Easter 2012

Today is Easter Sunday, the celebration of the power of the resurrection and the victory of life over death. As the Christian church, we celebrate it every year and routinely look for new meaning and applications for our daily lives. In Malawi this Easter, we do not have to look hard or look far. The power of the resurrection is all around us in a rather bazaar way.

The President of Malawi died suddenly on Thursday of a heart attack. This is the president who has been slowly dragging the country into dictatorship and into economic collapse. There have been calls for his reformation or for his resignation but he adamantly refused to hear what his critics had to say, instead threatening to silence them and enlisting the police to assist him in such action. Many people have been praying for solutions for the country’s struggles. But no one expected the news that the President had succumbed to a heart attack. Actually, we here in Malawi did not officially get the news until Saturday morning, although most knew the truth much earlier through the international news media. Several of the President’s cabinet members suppressed the news to give them time to plot a way around the Constitution which stipulates that the Vice President is the first in line of succession in the event of the President’s death. There had been much bad blood between the President and his cabinet and the Vice President. Some cabinet members wanted to prevent the Vice President from taking office, thus continuing their control of the affairs of State. Again, there were many who prayed for the right thing to be done. Behind closed doors there were discussion and plots, warnings and counsel given in all directions. Tensions were high and concerns higher that there might be a government coup and that Malawi would join other African nations in a period of chaos rather than expereince a smooth transition. Finally on Saturday the announcement was made that the President had died and arrangements were made for the Vice President to be sworn in.  She was peacefully sworn in late Saturday afternoon. In her inaugural speech, she called for peace and unity. Her words brought hope to the nation for the first time in months.

This morning, as Easter dawned, there was a tangible sense that Malawi had the hope of new life, that the power of God to bring resurrection was not just a matter of history, as important as that is, but was also a reality in our lives as we have seen the hope of new life in the smooth transition of power and in a new government focus. God is alive and working in the lives of his creations to give life and hope. That is the message of Easter from scripture and the message of Easter 2012 for the residents of Malawi. Praise God.