Who doesn’t like a good holiday celebration? I know I do.

I often get questions in the contact center regarding different holidays.

• Does my child celebrate such and such a holiday?
• What are some holidays that are special to my child?
• To be sensitive to my child’s culture and customs, are there things I shouldn’t talk about?
• Should I only mention the tradition behind the celebration or can I also talk about the specific festivities?

The U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving is a good example. We are celebrating hospitality, God’s goodness, and how the kindness of strangers helped save a whole community.

It’s a great holiday and time with family, but how do we recognize it? Most of us over-eat, sit around watching football, and battle with strangers for parking spots and places in lines to buy stuff — which is hardly hospitable. And these customs would be difficult for a child in poverty to understand.

What about other holidays? Do you take your children trick-or-treating at Halloween? Do you hide eggs and eat Peeps at Easter?

Do you buy fireworks and light them up on Independence Day? These holidays are part of our culture and the way we celebrate is hard to avoid talking about.

So what do we tell our sponsored kids, Brett?

Be sensitive to their culture and customs.

For example, yoga is predominantly a form of exercise here in the U.S., and many Americans now practice it without any spiritual implications. However, yoga is still very much a Hindu practice in Asia, and thus it would have a negative implication to people who know about yoga’s Hindu roots.

Halloween is a time to take our kids out and get free candy from generous neighbors, but in Latin American countries the spiritual association is prominent. It’s associated with the Day of the Dead and is often celebrated with altars built to dead relatives – something the evangelical Christian community stays away from.

Then should I not tell my sponsored child about holiday celebrations?

Talk about the time you spend with your family. You can share your life with the children you sponsor. Be honest and open, but be sensitive.

You can also rely on our great staff members working in each of our country offices to be sure all communication delivered to the children is culturally acceptable and appropriate.

Finally, if you are unsure if something you are going to send or something you are going to write should be included, ask us.

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Hallelujah! Hosanna!

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

Artwork from Mathare Community Outreach Child Development Center

There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. – Matthew 28:1-9 (NIV)

Guatemala, a country whose whose religion is chiefly Roman Catholic and Protestant, is deeply rooted in local traditions, making the celebration of Easter a colorful and massive one.

• Read about Easter in Guatemala.

To Ghanaian Christians, Easter is a day of remembering what Christ did on the cross for all mankind; not just remembering but knowing that it was the foundation for their salvation.

• Read about Easter in Ghana.

In Bangladesh, the activities of Easter Sunday look different for the Christian and non-Christian children in our child development centers.

• Read about Easter in Bangladesh.

Easter Week in El Salvador is celebrated differently than the way it is celebrated in the United States. There is a much a different atmosphere.

• Read about Easter in El Salvador.

To talk about Easter is to talk about Christianity, and for children in our development centers to talk about Easter in Peru is to talk about a variety of traditions.

• Read about Easter in Peru.

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I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. – Galatians 2:20 (NIV)

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Compassion is closed today to honor Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.

It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour.

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

The Crucifixion

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified him, and with him two others — one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

— John 19:17-18 (NIV)

Artwork from Mathare Community Outreach Child Development Center

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Guatemala, a country whose religion is chiefly Roman Catholic and Protestant, is deeply rooted in local traditions that make the celebration of Easter a colorful and massive one.

Each year, the event that starts Easter week in Guatemala is usually a university parade in which participants wear long hoods to hide their identity. In its origins back in 1898, this parade would go down the streets of Guatemala City making fun of national and political matters (even international ones that may or may not affect Guatemala), as well as injustices the Guatemalan people were enduring at the time.

On Palm Sunday, the smell of palm leaves fills the streets as many pedestrians walk with small branches from the African palm.

Countless processions take place across the country during the week before Easter. The main focus of these processions is a heavy and long dais made of fine wood with an image of Jesus Christ on top.

The dais is carried on the shoulders of dozens of men. Main streets are closed, causing enormous traffic jams for those who dare to drive.

The sound of trumpets and bass drums fill the air. Dressed-up musicians play funeral marches to create a feeling of sorrow and sadness over the suffering of Christ before His death.

