Merry belated Christmas! I pray you all had an amazing time celebrating the birth of the King. To be honest, it feels very strange to be celebrating Christmas so far away this year. This month we are living on the beach of Lake Malawi in a town called Senga Bay, staying with a missionary family from South Africa. It’s about as different as you could imagine from America at Christmas time…and I’m not just talking about the temperature outside.
Walking down the roads here, it might as well be July. There are no festive songs playing on the radio, no overly decorated malls with crowds to navigate through, no tree to adorn, no snow…and, most of all, no family. I am missing home a LOT right now. Still, as He has throughout this whole trip, God has been teaching me a lot during my time here.
I’ve learned that although we often remind ourselves in the States that Jesus is the reason for the season, it’s a lot easier to remember that when Santa, excessive gift giving and lavish feasts are stripped away. All that’s left is Jesus. It’s amazing to see this mentality in the hearts of the missionary family’s children. Watching kids delight in and expect nothing more than simple, handmade gifts is a stark contrast to the scene in many American homes – mine included. You gotta love when you realize how much a seven year old can teach you about Christmas!
I’ve learned that our religious freedom to celebrate Christmas is something I’ve always taken for granted in the U.S. We’re living at a Christian retreat center who are spreading the gospel smack in the middle of nine Muslim villages. We literally live next door to a mosque! They are not happy about Christians being here and most of the missionaries who have come to serve in this community have not lasted longer than six months. It’s been awesome to come alongside our contacts, the Mathee family, to support them and to see the boldness of their faith.
We have one more week left here in Malawi before we move on to South Africa for our last four weeks on this continent. Next month is our Ask the Lord (ATL) month, which means that Adventures in Missions gives us a list of countries and asks us to pray about where we feel God calling our team. It is our responsibilty to find ministry contacts and lodging for the month. Our team has been called to Cape Town to work in two different ministries that I am very excited about – one called Living Hope, where we will work with a VBS/kids ministry and potentially do HIV & AIDS counseling; and one called Higher Ground, where we will be counselors at a summer camp for blind teens and adults. Please pray for us as we prepare for these ministries – and pray for our travel to South Africa. We will be leaving Malawi by bus on Jan. 2nd and catching a flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town on Jan. 3rd. As we learned from our first (84 hour) bus ride to Malawi, bus travel in Africa can be unpredictable, so please pray that things go smoothely at borders so that we arrive on time to make our flight!
Thank you to everyone who has supported me in prayer and financially to be able to go on the World Race – is has been the best present I could’ve received this year. I pray that you feel the magnitude of God’s love for you as you celebrate the birth of His son this season. Much love and happy New Year!
