Cynthia Culp Allen
Special to the Valley News
This April 19 and 20, Temecula’s Europa Village will celebrate Easter with traditions from the winery’s featured countries: Spain, France and Italy. There will be feasting and celebrating with authentic recipes, award-winning Bordeaux-style wines, and festivities for family and friends. Europa even boasts a bell tower like those in Italy and Spain.
At Easter, the church bells remain silent for most of the Holy Week, or Spain’s Semana Santa, honoring the Savior’s sacrifice. But on Easter Sunday, the day commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ according to Luke 24 and other biblical accounts, the church bells ring out joyously, a musical proclamation of, “He is Risen! He is Risen!” just as the sun is rising. Easter has arrived!
A traditional Easter Sunrise Service is one of Europa’s upcoming events, scheduled for sunrise 6:30 a.m. Sunday, April 20, in Vienza’s exquisite Italian garden, Giardino del Cielo, or Garden of the Sky.
Open to the public (tickets are free, see website below) this celebration features guest musician and speaker Charles Graham sharing his message of resurrection, new life, and hope. Pastor Graham, the author of “No Back Doors,” will include some of his personal story of redemption.
The son of hard-working but poor southern sharecroppers, Graham was fifth in a family of 13 children packed into a small wood-frame house in racially divided Dermott, Arkansas. From sun-up to sundown, the whole family worked the fields on a 100-acre farm near Bayou Bartholomew.
Life was hard, but each chapter of Graham’s book ends with positivity and often laughter. After high school, the boy who was baptized in a bayou left Arkansas for college, carrying with him a few belongings and a heart filled with dreams and hope.
Four years later, his degree in hand, Graham began traveling the world, including South America, Europe, Africa, and Israel, sharing his inspirational message in word and song. Years of success included 25 years in Murrieta and Temecula, “when it was a sleepy little country town of sheep, cattle and hay,” he remembered.
In 2010, Graham decided to return to his childhood hometown for a visit. As he drove past the plantation where he and generations of his family had picked cotton, he noted a “For Sale” sign on the property. Depending on God to work out the details, Graham bought the Arkansas acreage, transforming it into his ministry’s headquarters.
Growing up, he and his family were forbidden to enter the owner’s home. In his page-turner autobiography, “No Back Doors,” the photo cover is Pastor Graham sitting on the front porch by the door that the sharecroppers weren’t allowed to enter. Now he’s the owner and welcomes everyone inside.
Near his home sits the big bell that the property owner rang to call his field hands to and from work. Graham decided it would have a new purpose in the future. While there is no bell tower like the one at Europa Village, that bell now rings only for celebrations, like the first event after purchase, his mother’s 75th birthday party.
Everything on the property has been redeemed for a new purpose, including the refurbished main house and landscaped grounds, now a retreat called The Fountains: A Place of Refreshing.
You and your family are invited to enjoy Charles Graham’s inspiring music and message Easter Sunday, April 20, 6:30 a.m. Reserve your free tickets at: https://www.europavillage.com/event/inspirational-sunrise-service/.
After the Easter Sunrise Service, coffee, hot chocolate and fresh-baked pastries will be available for purchase. A tempting Easter brunch is served from 10-3. See www.europavillage.com for other Easter weekend events or call 951-506-1818.
Cynthia Culp Allen, a CA real estate broker, is also an award-winning writer and author who recently moved to the Temecula Valley. She is always looking for compelling stories to share with her readers, email: cynthiaculpallen@yahoo.com.
