Easter Holiday

I wrote this this morning but wasn't able to post it until now:

Easter Holiday…

Here in the Philippines Easter is a national holiday; the Philippines is mainly a catholic country and the way they celebrate easter here is very unique. Most everything closes down on Friday and Saturday and then opens back up on Sunday, this is because they literally believe that Jesus is truly dead on these days and comes back alive on (Sunday). So for Friday and Saturday(and sometimes even earlier in the week; the holiday week starts on Wednesday) they believe that since Jesus is dead there is no protection for themselves and it is not safe to be out. But, on Sunday everything opens back up again and goes back to normal because it is the day that Jesus rises from the dead… It is Friday morning here and until 3pm there is a very “famous” parade/tradition type thing that is put on every year for this easter holiday. In this parade, people walk down the streets being whipped beyond bloody by themselves or others. There is also living people who will be hung on crosses by nails hammered into their hands while being carried down the street. These people take this very seriously, they are trying to reenact what Jesus went through believing that if they do this, they will be loved and cherished by God even more. (Thank God for Jesus! He did it so that we don't have to!) It will be very gruesome and we do not want the little ones to watch this, so our Mercy In Action team is leaving and going to Subic Bay for the day...oh my gosh! I thought it wasn't going to start until later in the day, but just now as I type this it is going on right in front of our apartment complexes...

Wow! What a way to experience how different cultures celebrate holidays...