Large tapestries of sawdust are dyed and formed into beautiful shapes on the ground for the procession to walk on. The scent of incense is spread by people walking at the head of the procession.

A young Guatemalan woman shared the background of Easter celebration in her country:

“I like the way Easter is celebrated. It can be perhaps an unusual way to proclaim the gospel but as a Christian I do not really mind about this kind of Easter celebration. I love a verse in the Bible that says, ‘But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.’ So I don’t mind about this whole thing. I want Christ to be preached!”

The Easter holiday starts Wednesday and goes through Easter Sunday. People do not go to work, schools are closed and time for leisure abounds during this holiday. The actual festivities start on Palm Sunday and end the following Sunday, Resurrection Sunday.

Special food is prepared this time of year such as curtido (a vegetable mix in which all vegetables are diced and cooked in vinegar to get a sour taste), fish wrapped in eggs, chickpea sweets, fruit mix, pumpkin sweets, pacaya palm wrapped in eggs, and spondias fruits.

Children usually do not receive gifts at Easter as they do at Christmas.

Some evangelical churches in Guatemala take a different approach to Easter. A white-haired man with a secure tone of voice, full of knowledge of the Word of the Lord, lists some events that are celebrated in his church. This man is the pastor of the Church La Viña (the church that houses our Tomás Cranmer Student Center in the suburbs of Guatemala City), and his name is Manuel.

Manuel has been pastoring for about 16 years.

“The Feast of Passover is made to be celebrated during this time of the year as it happened in Jesus’ life.

“We have celebrated here at church with a sort of special meal like the Jews used to celebrate. We roast ram’s meat and eat bitter herbs and hard-boiled eggs brought by small groups or families. Each group or family also has a cup of wine that the leader of of the group drinks first. Then the leader passes the cup to the next person according the leadership degree he/she has.

“We don’t go anywhere else (meaning beaches, water parks or places that are for a ‘leisure time’ during a week like this). We try to give the brothers in Christ who will want to celebrate these special days the opportunity to gather as a church and spend this time praying and remembering what our Savior went through.

“Perhaps there may be a time when we won’t be able to observe this celebration by roasting beef and eating those herbs, but we will still gather to pray and think about this key moment in the story of Christianity of Jesus’ death and resurrection.”

The way Easter is celebrated in Guatemala varies from denomination to denomination. Pastor Manuel belongs to a Pentecostal church, but in a more conservative church Easter is observed with an early gathering at the temple for a special service celebrating Jesus’ resurrection, followed by a delicious breakfast.

Rebeca, the general coordinator of the Tomás Cranmer Student Center, explains that they try to instill in the Compassion-sponsored children a desire to celebrate this time of year as something very special:

“One week before, we start talking with the children about Easter. We share lessons with the students about when Christ was born and when He was risen so that they can really understand this time of the year. This week turns out to be more special because we remember what our Lord Jesus Christ went through.

“We try to focus our classes and our devotions on His death. We give room for a theater play in which the students can recreate all that Jesus went through to enhance the devotion that day.”

Something else happens at the student center the week Easter is officially celebrated: a spiritual retreat.

Wilmer is a 12-year-old boy who is shy with strangers but outgoing with his friends. With hair that sticks straight up from the amounts of gel he uses to comb it, Wilmer shares his point of view about the spiritual retreat:

“I like the spiritual retreat for all the different fun activities we get to do there. The activity I like the most is the bonfire because that is when we get to hear about God and we are ministered [to] by the message.

“I think God is real and when I grow up I want to imitate the way my family celebrates Easter. I will want to go to church and coexist with my own family in this time of the year because I see it as something important. I want to give Jesus the place He’s meant to have in my heart.”

Wilmer was baptized last year at the Tomás Cranmer spiritual retreat. What a blessing this retreat is for all these children and how good it is to know that this student center strives to create in them the need to celebrate this special holiday and not underestimate it.

Wilmer’s grandfather shares,

“The time I spent before accepting Christ as my Savior was something worthless and that completely changed once I became a Christian.

“Now, as my heart has changed from being a very cold one to a very warm one because of Christ, I am more than thankful to celebrate Christ’s resurrection! I love to go to church and take my family there. They love going there and we all are so thankful with our Lord Jesus for having changed all of us to believe in Him.”

