Christmas without snow or cold?
Nah….well, maybe….yes, it’s possible. It was definitely a first
for me since I’ve lived in NW Iowa my whole life. Despite the exact
opposite climate here in South Africa, Christmas still happened…and
it ranks among some of the best holidays I’ve ever experienced.
What
made it so great? God.
Let me explain.
The candlelight service on Christmas
Eve took place at the local church in Backdoor (“up on the
mountain,” as our missionary contact Tiesa would say). Unlike the
large Sunday crowd that fills the tent, some spots on the wo
oden
benches remained empty. At the beginning, my team was asked to come
to the front and sing with them, which we hadn’t expected; however,
we were happy to oblige. The sound of upbeat, reggae-style music then
filled the air as rich, exuberant voices praised the Lord. Dust
particles were thrown upwards as the dancing feet of these joyful
African people trampled them. Their joyfullness was contagious, and
we soon joined them in their dancing. It was amazing. After worship,
Pastor Surprise gave a message about the angels that had visited the
shepherds to inform them of Christ Jesus’ birth. In this message, he
prophesied that each and every one of us would encounter angels on
the road. Little did we know how quickly this would come about…
On Christmas day, we had a mini service
among those of us who are cu
rrently living at Micheal’s Children’s
Village and gave the kids the presents about which they had been so
eager to receive as to start peeking in the house while we put them
together. (You know how such things go with kids, for I’m sure many
of us are guilty of having done likewise.) It was so great to see
their excited faces when they opened their gifts.
After a Christmas feast (complete with
turkey, stuffing, and gravy) with Frank & Cindy, who live at the
baby house next to the guest house where we’re currently staying, we
embarked upon our journey to Durban for holiday. Due to unavoidable
delays, we got on the road later than expected, which meant driving
in the dark. In Africa, especially, it’s dangerous to drive at night.
As we stopped at McDonald’s for supper, some of us started talking to
an Afrikaans man there with his family to ask which route to Durban
is faster. He told us the name of the road, but then he expressed his
concern about us driving so far at night. He said that he wouldn’t
even let his daughter drive at night because of the potholes, roaming
cattle, and black people who become invisible at night. When we were
about to leave, he offered to give us a place to sleep in their
guesthouse.
We
told him that we were going to try driving to Durban, because his
offer sounded a bit dodgy, and we would let him know what our plans
were after taking that road for 30 minutes.
Once
we turned onto that road, lightning started flashing all around us.
Then large drops of water poured down from the stormy sky that also
produced thunder. Soon, those raindrops were infiltrated with hail.
Blinking construction signs appeared in front of us telling us to
‘Stop!’ then. After this, Garrett remembered what Pastor Surprise had
said about meeting angels on the road. Once he said that, we
realized that the stranger we’d met could be our angel. With
everything that was happening, it seemed like it would be best if we
took him up on his offer and stayed at his house. So we called him up and ended up staying at his house.
that family. Because we spent the night, that whole family squished
into one little room so we would have a place to stay. They were so hospitable to us, even though they knew very little about us.
in a backpacker’s hostel on the beach. Most of our time there was spent
either on the beach or at a mall. It was a relaxing holiday. On our way
back to Nelspruit, we ended up stopping for a night in Swazi to be with
our friends there, which was one of the best parts.
Sounds like you had a wonderful Christmas, dancing, sun, beach, wow, what blessings! Hey, Becca, we’d like to talk to you on Skype soon. You missed the 26 inches of snow that we had over Christmas!
ssswwwweeeettttness! Love to hear of your travels and where God is taking you! Hopefully you’ll come back with a little less white person dance too! haha Love ya and Merry Christmas, onto 2010!
Glad to hear you had a good Christmas Rebecca. I hope you guys are readjusting back at the Betor House by this point. I’m praying for you guys and missing you lots. Give everyone a hug for me!
I love the new pic of you!! I am so jealous of you as well… those kids are all so adorable! I’m glad you got to have a great Christmas, ours wasn’t so normal as well, we missed you (and still do) finish strong sis!