A letter from Mary Ferris in Romania
April 2010
Easter in Romania
This year Easter in the Protestant and Catholic churches coincided with Easter in the Orthodox traditions. The Orthodox go by a different lunar calendar than does the rest of Christ’s kingdom, or — as they would say — the rest of the Church universal departed from the traditional way because of the Roman calendars. Please do not ask me to explain all of this — I just know that every four years it is nice to have all Easter celebrations together worldwide.
NOROC started the Holy Week season with a fantastic exhibit of Icons painted on glass done by the youth in the NOROC-sponsored painting classes held in the orphanage on Saturday mornings. The Icon exhibit was held for two weeks at the Tulcea Mall. The public reaction was excellent. The entire program was coordinated and executed by Petru and Marilna Solca. Of course our driver, Mr. Barbu, and administrator, Mr. Mihai, and the young men from Casa Noastra all helped set up and take down the exhibit. Everything that happens in NOROC takes team work.
Following the Icon opening, on Palm Sunday we distributed over 100 devotional booklets with a picture, a prayer, and a Bible verse for each day of Holy Week. We distributed them at several different centers. They were given out in a short service, followed by punch and cookies. The event was led by the older youth from our Thursday night service. It was a short, but highly impactful event.
Following Palm Sunday, each evening at 5:00 p.m. during Holy Week we held a one-hour meditation service at our office. I decided even if no one came, I would be well served by having this one hour of set-aside prayer time. There was a small group every evening, and not the same ones every time. Not surprisingly, this was a very special time of personal preparation for me. One young man, Florin, whom I did not know well, came every night, and I was so delighted to get to know him outside of the larger groups. We are now prayer partners.
Waiting for the Light at Easter Vigil.
The highlight of my year is always Noapte de Invierea (Resurrection Night). This service starts exactly at midnight and is held in every Orthodox church in Romania. The church bells ring loudly, and you can hear them all ringing at the same time all over the city. People gather at 11:30 to wait for the light of Christ to be transferred from one candle to another all throughout the darkened service. A short, half-hour outdoor service is held where everyone sings, “Jesus Christ is Risen Today,” and includes other hymns, a short homily, and blessings of the crowd by the priests. From here the Easter Vigil service moves inside the church, and it lasts all night until sunrise. For many who have come outdoors for the shorter service, after receiving the light and participating in the hymn sing, they leave after the short service and walk back to their houses carrying their lights. It is so impressive to see the entire town full of people carrying candles in the streets.
The joy of Easter! Christ is Risen!
Every year for the nine years I have been in Romania, I have gone with a group of youth from the children’s homes to the midnight service. This is a special privilege for the youth in the fifth grade and above. Some young adults from the original group have returned every year and gone with me with the younger youth. This year 15 youth accompanied me as well as five young adults from the original group. We walked through the streets to the church and waited outside for thirty minutes for the receiving of the light. One young boy said, “I have been waiting all my life to be able to come get the light.” His whole life is about 13 years, so perhaps he has been anticipating this for a long time because we do not bring anyone younger than the fifth grade. Later, walking home in the streets while trying to keep our candles lit, we talked about the meaning of passing the light after one young girl asked, “What does the light mean and why do we pass it from one to another?” We forget that if we do not tell the story to the next generation, who will. This is even more true in America. The children in America, outside of our churches, need to hear the story told to them. How can each of you do this? Invite a child to come to church with you, sponsor a poor child to go to summer camp, take neighbor kids to Vacation Bible School or teach Sunday School. Lead a youth group; volunteer in scouts. We are all commissioned by Jesus to tell the story.
Hearing the Easter story for the first time.
I praise God for all the young adult disciples that come week after week to help the children and youth. This is a phenomenon that I never really experienced in the U.S. because the young adults usually leave for college or work and are often lost to the church. NOROC has been able to continue involving them in our ministry, and now we have a strong core group of young adults (in their twenties) who are perfectly capable of doing almost everything that needs to be done. It certainly makes my life easier. We are finally seeing a reduction in violence and abuse at Sperantza because of our multifaceted approach of intervention.
I am exhausted after so many activities (I have only mentioned a few here) but will take a long weekend off and will be ready for our Pentecost party the young adults are planning to throw for the younger kids.
CHRIST IS RISEN!!!!!!
HE IS RISEN INDEED
Grace,
Mary
The 2010 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 204
