Colombian Christian Mission

COLOMBIAN CHRISTIAN MISSION
Dale and Jeanie Meade
In the jungle and prairie of Southeastern Colombia
Volume 15, Issue 12 December, 1987

SEASON'S GREETINGS

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS FROM COLOMBIA

Another Christmas has arrived. It somehow seems like we just finished taking down the tree, and now it is time to put it up again. When it is hot all year, the seasons pass without notice. So with no "frost on the pumpkins," Christmas slipped up on us.
But here in Colombia there are ample ways to know that the holiday season is on it's way. We just failed to take notice. The stores begin advertising months ahead of time. All get in an abundant supply of alcoholic drinks. The shoppers ahead of us in the lines spend far more on wine and whiskey than they do on food. As is typical here (and to a large degree in the States, too) people celebrate the coming of the Savior by trampling underfoot every teaching and example that He came to bring us.
The Christians, of course, celebrate Christmas differently. They do not drink. Instead they gather in the church building to sing and pray. Since the neighborhood parties would not let them sleep, some who were alcoholics might even be tempted, so they stay at the church building till the wee hours of the morning. Then, at an hour when the rest of Colombia has begun to pass out from the effects of too much drink, the Christians quietly walk home and go to bed. The next morning, when the whole world is sick with a hangover and alcohol poisoning, the Christians wake up with a smile and a song. They tend to wonder what it was that made the previous life seem so great back then when now it is so repugnant.
We, as a family, spend Christmas differently. We live too far from the church to walk, and the drunks make it too dangerous to drive, so we stay home. We have our devotions in the evening, as we have every night since the first of December. Then as the noise in the streets builds and as midnight approaches we let the kids open their presents. They could not sleep anyhow. The noise, more than the excitement would prevent them from being able to sleep. We all stay up and drink pop and eat popcorn. When the noise outside begins to die down, we hit the sack. Then on Christmas day we have our meal. The Colombian tradition is tamales, a mixture of cornmeal, vegetables and meats, wrapped in banana leaves and boiled. Be we stick to ham or turkey whichever we have been able to get that year. As with Thanksgiving, most of the trimmings are missing. But our family is together because of what Christ has done for us. We have much to celebrate! In spite of all of the evil in the world, we have hope. Even though we are surrounded by violence and injustice, we know that a sovereign and just God is in control and that He is watching over us.
Don't let the trimmings and the gifts make your Christmas. There is so much more to this special day than just the tinsel. Remember that we are celebrating a historical event. But more than that, we are celebrating what he has done fore us. Let us make Christmas a time to share our conviction and hope with a world that is in despair and confusion. Their revelry is a desperate attempt to find joy and peace in a meaningless world bent on destroying itself, one person at a time! Let us share with them the true joy of this Christmas "Holy Day". That will come only from accepting Jesus as Lord and King in our daily lives.


This yuletide greeting comes your way with a sincere and heartfelt prayer,
That God will bless your Christmas day and always keep you in His care.
Have a blessed Christmas!