Christmas–a Celebration!

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    Most people in the world knew it was Christmas. They have some way of celebrating it. These celebrations are based on culture, family, faith, and situation.  This is a time of year when people create their own traditions and you find that within a given culture, there are many traditions. What are your tradition? What parts of your traditions have been passed down and which ones have you created yourself? What traditions are based on your culture and which are based on your faith?  Have you changed your traditions over the years or do you strive to maintain these traditions and look forward to them annually?

     Missionaries give up many traditions. We learn new traditions from our host cultures. We also keep some of our home traditions. And, we create new traditions based on our situation. We often change these traditions based on team dynamics, locale, and our role in local ministries.  Whatever we hold as tradition, we hope to remember the original Christmas story and not stray from the reason for this holiday. Christ, the Saviour, was born!  He came to save His people from their sins!

      I have celebrated Christmas in 4 different countries. Within my own country I have celebrated in at least 7 States and many more cities. With each new location there are many new traditions to learn, people to celebrate with, and joy.  As I move from here to there, there are a few traditions I look forward to each year: music, a tree, caroling, and gingerbread cookies!  There are many more traditions that I learn from those I spend the season with.

 

In Africa,  nearly every Christmas has been spent celebrating with the saints. Spending hours at church as we sing, dance, have meals, enjoy special performances and rejoice together!  Somehow, I have been able to squeeze in a bit of my own Christmas before or after services! But I love that we spend much of the day celebrating our Lord with fellow believers!  It keeps the focus on the birth of Christ, the reason for celebrating! 

This year was no exception as we spend the day at church and shared a meal together with the three churches that gathered together!  We prepared for rain and thankfully it was only for the last few songs in the service!  We just kept singing and dancing! After it all I was able to call home and talk to many of my family members!  Then I rushed over to friends’ home where we shared a delicious meal, gifts and games! The evening before we gathered for a special time of caroling, snacks, and fireworks!  Memories were made and the joy of Christ was shared!