What does Christmas look like for missionaries in Taiwan? Although Christmas is a busy time of year for churches everywhere, it is especially so for us in Taiwan. Here Christmas provides us with unique opportunities to evangelize our community and offers local Christians a chance to celebrate Christ’s birth in the midst of a culture in which Christmas is not an observed or recognized holiday. We thought you might find it interesting to consider what is spread on our Christmas platter this year. Actually, these activities began at the beginning of December, and please don’t hold me to the exact numbers in every case, but you get the idea!
On the Twelve Days of Christmas there were . . .
- 12 Classes in 2 different public elementary schools in which to teach the Christmas story,
- 11 Sermons (or Bible School classes) to prepare (for regular and special church events),
- 10 Days of Homeschool Classes to supervise (Marla) and complete (Beth) in the midst of all the other activities (actually its more like 20 days of classes in December!),
- 9 Personal Conferences for planning, organizing, counselling, discipling, etc. (in reality who could count them all),
- 8 Nations containing 100+ churches, friends, or family members to whom to write personal Christmas cards and greetings,
- 7 Choir Practices (or program practices) to attend,
- 6 Floors and 3 Christmas trees to decorate in our church and home,
- 5 Family Members, 2 of which are on the opposite side of the globe, for whom to buy, wrap, and send Christmas gifts,
- 4 Christmas Fellowships, Parties, or Pot-luck Meals to plan for, prepare for, and/or participate in (lots of baking, gifts to exchange, and cleaning up),
- 3 Days of Christmas Celebrations (Saturday- Christmas Eve church program; Sunday- Christmas worship service and activities continuing through the evening; Monday- our own home celebration with family and friends),
- 2 Cultures to balance, each practicing differing Christmas customs and traditions,
- 1 Savior who is the reason for it all and who makes all the activities worthwhile and meaningful.
In the midst of it all we wish to say, from our family to yours: