Death Where is Your Victory?

This week I spent my second Easter aboard the Africa Mercy. It has been a beautiful time full of praise and worship, remembering the joyous day that Christ rose from the dead, conquering death once and for all.
Sunday was a morning full of tears for me, and I hope you will understand when I say that they were tears of both joy and sorrow.
You see, on Saturday I learned that on Good Friday morning while we on the ship were remembering

the day of Christ's death on the cross, in the Baby Crèche not far from us one of my precious little children, Sebastian, passed away. Sebastian had struggled for so long with illness, malnutrition, and lack of love and attention. We gave him as much love as we could on our short visits, and it was painful to see him give up and slowly waste away over the last several weeks.
As we worshiped on Easter morning, I couldn't stop the tears from streaming down my face, remembering Sebastian. His suffering is at an end. I rejoice that he is now free from tears and pain, fully loved, seeing Jesus face to face. While we celebrated Christ's resurrection here on the ship, Sebastian was in heaven face to face with the One who made our salvation possible. He can run and play with a body that is strong and healthy, a body that never tires. He does not lack for anything now.

But I also grieve his loss, and the tragedy of the death of even one precious child. In Matthew 19:14, Jesus said “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” Sebastian is with Him now. The entire kingdom of heaven is his to enjoy.

 Death where is your victory? I will celebrate the promise of life eternal, and do what I can to be the love of Christ to those that I interact with, especially these precious little ones.

Sebastian in the middle