Last week something happened that deeply upset me and disturbed my heart. Doreta and I were returning from church when we met a two grandmothers with their grandchildren slowly walking to a bridge over the river in our town. We knew one of the ladies who had been a special needs teacher and had brought children to our church for a number of years. When they reached the bridge, they pulled out eggs painted red, gave them to the grandchildren and told them to throw them in the river. As the eggs landed in the river one lady said, “Now your sins are washed away.”
This is a tradition that Greek Orthodox believers have. Orthodox people paint their eggs red, as a symbol of the blood of Christ, and will keep them for “good luck” throughout the year. Yet the vast majority have no idea why the eggs are painted red or what the purpose of this symbol is.
Fier was traditionally an Orthodox town (although now I suspect that the majority are Muslim by tradition) and during this week there will be all kinds of rites performed and services held to celebrate Orthodox Easter. The one thing that will not be preached is the gospel of Jesus Christ. People will not be taught that Christ alone washes away our sin.
We in Fier and Patos, along with several other churches who live in Orthodox areas, will be celebrating Easter this week. Would you pray that superstition and false teaching would be swept away by the gospel of Jesus Christ? Would you pray for these women and their grandchildren? Doreta was able to give them some literature but how we long to see Orthodox believers seeing the light of the truth. Pray for invites going out this week to our Sunday meetings that people will respond positively and that the gospel will transform hearts and lives.
Would you pray as well that evangelical believers would have a firmer grasp of the gospel? Would you pray that believers would separate themselves from unhelpful traditions of men? One lady suggested that we paint eggs with the children of the church to celebrate Easter. She means well but does not understand at all that these traditions are actually deceptive!
Pray particularly for the following meetings:
Thursday morning: meeting with blind and partially sighted people at the offices of the Blind Society of Fier. Pray for the message I will share.
Friday afternoon: meeting with prisoners families in Levan. We have been sharing the gospel with them throughout the winter months but want to have a special meeting with them to explain the Easter message.
Saturday morning: Children’s and youth meetings in Fier.
Sunday morning: Children’s meeting in Patos and services in both Patos and Fier