. The last time was in Liberia. It was lovely to be playing with kids again. We did an Easter skit and taught the children how Jesus had to die and rise again for our sins. And through his sacrifice we are saved. Despite the language barrier, it was great to be able to show God's love in other ways, including song, crafts, games, and even soccer!Easter Sunday started
with the Sunrise Service all the way aft on deck 8. We sang songs and celebrated Christ's resurrection from the dead. Then a few hours later we had the Easter Celebration Service in the International Lounge, which was a great time spent listening to and singing with the Africa Mercy choir and hearing from God's Word.
After the service we all filtered through to the Dining Room for a lovely Easter brunch - including traditional hot-cross buns! The Dining Room, Galley and Hospitality staff did an outstanding job in catering a wonderful meal for the crew. And so ends Easter 2010 on the Mercy Ship... I hope your Easter was a wonderful one spent with good friends and family and remembering that Jesus is risen... He is risen indeed!Photos here are from Easter on the ship.
