Easter in Uganda

 

The Easter Vigil fire from which the Easter Candle was lit
and the Light of Christ passed on to each person, reminding them of
their Baptismal promise of spreading the Good News of Christ.

We hope you had a glorious Easter and pray this Easter Season is blessing each of you in a special way.  Our Easter, here in Uganda, was truly amazing!  Good Friday was a full 3 mile walking Stations of the Cross where different groups from the Church took turns carrying a huge wooden cross from station to station (click here to see the video we created).  It's not secularized the way it is the U.S. and there is no Easter Bunny or egg hunts – Easter in the village is truly about celebrating Christ's resurrection.  Roughly 85% of Ugandans are Christians, and about 50% of those Christians, are Catholic.  The people here love the Mass; our Easter Vigil began at 7:30 PM outside by a raging fire and ended around 11:00 PM.  About ten people came into the Church through Baptism.  We were truly blessed to be a part of the celebration at the Easter Vigil and managed to make Makondo history -- Kris by taking the 4th Reading (Isaiah 54:5-14), wearing a traditional Uganda woman’s dress (called a Gomez) and speaking in the native language, Luganda.  Dean was the oldest, tallest, and whitest alter server in Makondo Parish history and was blessed to be the acolyte who was "in charge" of the thurible and keeping the incense/smoke going; however, here in Uganda, as standard, it is this server who blesses the priest(s) and the people with the incense; and at other appropriate times during the Mass (in the U.S. it is usually a priest/deacon who has this role). 

Kris reading at the Easter Vigil

 

 

Dean serving as an Acolyte at the Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday was a glorious day filled with many Alleluias – a word that is not used during Lent.  It was a day for family and friends to get together to celebrate our Risen Lord and to switch from fasting to feasting… which carried over to Easter Monday that is basically a holiday here as all of the Christians take time off work to continue the celebration.

Yes, Easter was truly a blessing for us to experience in Uganda; as has been this truly amazing life-changing year.  It is so hard to believe that we are quickly approaching the one-year mark and are slowly starting to countdown days until our return to the States.  We are filled with mixed emotions when it comes to our leaving, but are also excited to be returning home.  Please continue to keep us in prayer that our time remaining here might be fruitful and productive.  We are looking forward to sharing stories and photos with you in person!  At this time, we are planning our return flight to Denver sometime the beginning of July.

Peace and all good,

Kris & Dean