In a classroom in Estonia, a boy listened closely as the Easter story unfolded. When the lesson ended, he raised his hand with a question that cut straight to the heart of it: “Then I don’t understand — why eggs and rabbits? Why has the meaning of Easter been changed today?”
Easter in the Classroom
This April, our workers visited schools across Estonia with the Easter message. In one town alone, 81 children across six classes heard the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Two Ukrainian classes welcomed the lesson warmly. First-graders heard the Easter story for the first time, and the girls began colouring their booklets on the spot, reading aloud the words about the risen Saviour.
In a third-grade class, the children asked many questions. One boy said quietly, “Yes, Jesus really did have a pure heart, because everyone betrayed Him and mocked Him, and He forgave them.” A fifth-grade class heard the Easter lesson for the first time — engaged, attentive, answering every question.
A Question That Stopped Us
The boy who asked about eggs and rabbits came from a family with a different religious background. He argued confidently that Jesus died on a tree, not a cross. Our worker has met children from similar backgrounds at Easter before, and each encounter raises the same quiet question: how well are we preparing our own Christian children to know what they believe — and why?
Words from the Teachers
During a break between lessons, a teacher approached our worker. “How good it is that you speak to children about God from childhood,” she said. “In my own childhood, no one told us — and so we had no One to put our hope in.” At another school, a teacher admitted she had felt nervous about how our worker would explain Jesus’ death to the children. Afterwards she said, “There’s so much I don’t know and don’t understand myself, and this is such an important topic. How good that you explain such difficult things to children so clearly.”
Reflection
Every classroom holds a mix — the curious, the quiet, the well-taught, the searching. Some children arrive already equipped with arguments; others have never heard the name of Jesus spoken with love. “Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray” (Matthew 19:13). Jesus welcomed children then, and He welcomes them now. Our task is simply to bring them to Him.
Please pray with us for every child who heard the Easter message — that they would come to Jesus. Thank you for standing with us in children’s ministry.
-Testimony from a worker in CEF of Estonia
(Image: Adobe Express)
