Almost a year ago now, we had the opportunity to visit many of you and to share the exciting things that God had begun with Scripture-based songs in the Gmz language (for those that didn’t hear/read of that, check out our Feb 2013 blog called “United in the Clan of Christ”). Continuing that vision, we encouraged the writing of three special songs for the church’s celebration of Easter, which, according to the Gregorian calendar followed here in Ethiopia, was celebrated on May 5th this year. Sorry, I’m a bit late in posting this blog.
The goal was three songs, with three powerful messages taken from the passion narratives, songs that could be used in, yet not limited to, the church’s annual celebration of Easter. The first song was written from the “triumphal entry” story as the people of Jerusalem hail Jesus their king!
If we stay quiet, the rocks with cry out!
If we stay quiet, the rocks with cry out!
Jesus is the true Son of God.
Jesus is the true king of all creation.
Come, let’s give praise to Jesus, the King!
Let’s give praise to Jesus, the Son of God!
Come, let’s follow Jesus!
He will save us from within sin.
The second song we encouraged them to write was to focus on the heart of the passion narrative, yet exactly what they felt that “heart” was…that was for them to decide. In reading through the entire narrative with the song writers, they chose to write a song about the curtain in the temple tearing in two. This, in their understanding, meant that the path to God has now been opened as a result of Jesus’ death.
Sin separated us from God.
Sin separated us from God.
Jesus died on the horizontal tree (aka. cross) for us.
The judgment for sin,
The punishment for sin Jesus carried.
The path to return to God,
he opened the way.
The final song focused on the resurrection, a song we encouraged them to write not only for singing at Easter time, but also at funerals, emphasizing Jesus’ victory over death and our resulting hope!
Jesus rose from within the hole of death (aka. grave).
He has defeated death.
Because he rose from within the hole of death,
he will raise us just like that.
The women did not find Jesus’ body.
“It is not here. He has risen none.” (aka. He has risen PERIOD! Booyah!)
Jesus rose from within death.
Only clothes alone.
The “clothes alone” idea was apparently important enough to make it in the song, but I suppose that makes sense for a culture known to dig open the sunken graves of their fathers to refashion the dirt into a nice new hollow cavity in which they can once again lay out the bones in a respectful way. Finding only clothes in a grave three days old, now that says something profound!
Easter morning, the church gathered and sang their new songs, a bit tentative given their newness, but nevertheless, the truth of God’s word went out in song under the tin-roofed church where fifty some Gmz believers worship regularly. Now, it was our hope that these songs wouldn’t stay under that roof, but rather make the trek back to the villages. And then as families (both Christian and non) gathered in celebration of this national holiday, we prayed these new songs would find their beat on the various communities’ andinga drums that evening. This year, however, Easter evening was quite a silent night on Gesas mountain, but we continue to pray that God’s word in song would exit the mud walls of the building we mistakenly call “the church”, and instead make their home in the real church, the community of Gmz believers, on whose lips they reach the very heart of Gmz life and culture.
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