When I think of Christmas, I think of large family get-togethers…gifts…the smell of pine from the Christmas tree…cookies and chocolates…cozy fire places…snow covering the ground and tree branches. This Christmas I had none of that.
Even so, this was the Christmas that I felt the weight of Jesus coming into the world like never before.
While all of the usual comforts of the holiday season were absent, Christmas as I knew it faded away. And the only part of Christmas left was Jesus.
It is ironic to me that Jesus – the whole reason Christmas exists – was overshadowed with traditions every year of my life except for this year. This makes my heart break.
This was the first Christmas morning I haven’t been woken up by my brother to go open gifts. Instead, I woke up and went up to the rooftop of my temporary home to sit and bask in God’s presence. As I stared at the blue sky and felt the hot Cambodian sun on my back, gratefulness consumed me. I started thinking, “Who am I that I can sit in the presence of a God whose love for His people is so unconditional that He chose to enter into a sinful world to save His people from death?” I was in awe of Christ – of His incredible love, of His humility, of His immense power, of His wisdom, of His forgiveness, of His beauty.
This was the first Christmas that I have been surrounded by Buddhists, rather than Christians. The Christmas service was filled with the Buddhist university students my team had been teaching English to. All month we built relationships with them and introduced them to Jesus. It was incredible to see their interest for God increase as the days grew closer to Christmas. 
On Christmas Eve at the end of English class, one of the Buddhist students, Jasmine, chose to accept Christ as her Savior. I was in a different room when the announcement was made to the class. I suddenly heard a loud applause and cheering. When I came down stairs, I saw my teammates encircling Jasmine, praying over her.
The day before Christ’s birth, a new daughter of Christ was born!
I cannot think of a better way to celebrate the birth of Jesus. This will forever be one of the most meaningful, memorable, Christ-centered Christmas’s of my life.
I pray that all of you had a wonderful Christmas! Happy New Year!! We are now in Kenya, Africa and got to celebrate the New Year five times as we flew over different time zones!