Then Rebeca, the center’s general coordinator, adds something that is important to remember:

“We know we can make the best of the efforts to get the children to not forget to celebrate this festivity as it should be, but in the end, the family’s values and the way they see this celebration will mark the way Easter will (or won’t) be celebrated in the future.”

Another year will fade away and a new one will come. The time to celebrate Easter will be here again but a question arises: For how long and by how many will Easter be celebrated by the time this generation becomes adults? Someday this generation will be the one to make the decisions in their own families and by then, will the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be significant enough for them to stop and celebrate?

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Easter is celebrated across the board in Ghana. It is celebrated by both Christians and non-Christians alike, but each group has its own interpretation and activities to mark the occasion.

For Christians, the celebration starts well before Palm Sunday, but Palm Sunday is the largest, most widely known event before Easter. Palm Sunday marks Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem before His crucifixion, death and resurrection. It is important to Christians all over the world, and Ghana is no exception.

In Ghana, Palm Sunday is celebrated by various church congregations with processions through some principal streets. Paraders wave palm branches and handkerchiefs and sing “Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna!”

Celebrating the triumphant entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem gives Christians the hope to seek God’s kingdom.

The next important day of the Easter season for Ghanaian Christians is Good Friday. Nearly everyone tries to attend church on Good Friday because they believe that their sins from the year are crucified on the cross with the Son of God.

In most orthodox churches, men and women are dressed in dark-color mourning clothes and are in solemn moods. Many people attend church services only this one time during the year.

People in charismatic churches, on the other hand, dress in bright colors and are in happy moods. They believe that Jesus’ death calls for celebration because He died for their sins.

Some ethnic groups, like the Kwehus of the Eastern Region of Ghana, see Easter as one of the holidays that they need to travel to their home town to enjoy. A Kwehu-born person will go to any length to travel home to celebrate Easter.

For other Ghanaians, Easter is just one of the many festivals to celebrate. These people do not know the true meaning of Easter; they take it for fun and go to beaches where they drink and do various immoral things. For them, instead of Easter being a time to do some real soul-searching and transformation, this holiday is a season for entertainment and merry making.

Gone are the days when people would be in mourning throughout the Lenten season. Gone are the days when Christian women would wake at up at dawn and go in search of the Christ, only to be told, “The Lord has risen!”

Great was the joy in those days, for this used to be a very important tradition during Easter season in Ghana at Sunday dawn.  

For those who go to church, sermons are centered on the suffering and death of Jesus for all humans.

Dan, a staff member in Ghana, shares:

“Easter reminds us about the death and sacrifice of Christ for all humanity. For me as an individual, and in my church, we believe that Easter is to remind us of the death and the agony that Christ had to go through just to save us from sin. Easter is all about celebration and thanksgiving. When we remember that Jesus had to go through all that for us then it means that He places so much value on our lives. So we as His children and followers have to be appreciative and proud about what He did for us. We have to be excited and we have to thank Him for that act of deliverance and salvation.

“Easter is a reminder of the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the cross; it is a time to celebrate my salvation. Some churches dress in mourning clothes but my church does not do that. We come to church in our normal church attire or we dress in white to show that we are happy.”

On Easter Sunday, Ghanaian Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Country-wide, everybody dresses in white for church. Everyone is in a happy mood.

The Monday after Easter is mostly a public holiday. People go for picnics to various locations, such as beaches, parks, or church premises, or on out-of-town excursions to tourist attractions. Special dishes are prepared. This day is all merry making.

To Ghanaian Christians, Easter is a day of remembering what Christ did on the cross for all mankind; not just remembering but knowing that it was the foundation for their salvation. They believe that without the passion of Christ, people would not know that there is a place for them to go after death.

The resurrection of Christ gives people hope that there is something to look forward to, something to lean on, that someday will bear fruit —  and that is in heaven.

Amos is one of our Program Communications Managers. His worship center is with Mount Calvary Cross Ministry.

