|PIC1|As we remember and reflect on the slave trade and its abolition 200 years ago, we must not forget to respond. Rev Joel Edwards urges us, this Easter, to do something positive with our anger at the slave trade and respond to present injustice with hope-filled action.

Rather than getting overwhelmed by the darkness of slavery, Rev Edwards challenges us to a response that is more powerful than demands for financial reparations.

He brings our attention to the millions still in slavery today and encourages us to respond with the Micah Challenge of doing justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with God.

"Anger prompted by a hope of redemption pushed Wilberforce and Equiano to give themselves to the cause of freedom," he says.

"A response of hope empowers us to reach into the past horrors of slavery and do something redemptive in the present"

This reflects the essence of the Easter message:
"God entered deep into the darkness of the human condition in order to redeem it . And he did so through the sacrifice of his only Son whose resurrection brought us life: freedom from the awful slavery of sin and sinfulness".

The Easter message is available to view online at www.eauk.org