Thursday, March 28, 2013

Easter Greetings

Where has the time gone?  It is Good Friday here in Papua New Guinea.  I know I should be spending the day in repentance and contemplation, but have decided to work and catching up with friends instead.  Easter is treated very seriously here in PNG - no bunnies to share the spotlight.  Some churches hold Easter Camps, where everyone goes out to spend three or so days in bible study and contemplation.  Several of the faculty here are off helping lead such a camp.

The seminary has no classes today or Monday, giving us a 4 day weekend.  The students don't have the time or money to go home, so we are celebrating together.  I have met a few parents from the area who have to join their children for Easter. Last night we had a nice Maunday Thursdays service.  Holy Comunion is a special event here (6 times a year?) so it is always celebrated with great ceremony.  Many of the women wear Meri blouses (their smock like tops) of white satin.  Most of the time they were sensible colors and patterns.  Many of the men had on long sleeved white shirts, also unusual. The paraments were also of a satiny, glowing material.

Will try to write more later in the weekend

New Photos from PNG

Ann has some more photos posted on flickr covering her first months in Papua New Guinea. See them at http://www.flickr.com/photos/newguineacall/  .