“For me Easter is always a period of sober reflection. I try to visualize Christ on the cross. I do not want to visualize Christ in any other way. That period is the period I become stronger; I overcome all obstacles that come my way because I visualize Him on that cross and He said ‘It is finished’ and everything ended. That period I develop a stronger relationship with God, my prayer life improves, and I have many problems turn around in my favor. That is the time I come to see that yes, Christ is a prayer-answering God.”

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Easter feels like summer. The sun shines strong in the skies, the breeze somehow fresh, somehow warm. It is definitely the middle of the dry season in El Salvador, the equivalent of summer in northern lands.

Everything around, from sale signs to music, talks about sun and sand. The opportunity to enjoy beaches that are just an hour away from San Salvador is almost here.

For a full week, students are out of school and have the opportunity to enjoy beaches, visit relatives and do nothing; it is almost the equivalent to spring break in the United States.

However, there is one unequivocal characteristic that reminds every Salvadoran that it is not just a break, and that there is more than just sun and fun waiting for us during that week in April.

In El Salvador, the week of Easter is “Holy Week,” and the festivities revolve around Roman Catholic tradition. Roman Catholics account for nearly 60 percent of the population. Protestant (also called evangelical) churches account for slightly more than 20 percent.

Even though El Salvador does not have an official religion, since the time of colonization Roman Catholic traditions have been the most common and most practiced in the country. Easter Week is the most important celebration for the Roman Catholic Church.

“It is slightly different for the Protestant Church” says Sister Wendy, wife of Pastor Rodolfo at the Baptist Tabernacle Church of Majucla. “For most of the children, Easter Week is an opportunity to spend time with their families. People take advantage of this time to go back to their homeland and spend time with their families.”

One of the most important Easter traditions in El Salvador is Lent. During this 40-day period before Easter, named “Cuaresma” in Spanish, people fast, pray and give alms. The last week of the 40 days is called “Bigger Week” or “Holy Week.”

On Good Friday, there are two major processions. Early in the morning there is the “passion,” which is the representation or commemoration of the walk that Jesus took with the cross toward Golgotha. It is finished around noon.

Then in the afternoon, Roman Catholic churches and communities start making rugs on the streets with sawdust, which will later be part of the path where the “holy funeral procession” will pass, carrying the symbolic dead body of Christ.

The making of these rugs represents one of the greatest traditions for the Roman Catholic Church in El Salvador, since entire streets and main avenues in many places of the country are completely closed. The rugs cover entire streets.

Appreciation of the rugs goes beyond religion. For Salvadorians, it is about appreciating the art and about appreciating the effort the people put into making the rugs. For Salvadorians, it is a gift, an offering they are making for Jesus.

Catholic or not, Salvadorians go out into the streets on Good Friday to see the rugs. Apart from this tradition for Good Friday, Holy Week develops differently for Protestants.

For the Evangelical Church in El Salvador, Holy Week is an opportunity to spread the Gospel to as many people as possible. If there is the opportunity to preach the Gospel and carry more people to the feet of our Lord, the church takes advantage of it and tells El Salvador the true meaning of Holy Week.

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In Peru, that religion, Roman Catholicism, is still important:

• for many traditional families who live in Lima City
• in faraway towns in the country
• among the migrants who have come into Lima City from the Andes Highlands, the Amazon Rainforest or the many small valleys scattered along the coast

But among this last group, the migrants, are our young friends, our sponsored children.

In Peru, Easter is a solemn celebration. Holy Week begins the Sunday before Easter; therefore, schools are closed for the entire week so that the children and teenagers may participate in the special celebrations together with their parents – either in Lima or visiting relatives away from the capital city.

The evangelical churches initiate a special week of celebrations with evangelistic campaigns and camping programs for the youth and also for the entire family to have a special retreat.

The churches give their children the opportunity to participate actively in the celebration at church or at the camping site, according to their age. The younger children learn that Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins, but that also He is risen, while the older children participate at special programs at church to present to the community during the evangelistic campaign on Holy Thursday and Good Friday.

The young university students who belong to evangelical churches prepare programs intended to present the plan of salvation to the youth who have never been to church. The students prepare something special, such as Christian concerts and dramas, which will draw the attention of that specific group. The programs are presented in an open place, such as a big park.

