In Belgium the season of Easter is called Paques. It is basically a religious holiday for the country, but that doesn’t mean people are going to churches to remember the resurrection of Christ in large numbers. It is very acceptable to give small bags of chocolate Paques (Easter) eggs to your friends in recognition of the celebration. With that in mind, we purchased small bags chocolate eggs to give to our neighbors and friends with a the message of “Joyeuse Paques from the Goens.”
The the families that presently make up LifePoint Church Brussels also meet in a nearby park, after attending a local fellowship in the morning, to celebrate Paques (Easter). All of us invited friends we have been investing in over the past several months to come hang out and enjoy the beautiful day with us. The park was full of people with Frisbees, footballs (soccer balls) and some American footballs. We brought picnic foods to share and waited on our friends to arrive.
One man came and spent the afternoon with us as we talked together, laughed about life and each persons experiences living cross culturally. We talked about how much we enjoyed our new country of residence and what the differences are between our home countries and where we now live.
Toward the end of our picnic we had the opportunity to talk about why we celebrate Easter (Paques) and why it’s such a special day for our families. We had a wonderful time together with friends talking about the differences in two (2) world religions and how each one holds Jesus as special. I had the opportunity to talk about Jesus’ death, resurrection and the Bible’s importance to our understanding of the gospel.
I am really looking forward tospending more time with my friend. He is planning to taking me to eat with his friends at a local restaurant that serves food from his home culture. He is looking forward to coming to our home for an American meal very soon with our family. He is a wonderful person and we are looking forward to spending more time with him in the coming days.
We experienced a Joyeuse Paques yesterday. I hope you experienced a great Easter where you live.
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