Hi! First let me apologize for the silence of this blog lately. I have been busy busy, and just have not had the time to sit down and arrange my thoughts into a cohesive post.
The christmas season is upon us in Khartoum, and we are all making ready to make merry. Christmas in khartoum is a very different experience. First of all, it is 89 degrees and no one else is celebrating. There are no lights, no songs playing over the radio, no tree lots. Due to this complete dirth of christmas spirit around us, we have found it necessary to do as much as we can to bring the spirit of christmas to khartoum. Classrooms have been decorated, carols have been taught to students and the meaning of christmas has been explained countless times to just about anyone who will listen. And while there is comedy in all us Americans running around celebrating a holiday no one else cares about, there is also alot of sadness. We are rejoicing the coming of our Savoir while everyone else continues to live in darkness. It is in this season where i most feel the disconnect between light and dark here. While we have to opportunity to celebrate the coming of our Lord and the life that he brought, the people we live with, talk to, and share life with here are still slaves to death. The benefit of the darkness that is in this land is that the meaning of christmas is alive in me this season. I am slowly realizing it is not about the presents, the songs, or even spending time with our family, but instead Christmas is about the love of a God who left his realm to come to ours and purchase us back. That is something to celebrate, and that is a story worth sharing. It is worth being away from our friends and family during this season, it is worth living in a difficult place, and it is worth any other discomfort which this life brings. It is worth all of it if the people of this land can one day celebrate with joy and thanksgiving the coming of Jesus. I find myself on this day thanking God for the priviledge of spending Christmas in this land, because this a christmas which I know will be about the true meaning of this time, I am celebrating the fact that my Savior came and I am living in the hope that soon the people I am surrounded by here will also one day celebrate with me.
This is a wonderful time of year for us as we have such a amazing opportunity to share the meaning of our celebration. Please be praying for continued and meaningful conversations about the reason for our celebration. Please play for the openness and boldness in my classroom to share with my students about our God. We are also doing a play at NVA (the school) which tells the story of Christmas and we are hoping that this play will be a great way to communicate this important message to many many people (we expect the majority of the parents at our school to attend). Please also be praying for some upcoming home-visits and events I have, which will hopefully be a time to tell the story of our Lord. I appreciate all of you, and am praying that you have a beautiful advent season. Know as I write this I am filled with love for all of you and please know just how thankful I am for all you support.
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