Some of these university students organize special trips to visit faraway churches in order to present dramas or to sing during the special church services previously organized by local churches.

Other students have the gift to visit people in jail to preach and give counseling. For example, some may visit those who have been caught taking drugs from the country; many of these are foreigners and do not have relatives or friends in Peru.

These students go together with their pastors taking gifts and doing Christian concerts. They give testimony of their past life and bring those prisoners hope and a new joy. These young university students take seriously Matthew 25:36 (NIV).

“I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

Talking about Easter gifts, if the family belongs to a high social class, their children receive chocolate eggs on Easter Sunday. They even participate in contests about painting an egg organized at their school or by a local supermarket.

But a child who belongs to a traditional family, who is part of a low social class, or who lives in extreme poverty, as our sponsored children do, isn’t aware of Easter gifts.

When the children at one of our child development centers were asked about “Easter eggs,” the majority were surprised with the question. Some have seen ads on TV about chocolate eggs, but since they aren’t sold in their community, they just do not care much about it.

The children just enjoy their time being out of school and eating some traditional dishes. They gather at somebody’s home who has a TV set, together with their siblings and friends, to watch the special TV programs that are shown on Easter, old films such as Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments, Jesus, and many other religious movies.

All the people who live in small cities and towns close to colonial Lima City become part of a big celebration. A grand procession takes place. Statues of Jesus carrying His cross and the Virgin dressed all in black are carried on large platforms through the streets.

In some parts of Lima City, local transportation is diverted by the policemen who try their best to alleviate the chaos. They whistle to give directions to the drivers who go through the old and narrow colonial streets bursting with the activity of hundreds of devoted people following the procession.

The people walk slowly and pray while passing through the narrow streets. People who live there gather on their homes’ balconies to salute the statues. They throw rose petals on both statues as a special offering.

Meanwhile the street vendors take advantage of the occasion to offer their goods, such as traditional foods, sodas, candies, etc. Therefore, there is not only devotion, but also noisy crowds and different kinds of smells coming from the great variety of dishes being prepared to be offered to the devoted people.

In this procession, not so many children are seen because of the big crowds and the long distances to walk that become endless because of the procession’s slow pace. Usually children get tired and bored because they are not much aware of the situation.

The statues carried in the procession are of high value since they were brought from Spain four to five centuries ago. Besides being a work of art, the statue of the Virgin is unusual because the statue’s hair is real, donated by some young lady who has given it as a special gift. The statue wears an expensive silk dress and lots of jewelry that has been donated by rich people throughout the centuries.

The platforms the statues are carried on are quite heavy, and each one requires at least a dozen men to carry it. The group is replaced by different groups of men after carrying it for some distance. The procession is accompanied by a band of musicians and many ladies who walk singing and carrying incense in special gold containers.

During Holy Week there is always something going on, such as the “Feet Washing Ceremony” that takes place at the cathedral in Lima City as well as in all Roman Catholic churches in the country. There the priest washes the feet of 12 men who are just common citizens.

On Good Friday, many people prepare “The Seven Dishes,” but it is traditional to cook different recipes using only fish.

In the afternoon, the Roman Catholic Cardinal preaches at the main cathedral of Lima. He speaks about “The Last Seven Words of Jesus.” This is transmitted across the country through the media.

There are many more traditions to be told, although many more have been already forgotten with the passing of the years and can be found only in history books.

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Acmeshall washed her face and mouth with water. The 6-year-old girl woke her mother up. Her mother, Lodis, enjoyed seeing her daughter’s hurry for Easter.

Acmeshall was very happy as she wore a brand-new white skirt specially made by her mother. She said her prayers and waited for her parents to take her to church.

At the same time half a kilometer away, an 8-year-old boy, Razu, was also getting ready for the morning devotion of Easter Sunday. Things were a little different here.

Like many of the children registered in Compassion in Bangladesh, Razu belongs to a Hindu family. His family came to know about the Christians and Jesus Christ through Compassion.

Razu’s family earns their living selling milk from their cow and goats. The cow and the goats were gifts from Razu’s sponsor. Though Razu’s parents and grandfather are from another religion, they allow Razu to participate in every program of the Compassion child development center and church.

