Easter is celebrated by Christians to commemorate the death and resurrection of Christ. People of different religions and countries have varying ideas about the holiday and some with other types of traditions.

Venix Cador, a junior computer science major from Haiti, said that Easter is a big deal in his country. He said the Easter celebration lasts about four hours with singing and dancing, and they feed the visitors that come around.

“We have a huge celebration,” Cador said. “One of the things we do is have a big branch that we collect lots of money with. People from all over the place come to celebrate with us and put money in the branch. The money goes toward missionary work; we build houses and really help others that are in need.”

Pastor Dave Herman of the Lighthouse Baptist Church in Brimfield said he has been coming to the university for more than 14 years, passing out gospel tracks to students, trying to show them the grace of God, and that he was saved when he got a gospel track himself while in college. He has started coming to Kent more frequently during the Easter season.

“The importance of Easter is that [Jesus] was crucified on the cross and died for you and me; he [died] for everybody,” he said. “But the Resurrection is really the power of the Gospel because it proves that he was God because no man is ever raised from the dead. The Resurrection is very important because it’s the hope that we have as Christians going forward.”

On Easter morning, his church had a sunrise service before hosting a lunch buffet and the traditional service.

“I just really bring a message about the Resurrection and that he rose again,” Herman said. “The message is that they need to believe that he died and why he died for us. People need to accept him as our personal savior and heaven as our final place.”

While the Christian religion and some Caribbean countries believe in the Resurrection for Easter, people of the Islamic faith do not. Mathematical science professor Mahbobeh Vezvaei, who is Muslim, said that Muslims and people in her homeland of Iran do not believe that there was ever a crucifixion and that Jesus is not a god, but a prophet.

“We do not believe Jesus was crucified and then three days later came back to life,” Vezvaei said. “We believe from the very first second he was put on the cross his soul was taken up, so he was never ever crucified because God did not want him to suffer. We do, however, believe he will come back one day, just like Christians do.”

Vezvaei said they believe that a man named Mahdi will come back just as Jesus will. She said he is the Muslim Messiah who will come back to bring justice and peace to the world before the last days of the world, similar to how Christians feel about Jesus.

Contact Ashlyne Wilson at [email protected].