This year’s Easter celebrations brought the city of Bulawayo to life, as Christians from all walks of life and various denominations went all out for their Easter festivities.

In Christianity, Easter is celebrated to mark the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Easter Sunday or Resurrection Day is typically the best-attended Sunday service of the year for Christian churches.  Countless crusades and church conventions were the order of the day, from Friday last week to Monday. The city’s streets and billboards were decorated with one kind of church event or another. Media outlets such as newspapers, radio and ZTV also recorded brisk business as church organizations went all out in advertising their events.

Dozens of schools, halls, business premises and open spaces were fully occupied by various churches for conventions and crusades, while some churches chose to move away from the city and conduct retreats out of town. Bongani Ncube of CCAP said her church had organized a youth retreat in Hope Fountain where they were able to relax, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. “It was so good to get away, as the youth from our church, to celebrate Easter. It was very refreshing and the speakers were very powerful, we came out feeling rejuvenated by the word of God. You could just feel the pieces falling together,” she said.  

Mary Moyo from End Time Message church said, “I literally spent the whole 5 days at church as we had a crusade in Luveve. I only went back home to eat and bath as was necessary; otherwise my whole Easter was dedicated to the Lord.”

Some churches held all-night vigils at their churches, with the usual blaring music from nightclubs being uncharacteristically silent during this time.