Today is a day that stands out from all other days.  Today is the day that God died.

I have to wonder how the disciples must have felt.  Overwhelmed, defeated, lifeless, sick.  Not sure what to do next.  Maybe they didn’t care what they did next.  Their hope had vanished; and where there’s no hope, there’s no motivation.  Perhaps they just wanted to crawl into a corner and let the world move on without them.

What do you do when the catastrophe is so big that it seems to be beyond hope?

Today I am in Zambia, Africa.  Here, 1 in 4 people are infected with HIV/AIDS (from what I understand, in the area I’m in right now, the stat is closer to 1 in 3).

Today I visited a mom of 6 whose husband is ill and has been gone for a month now.  He went to visit the local witch doctor because the hospital has not helped him.  After that, I visited some people on their death beds.  We then proceeded on to a hospice day care, where 120 orphans and vulnerable children are cared for. 

We threw frisbees, sang songs, jumped rope, learned some wild African games, and I even got to play a little trumpet.  It was probably the sweetest, most adorable, and most joyful assembly of humanity I’ve ever been a part of.

86 of those children are infected with HIV.

Of those 86, 36 have full blown AIDS.  Imagine being 10 years old, both parents are dead, and you have AIDS.

What do you do when the catastrophe is so big that it seems to be beyond hope?

It’s Good Friday.  But Easter is coming.  Lord, we need some Resurrection power in this place.  Resurrect your Body on this continent.  Let this catastrophe consume us, overwhelm us, until we stand up and declare with one voice that there will not be another generation that grows up without hope.  Not on our watch.

It’s Good Friday in Africa.  But Easter is coming.