Easter message delivered in park

Published 12:00 am Saturday, April 22, 2000

Five years ago, Karla Boe went to a rummage sale at Faith Evangelic Free Church in Austin.

Saturday, April 22, 2000

Five years ago, Karla Boe went to a rummage sale at Faith Evangelic Free Church in Austin.

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She bought a Bible for $2 and when she got home to her Western Manor apartment, she started reading it.

"The last five years have been the most beautiful of my life," Boe said. "This is where God calls me to work with children."

The single woman was telling her story Saturday morning at Shirley Thiele Park in west Austin, where she organized an Easter egg hunt for neighborhood children.

Jessica Curtis helped her and so did Pam Riley, but it was Boe’s show.

She read the Bible’s Easter story to children and their parents, sitting on the grass, commanding their attention with a forceful voice.

"I haven’t done something like this before, but I want to do more like it," she said afterwards. "Easter is my favorite holiday."

Boe was a part of the Faith Evangelical summer vacation Bible school held at the city park a year ago and she plans to be a part of this summer’s VBS there.

"We want to come back here on a monthly basis with an event for children," she said. "Maybe, a breakfast activity. We want to come to them."

Volunteers hid 250 eggs. When the hunt was done, children who found "Resurrection Eggs," claimed special prizes and learned more about the events in Christendom so long ago.

According to one of the volunteers, Pam Riley, the "Easter Story for Children," a book by Randall Lee Walti and published by FamilyLife uses the Resurrection Eggs to tell the story of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion to children. "Each of the 12 colors matches up to a part of the Easter story," she said. "For instance, yellow is nails, light green is death, purple is a spear and light blue is an empty tomb."

The children also enjoyed refreshments, including treats from Dunkin’ Donuts.

Among the helpers were Ron Wiebelhaus and Bruce Paterson, who starred in the popular Easter drama at Faith Evangelical Free Church, during Holy Week.

Wiebelhaus portrayed Christ and Paterson was, he said, a "bad guy," the Roman centurion, who taunted Jesus.

Entitled "The Choice," the drama played to over-flow crowds, during its Holy Week-long run at the Austin church.

It was the third year for the production.

What does the pair think of the Easter "message?"

"It never gets old," said Wiebelhaus, "and, I think, it needs to be told in a variety of ways, such as the drama we do at church and this Easter egg hunt for children."

"It’s a message of God’s love," he said.

Paterson agreed and said taking the story outside the church was appropriate.

"We must go to where the people are and use all forms available to us to share the story and the glory of Christ and God’s love for all," he said.