This was the first year Razu would celebrate Easter. He reminded his mother the night before to wake him up in the morning. His mother didn’t know anything about Easter, so Razu told her the story about the resurrection of Lord Jesus.

The next morning his mother called him early. He left his bed and prepared for church. He didn’t have any new clothes for Easter, so he put on his only shirt. His elder brother, Sazu, also got dressed up with him for church. Their grandfather, Ramcharan, took them to church. For Ramcharan, Easter was just another festival, only for the Christians.

Acmeshall entered the church and joined her Compassion friends at the front row. She was too little to understand the entire spiritual concept of Christ’s resurrection. However,  she understood two things well: Jesus is alive and Jesus loves her. These were the most important things for this little girl.

Acmeshall learned at the Compassion child development center how to pray and how to thank God for His graces. She prayed for her own family, her sponsor and family, her friends and for her teachers.

Razu was also at church. He learned many new things about Jesus. He loved all the carols and Bible verses. He also liked how the pastor boldly declared the resurrection of Christ. It was a new experience for him. At the end of the service he said his prayer.

After the devotion, Acmeshall and Razu both spent some time with their friends. As it was a holy day, they returned to their home.

At home, Acmeshall played with her younger sister and cousins. Her mother prepared special sweets and snacks for the celebration. She made pies, called Pitha, out of flour, coconut, sugar, molasses, eggs and rice. She made custards, called Payesh, from rice, milk, molasses, sugar and coconut. They shared food with everybody.

They also had a special meal at lunchtime, beef and vegetable curry with potatoes, with lemon squeezed over it.

At evening, Acmeshall visited house to house with her friends to share the merriment of Easter with everybody.

The scenario at Razu’s house was completely opposite.

There was no special food for them. Razu didn’t have his breakfast, so he was hungry. At lunchtime his mother served him rice with little vegetables. No sweets for Razu or Sazu. They spent Easter day like any other regular day.

Along with Razu, thousands of poor Christian children all over Bangladesh couldn’t distinguish Easter day from a regular day. They are going through such poverty that celebrating Easter with new clothes and delicious food is a luxury for them.

In Bangladesh, Easter is considered as the second major festival for the Christians, after Christmas. The non-Christian people have very limited ideas about Easter. They think of it as one of the additional religious festivals.

As the Muslims and Hindus don’t believe in the resurrection of Christ, they don’t show any curiosity about this occasion. However, the Christian community of Bangladesh celebrates this glorious occasion with great joy and arrangements.

The celebration styles at the villages are different than that of the urban areas. In the villages and the rural areas, the most important part is the morning devotion at church, which take place around 8 or 9 o’clock in the morning.

After that, the Christian families share sweets and pies with their relatives and non-Christian neighbors.

The tradition of new clothes is also a part of Easter. The capable parents try to buy new clothes for their children, not dress clothes, but just everyday clothes. The exchange of gifts like Christmas time is not common.

The lifestyle of the people at the villages is very simple, and they celebrate Easter in a simple way and that brings an exceptional flavor to this joyous occasion. Their simple lifestyle allows them to focus completely on the resurrection rather than on fancy clothing or food.

Acmeshall’s mother, Lodis, shared her Easter experience with us.

“Easter is very important for us, as it tell us about the resurrection of our Lord. I am very happy that my daughter learned at the Compassion child development center that Jesus is alive. She can pray herself, and she is building a great relationship with God.”

Little Acmeshall was very excited about Easter.

“Did you see my new skirt? My mother made it for me. We had a great Easter day. I know Jesus is Alive and he will come to take me. I love Jesus.”

In the capital Dhaka, the most exciting part of Easter Sunday is the Sun Rise Service. It is the special morning devotion, arranged in front of the Parliament building before the sun rises.

More than 15,000 Christians from all over Dhaka join the Morning Prayer to celebrate the precious occasion of Jesus’ resurrection. This worship and prayer service is a symbol of fellowship and love.

The dawn of Easter Sunday starts with worshiping our God and remembering His most precious gift for humanity. After the service, greetings are exchanged by the people.

Almost every church arranges a special service and fellowship meal in the evening. Adults as well as the children together enjoy the happy moments.

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