Joyeux Noel! I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and blessed New Year! This was my first year being away from home during the holidays, so it was different in every way. I missed my family, but I was reminded of this verse:
"I the LORD do not change." -Malachi 3:6
No matter how many things around me had changed.....God did not. He remained the same. The true reason for celebrating will exist no matter where you are. The gift of His son is for each of us, black or white, rich or poor, man or woman, and there's no right or wrong way to celebrate that. Sadly, very few here even know what the meaning of Christmas is. Senegalese like to take every holiday known to man....no joke. You get used to stores and businesses being closed often. So did they pass up this Christian holiday? No way! It was another reason to take off work. I found it interesting to walk out of a store with my groceries and someone tell me, "Am bon fet" (have a good celebration). Occasionally, someone knew it was called Noel while others called it the party of the 25th. This opened up many opportunities to share the story.
Here's how my Christmas day went: I woke up early that morning and made pancakes while listening to Christmas music. I was very thankful for a family whom I have known for several years that adopted me for the day. After church, I returned to their house where I was given a tasty home cooked meal, a movie night, and lots of laughs. It was lovely! An added highlight to the day was getting to skype with my family and do a video call. It was the first time I had seen my mom's face since I've moved here. Gotta love technology.
This Christmas may not have been filled with brightly lit streets, decorations, ice skating, Christmas trees, and bustling malls (some of which I missed, but some of which was nice to not be consumed by the busyness). But here is a glimpse of a few ways that we got into the Christmas spirit.
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| Christmas caroling through the villages. It's just like a sleigh ride right? Minus the snow |
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| Lights in downtown Dakar. Very impressive!! |
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| Gifts sent from my family |
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| Who wouldn't love going to the beach on Christmas day? Don't even have to take a jacket! |
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| New year's eve. Yes, it was freezinggg!! Okay, maybe it was only in the 70's, but our African blood isn't used to that |
No matter how many things around me had changed.....God did not. He remained the same. The true reason for celebrating will exist no matter where you are. The gift of His son is for each of us, black or white, rich or poor, man or woman, and there's no right or wrong way to celebrate that. Sadly, very few here even know what the meaning of Christmas is. Senegalese like to take every holiday known to man....no joke. You get used to stores and businesses being closed often. So did they pass up this Christian holiday? No way! It was another reason to take off work. I found it interesting to walk out of a store with my groceries and someone tell me, "Am bon fet" (have a good celebration). Occasionally, someone knew it was called Noel while others called it the party of the 25th. This opened up many opportunities to share the story. 
:)
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