A Tarahumara Easter celebration
Tony and Lauren Finch left their house at 4:45 a.m. The darkness was radiantly lit by a full moon as they began their ascent to the 8,500 loftiness of a nearby mountaintop. Waiting there were some Tarahumara believers who had invited them to participate in an Easter sunrise service.
In the distance, Tony and Lauren could see the bonfire already blazing. Arriving, they rejoiced to sit around the fire and chat with the handful of believers who had gathered. Tony surveyed the band of Tarahumera followers of Jesus as they waited for others to arrive and wrote, “They never cease to amaze me with their responsive hearts to the Lord …. As the rest joined our small band, I felt privileged to be a part of their sweet fellowship.”
Gathered in the little group were former sun and moon worshippers who are now committed followers of Jesus Christ. Tony observed their joy: “This was His day and they were going to celebrate it! We shared Scriptures together, sang and encouraged one another …. We ended our time greeting one another with the words, ‘Cristo ma ku o’winali’ which means ‘Christ is now resurrected!’”
Then one of the believers excitedly threw his arms into the air and joyfully exclaimed, “Let’s praise the Lord!” Tony says everyone began applauding in agreement.
Tony says he would have liked to stay at the mountaintop a lot longer, but there were things to do. The little group headed down the mountain to the church building. There they continued preparations for the Easter celebration meeting for which Tony and Lauren had helped cook goat stew for most of the night.
Because they served food after the church meeting, there were many visitors on Easter Sunday. In fact, there were so many in attendance that dishes had to be washed to continue to serve the crowds that came.
And since it’s been a hard year with little rain for crops, the Tarahumara church was able to hand out famine relief food bags to everyone before they left for home.
All in all, it was an Easter celebration that Tony and Lauren are thankful for and that they rejoice in being part of.