Today is still Easter

I went to a Family Camp on this Easter in Mesnali. From Karmøy to Lillehammer, I have experienced a long journey together with Cirene, my teammate. Those trips mean a lot for us: it is an opportunity to get in contact with different people and to know different places too. But many things can happen during the trip also.

I like surprises and a good one happened to me last week. In order to take the train to Oslo, we passed by Stavanger - that is in my personal opinion one of the most beautiful and 'koselig' towns I have known. And it was there I could meet a friend who I have not seen for four years. We went together in a missionary project in Brazil in 2004. She is from Brasília and I am from Minas Gerais and after the project, we had not met again. I could talk and have a great time together with Raquel. She has lived in Norway since February. I, Cirene and she spent the day together while the teammates waited for the "natt tog".

Another surprise happened while we were on the train. Our back-seat-neighbors: two teenagers. And they decided to talk the whole route. Ok, not "the whole" but almost. Cirene had no problem for sleeping but I: nap after nap I could hear their talking. I have learned to be positive and I could practice it saying to myself: "Ok, Edson, ok. At least you can understand what they are talking in Norwegian". Was not it true?

The day rose and we woke up in Oslo. Going out from one to another train: Lillehammer, here we go! The sun gave us the opportunity to see many breathtaking views: predominantly white and mixed with a blue sky.

When we got to Lillehammer, we got also the opportunity of knowing the town while we waited for a ride up to Mesnali. Walking through the streets, we could know the city that welcomed the Winter Olympic Games in 1994.

The Family Camp started and it was nice to know more about Norwegians and their habits. I can not deny that I could know more about Norway too: -15 Celsius degrees. The lowest temperature I have experienced in my life! Something I can not forget: a lot of snow. Everywhere you looked you could see snow, snow and more snow. Without talking on the frozen floor and the effort I have done in order to remain standing, but it did not work three, four or more times…

Simultaneously, another meeting happened near of us. It was a youth leader meeting and Gladys, Rock, Roger and Charles were there together with Norwegians. It was nice to meet them and talk. We were not attending the meeting, but we got the opportunity one evening to join them and it was very nice.

One day I went out for skiing and I could read something on the snow: 'Jesus lever' (Jesus lives). I was happy for seeing this: some skier stopped for a while and wrote two words that remember me what is Easter about. So, I moved on and I found ‘Jesus lever ikke’ (Jesus doesn’t live). What a contrast! Of course, the snow would not neglect both expressions, but my heart gets sad when I see that we, human beings, still reject the God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ. But, as I said, I have learned to be positive. It means that we need to make the Good News known by the power of the Holy Spirit today! Let’s declare that Jesus is the Lamb of God, He is the one who takes our sins and reconciles us with God.

Yesterday, I started my journey back-home. I got home today and quite surprised because the snow has painted a different landscape in the area I am living in during the time I was out. I remember Isaiah 1:18 “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow”. Truly Jesus lives and redeems us.