This year's Christmas

This year we had some pre-Christmas celebration with our house girl Sogona, and her family celebrating one of their major holidays, Tabaski. (which is actually their New Year – based on the lunar calendar) We left our house that morning and walked to Sogona’s house on the other side of town, in which we passed the big mosque where dozens of men, women, and children were gathering to begin the celebration with prayers. We could already hear the call and someone ‘preaching’ from across town on the loud speakers.

Normally we would pass through the courtyard of the big mosque to get to Sogona’s house, but because of the crowd gathering there we didn’t want to walk through and interrupt them so instead we decided to go pass it and around a back road. In doing so we passed several people on their way to the mosque, and so the greetings and blessings began. We even passed by a griot (a historian/musician) who went through the specific greeting for this special occasion. Some even do a song and dance, but mainly they give many blessings for the New Year, something like may God show us many more years, may this year be better than the last one. Blessings for good health, blessings for husband, wife, children, and if you don’t have one, they will bless that you do in the years to come. And then there’s the asking for forgiveness, from God, and from each other, in which the correct response is something like you’re forgiven, or all is forgiven.

In this culture they believe each new year is a chance to start over, with a clean slate. On this particular holiday the families sacrifice a sheep so the wrong doings of every member of the household will be forgiven, at least that’s how’s it explained to us by our more religious family. It’s sad as we’ve explained to some of them how there’s no need to keep making a sacrifice year after year, because God – through Jesus – has already made a perfect and final sacrifice to forgive all our wrong doings. Yet no matter how much we’ve explained it or show in scriptures it’s still hard for them to understand. Then on the other hand with our less religious friends, talking about a sacrifice for the forgiveness of our wrong doings, really doesn’t make sense to them since they don’t even see the killing of the sheep as a sacrifice but just part of the culture, something they’ve just done in the years before so they do it this year not really knowing why.

Oh I lift up our people in the Mande area, from the least religious to the strictest of them all, that they will one day have a real reason to celebrate – because they’ve realized and accepted that through Jesus all their past, present, and future wrong doings have been forgiven, once and for all.

Being away from friends and family during Christmas (this year would be the 2^nd time) is usually the time I’ve missed them the most. I’ve always loved having so many people around to celebrate with. But what I’ve learned from being away is I too have gotten caught up with just the celebrating and the parties, instead of WHY we’re celebrating at all. As great as it is to be around my friends and family, in a sense it’s been good to be away since it has reminded me to focus more on the WHY. If not for Jesus coming to earth, there would be no reason to celebrate at all, no matter where we are or who we’re with, and that would just be tragic. He is after all the giver of Joy, and how can we truly celebrate anything without true Joy.

I PRAY YOU ALL HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR!!!

While at Sogona’s waiting for the meat to be cut, and the rest of the meal prepared we got our hand and feet painted – or more like dyed. And this time instead of going for the plain black all over we went for a more decorative look.