As many churches worldwide conducted virtual Easter services due to the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. army chaplain's found creative ideas to celebrate Easter Sunday with their troops overseas.
Army chaplain Lt. Col. Donald Ehrke at Camp Zama, Japan, started hosting weekly drive-up communions which followed a livestreamed Mass service. Officials handed out specialized gift bags through car windows, in an effort to provide love and joy as they celebrated the resurrection of Jesus, the defining moment of The Christian faith, largely in solitude, Fox News reported.
"At first I thought, I laughed when I first heard the idea from their Catholic priest," He admitted. "And then I thought, well that's just crazy enough to work," Ehrke said on the Fox News interview.
"We are doing some remarkable things, some creative things... doing things a little differently than we normally do but the community has really responded well to it," He continued. "They stayed together with one another inside their cars but still together as a community. People felt like they had an opportunity to worship together as a group... there was a sense of belonging and togetherness that we so long for," he explained.
As the chaplain said, troops pulled their cars into a designated parking lot and tune into a local radios into FM 88.9 to hear the service, just like drive-in movie, abiding by the necessary safety precautions while giving their worship to God together on Easter Sunday.
Even though they were separated, Ehrke said that there was a sense of belonging, togetherness, and community which Christians have as a body of Christ.
"People have kept their spirits high, [but] sometimes it's really difficult especially when you see the news from back in the states... I don't think there is any family here that isn't impacted by what's happening in America -- but yet, we keep our spirits high, we're very resilient and we stay strong."
The COVID-19 situation has made everyone flex in a way they've never had to before, Malcolm Rios, Chaplin for the 35th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion said on Army News.
"There are people who have been in situations and maybe have years of experience, but nobody in this generation has been in this type of situation, the COVID pandemic," Rios said. "All of it is brand new and we're all just writing the playbook as we're going along."
These moving stories about how communities are finding creative ways to celebrate Easter are a part of Fox News's "America Together" editorial series and it has lifted up people's hearts and brought to see the light of hope in the darkness, Town Hall News noted.
