I know this is really late now, but good internet and enough time on it is hard to find. So here’s how I spent my Christmas in Malawi, better late than never I suppose! I’m celebrating Christmas in Malawi this year. Last Christmas I couldn’t have told you where Malawi was on a map. My teammates and I have been attempting to make it feel like a normal Christmas as much as possible, watching Christmas movies, singing Christmas carols and doing a variety of Christmas activities to try to remember what month it is. To our amazement, we even found a 3-foot Christmas tree and made ornaments and dragged the tree around with us as we have traveled around Malawi. We even made stockings for everyone, including our hosts, out of red material we bought from a seamstress in town. I know that next year, while I’m probably at a Christmas party, I will remember that a year ago I walked through a village in Africa and dozens of small, dirt-covered children in torn clothes followed me around, curious but cautious about the “Azungus”. I’ll remember having them mimic me chanting our favorite song, “Up Up Jesus, Down Down Devil” in both Chichewa and English. I’ll remember them asking me if I was coming back the next day and then jumping up and down cheering when I said yes. Next year while I’m shopping I’ll remember when I preached the Gospel in a small African village to dozens of people and then watching as many of them raised their hands to receive Christ into their hearts. Next year while I’m making Christmas cookies, I’ll remember our amazing God-filled contacts Harvey and Isaac who were so willing to do God’s work, and yet, couldn’t afford a jar of Nutella for their families as the only gift they would have for Christmas. This year, instead of running around shopping and stressing out about getting the perfect gifts for everyone, I was able to focus on the real reason for the holiday and why God has brought me here. It helped me remember that Christmas is not about the lights and the traditions and the food and the tree and about getting presents–it’s about the most important gift of all, the tiny gift that came in a manager 2,000 years ago. The gift that fills me with hope and love and has called me to give up my normal Christmas this year to spread it to his beautiful people on the other side of the world. 　
It’s Christmas Eve, and I’m sitting in the living room of our host’s house listening to the thunderstorm start to roll in. Being from Florida, the thunderstorm is the only familiar thing this Christmas. This Christmas is unlike any I have ever experienced. There are no lights on the house, no decorations, no presents, no parties, and no eggnog. There are no family gatherings, no Christmas Eve services, no giant feasts planned, and no Christmas cookies. In fact, we’ll be lucky if the power just stays on tonight. There’s really no sense of the Christmas I’ve celebrated the previous 25 years.
But even though it wasn’t the Christmas in the normal sense that Christmas is for me, I know it’s one that I will always remember. I will always remember the Christmas that I had while I was on the race: in the middle of beautiful Malawi, celebrating Christmas with sweet Pastor Gama and his equally sweet wife, Rosie and their family. I will remember the wonderful month my team had, traveling around the country helping local pastors start new churches in the outlying villages through Havesters International.
This year instead of the normal American Christmas I’m accustomed to, I celebrated by watching the Nativity Story on my laptop with my team and our pastor, and noted the similarities between where we were and where Mary and Joseph were. Instead of a Christmas Eve service where everyone dressed fancily for the occasion, I wore my pajamas to the living room where we all sang Christmas songs, read Luke 2 and had communion with orange juice and a slice of bread. Instead of opening presents on Christmas morning, I danced and worshipped in a language I didn’t understand with a bunch of Malawian kids for several hours.
