God’s goodness at Christmas
CMS missionaries Josh and Nici serve in South East Asia with their four kids. In this article, both Josh and Nici share stories of how they have seen God’s goodness at Christmas in their ministries and in the lives of those they serve.
This article is part one of our Christmas series: ‘How do you celebrate Christmas?’
The rest of this series will be posted on 17, 18, and 19 December.
Unexpected opportunities to celebrate Christ
Nici
Each week, I ride through the rice paddies and urban village sprawl to teach English at a preschool. The children, bright-eyed and smiling, greet us by bringing our hands to their foreheads. We greet the mums and babies as we make our way into the classroom. We sing songs, count to 10, talk about animals and colour-in together.
Last year, something new happened—the local teacher invited us to talk about Christmas. This came as a shock, because our city is the heartbeat of our nation’s majority faith. So, we prayed, brainstormed, and raided our costume cupboards—and on one morning early in December, we acted out the story of the first Christmas in the local language. The children and adults joined in singing Colin Buchanan’s “On that very first Christmas”, played games, and made ‘Christingles’ together.
A few months later, we heard indirectly of concern in the community over what happened. A meeting was held, and the leader said that understanding Christmas was part of existing in a society with different religions, and that we could continue teaching. In God’s goodness, we have been asked to celebrate Christmas again this year! Please pray that the mums, children, and teachers would hear God speak and know his Son. Pray also that our relationships would lead to deeper conversations about our Father’s forever Truth.
Finding joy at Christmas in simple but beautiful ways
Josh
This year I asked students at the Bible college where I work, “What do you like about Christmas?” The most common answer was, “eating together!” Unlike in Australia, it’s not customary to give presents at Christmas, or to have holidays.
The Bible college hosts students from poor rural backgrounds where the church is weakest. These students speak different local languages and have different rituals and customs. But it seems that they all have similar experiences when it comes to celebrating Christmas. They love how Christmas brings their people together–going to church together, singing together, dancing together, and most commonly, eating together. Christmas is one of the few times that my students will eat meat in the year.
In their villages, there are no decorations in the shops or lights on houses—it’s simple, like the first Christmas. It reminds me how busy and commercialised Christmas has become in the West and how Christ’s mission, like his earthly origin, is simple. He wants to bring sinful people together through his once-for-all sacrifice on the cross.
All the ethnic groups are represented at our college Christmas service, and it’s a joy to watch their songs and dances. I’m so encouraged by the students at the college. Their lives are anything but simple; many of them have experienced complex trauma—some being orphaned very young because of natural disasters—and all of them have experienced poverty to some degree. Yet, they are able to find meaningful joy at Christmas in simple but beautiful ways. Please pray that this Christmas, God would provide for their material and physical needs, and grow their faith and joy in Christ.
PRAY
Give thanks with Josh and Nici for the ways they have seen God at work over Christmas. Pray with them for more opportunities to share and celebrate God’s love in Jesus.
