Christmas in China

#1- Christmas is not even a holiday here...at all. No one is off work, kids are not out of school....nothing.
#2- Christmas is slowly infiltrating in. Decorations are more and more common. Christmas carols, even the ones with real meaning, are played in every store. People are more and more curious about what it is all about.
#3- Santa is not a g-d. We heard one national ask that question this year...if Santa was a g-d. That is how much they do not "get it", that is how much work is to be done, that is motivating and depressing all at the same time.
#4- The devil even celebrated- The people here like to wear costumes to celebrate Christmas. I guess it all stems from dressing in Bib-ical attire. But the costumes are really random...and weird. Devil horns, tails, and pitch forks are popular costumes. We saw several over the holiday, even one girl performing in the Christmas program at our apartment complex. All this relates back to #3- don't get it.
#5- Christmas here makes us realize what we are missing there. We really would have loved to have gone home for Christmas like many of our staff, but they are all single and have only one person to pay airfare for, while we have 6. Sitting in a cold hostel, eating random Chinese dishes for Christmas dinner, and being without family really made it tough. We were all fine until Christmas day and then it hit us all. Next Christmas we are going to head south to the beaches where it is warm and sunny and we can at least have that as a diversion.
All this to say, enjoy every Christmas at home with friends and family. It is truly a blessing to be able to, one that we really missed this year.

Hope you had a great Christmas, wherever you are!!!
More to come...

A good day for "Getting the WORD out"

In the past 24 hours, the WORD has really been spread here. Starting last night, at our school Christmas program, the story was told and Chinese Government officials were there for the program, local Chinese people, and families in our school that are not part of "the" family.
I wrote the script and brought the true meaning of the holiday.

Then today, we went to a Chinese wedding. The song, playing in the background, throughout the entire ceremony, was Amazing Grace. And then a choir sang it in English and Chinese. And our principal shared what guide book he uses for his marriage. It was wonderful too- to be with bro/sis from here and see their dedication in the midst of a room of others with no respect for their beliefs. They have to be strong here- non's make it really hard.

It was a good chance for us to see faith in action....glad I was here the past 24 hours...