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.
George Snyman, co-founder of Hands at Work
“Every year, Easter is different and there is a different way that God speaks to me. This year, because last year was a very tough year for me, I feel the word for me is that the new beginning is here instead of the end. So often these days we think that the end is near, but I think it’s because we look at the world and not at Jesus who is risen. For me, the beginning is here and yes, the world is rapidly coming to an end, but it is ushering us into the beginning. So I don’t focus on the end but instead on the beginning, because the resurrected King invites me into a new kingdom and that is the beginning of my life.”
Virginia Tshabangu, African Leader
“Easter means a lot because Jesus Christ died for me on the cross, but He didn't do anything wrong. He died because of my sins and also to show me how much He loves me. So that's the reason I'm celebrating Easter. When it's Easter time, it reminds me to say remember, you were in the dark and now you are in the light, so don't go back to the dark place again, because Jesus loves you. He died for you. He didn't do anything wrong, but the love that He has for you is so special. Sometimes we even invite our youth and remind them by saying: you know lots of people in the community who spend their time, especially on Easter, drinking alcohol and doing things that are not good, and worshipping other gods. But for me, I only worship Him because I know that He is God. He died for my sin, and He really loves me. For me, it's a big thing to say God, I know that you are there for me. You love me. You care for me. So, thank you.”
Josh Snyman, African Leader
“To me it's a time of reflecting and spending deliberate time remembering what God did in my life – how He broke into my life and how He radically changed it. He took me out of a dark hole and He gave me life. And so I love to spend these couple of days digging into Jesus’ life and looking into how He acted, how He reacted, how He spoke to certain people, the parables that He told, His journey during this time in how He reflected God's love for us, how He sacrificed so much for us.
Each year I like to focus and to dig deeper into a certain element of Jesus’ time during this period, building up to His death and even right to the end where He still loves people and in the midst of telling people that they're going to deny Him, He also gives them hope to say you'll be the person that will encourage for me. I love to dig into that and then I like to look to see how my life is reflecting that to others. How am I getting into another person's world and speaking to that? This is the time of year where we can speak into that. We can go into people's lives and say, let me tell you a story about a Saviour who stepped into my life, but stepped into the world more than 2000 years ago. And that's what I love about it. I love speaking to God and to people about this time and telling them my story, but also telling them that they can be part of a story that's far greater than me and anyone else around us.”
Tawonga Mwenda, daughter of Levy Mwenda (African Leader)
“Easter means to me the day that my sins and many other people's sins were forgiven. Even for those who do not know Jesus. We really do have a good God. Easter is a reminder that Jesus died for us because if God didn't send Jesus, His one and only son to die for us, I don't think we would still be here. And even if we were, I don't think there would be any Christians, or I think the world would be empty, and really bad and worse than it is now. Many people think Easter is about the chocolate egg or about the bunny. But I think Easter is more than that. Easter reminds us of the day that He rose for us. He conquered sin.
Almost like the Easter egg. How when you open it, it is empty in the inside. It represents Jesus and how He conquered death and that when you open the tomb, there is nothing inside because Jesus has risen.”