Seeking Christ at Christmas

     I cannot believe it is already time for Christmas! This is true… 1) Probably because it is summer here and so very hot 2) I don’t have a TV here to show me through all the commercials what I need to buy this year 3) there is no Black Friday shopping day or any stores with sales for that matter 4) and Wal-Mart does not exist to sell decorations, lights, trees, etc. It is actually a very weird, uncomfortable feeling as I have never been away from home for Christmas before. To be truly honest, it has given me this feeling of loneliness and isolation. Growing up in America where every holiday has candy, decorating materials, and all you could ever need and more to celebrate at least a month before the actual holiday, I find myself in the most unusual, but somehow enlightening situation. I realize that in America there are many people who have started to say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas, and there needs to be a constant reminder that Jesus is the reason for the season when we start to buy too much or are unsatisfied with what we have bought or been given, but even with these issues everyone still knows it is Christmas. Unlike ever before in my life, I have had to genuinely seek Christ at Christmas. I know that sounds crazy, but it is so true.

In my seeking however, like my entire life, Christ was just waiting to be found. Just as Jeremiah in chapter 29 says, ^“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” I just had to call upon the Lord…which always makes me think about all the times I don’t or haven’t! I usually go straight to the Gospels to read about the coming and birth of Jesus, but I somehow got stuck in the book of Romans…the Lord loves to instruct his children. There are so many verses that spoke so much life even though I had read them a hundred times before. I guess I will start with Romans 8:1-4, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Seriously, just read it one more time. God sent his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh for sin that we might not have to walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. I don’t know about you, but I find so much hope in this verse and therefore in Christ. But I think that is how Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the Wise men, etc. must have felt as well. A savior was to be born to set his people free from the strongholds of not only the world and unjust rulers they thought, but of sin and flesh. Then again Paul writes in Romans 5:17, “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!” Christ’s birth meant and still means everything. Without his life we wouldn’t have our life that is full of grace, freedom, and righteousness instead of condemnation, bondage, and fear. We have so much to rejoice in for “Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:2) To stand in God’s grace only through the man of Jesus brings great peace, and therefore hope. I have always loved the hymn Before the Throne of God Above, but still every time I hear or read it I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the love of God in sending his son to the earth for our sin. Because of Christ we are accepted before the throne of God as pure and forgiven children of God whose names are graven on his hands that Satan will never be able to erase.

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea.
A great high Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart.
I know that while in heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.

I hope your Christmas is filled with joy, celebration, and giving, just as God gave his son for each of us! I know things are never perfect in our lives, life in general is never easy or fair for that matter, and Christmas can be an especially hard time for some, but just knowing that we have a loving God on our side that sent his son for our pardon and freedom is the most comforting and revolutionary fact we can know and believe. I love you all and miss you heaps! Merry Christmas!!! Katie J

Rice, Cabbage, and Goat Party

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Home of future library :)

Our newborn lamb :)

Mama who sweetly helped me cook for the party!



White rice, cabbage, and pilau(rice with spices and meat) for the 100 students

My Form 1 boys toasting their sodas

My lazy but sweet Form 1 Girls



Form 2 and 3 enjoying the party!





Most of my Form 1 Boys showing off for the camera

 


Some Form 2 girls who helped cook by fetching water and firewood

 

Okay…so I am finally writing! Like I said quickly in the last post, most of the photos are from our end of the year party at school. Usually with end of the year parties, like in my 5^th grade class in America, there is pizza, ice cream, and maybe a movie or something entertaining. Well…our party definitely had none of those things at all, but we did have lots of soda, rice, cabbage, and goat meat! Enticing, I know! I have actually ate quite a bit of sheep and goat meat this year…I think I am getting used to it. Sometimes though they take the tail of the sheep, which is just chunks of fat, and parts of the liver and other insides and mix it with the meat. You have to be very careful! However, it was such a treat for the students because if we ever have events, such a graduation, they usually have to pay if they want to eat and they especially have to pay to get into the dance party afterwards that always follows. This in turn leads to some students not coming at all or working extremely hard to set up for the event, serve food to the adults, and then clean up afterwards with no food and begging through the doors and windows of the classrooms where it is being served. I hate it…I always want to sneak food to them, but the other teachers of course are always watching me. Anyway, so for one day all they had to do was bring a bowl and eat. I did have a few of the girls help me fetch water and firewood to cook, but I gave them extra food. They are so smart though anyway, because they took the sweet potatoes that Jacob and I thought we needed for the pilau (rice with spices, potatoes, and meat) and cut them and fried them for themselves. The whole day was crazy though, because I had to give both my final exams in the morning and then cook in the afternoon. This meant that Jacob had to do a lot of the preparation, which I felt bad about as many things did not go as planned…such as the potato situation. One mama told us we needed sweet potatoes for the pilau, but that mama failed to show up to cook of course. Therefore, while I was giving my tests, Jacob found two different mamas that were willing to help, which was desperately needed. However, the two new mamas said we needed regular potatoes instead. Jacob had to walk 45 minutes home and 45 minutes back to get the regular potatoes from the house. I felt horrible…but not too bad because the mamas kept yelling at me to cut the cabbage much smaller. I told them I needed practice as my mama did not teach me to cut cabbage that way. They just laughed and shook their head. There really is much more I could say about the party and everything that went wrong and right, but in the end, the students were so appreciative and after demanding so much from them in the classroom, it felt great to give them a little something back. Therefore, again I really just want you to know that all the food, drinks, transport for the food and drinks, and paying for the mamas to help me cook for the 100 students came from you...so thank you very much! The students were so excited and grateful and I told them all it came from you alone!

I have also bought lots of books for the library that I am really excited about. The students don't know about them yet, but I cannot wait until we build the shelves and finish the room so they can use them! I am going to take a picture of them all when I get back to my house in Kongoto so you can see them, but they are going to be such a help to both the students and the teachers. I also bought a globe, Pakoima the Geography teacher really wanted one and I couldn’t tell him no. My dream is that the students will go in the library and read when they have time and even be able to check out books like in America. The students always ask me to make copies of books they have borrowed from the teachers, so I am excited for them to be able to learn as much as they desire and read to their hearts’ content.

Lusanda and her new little girl!

Grown Aya and me at Ithemba

Lastly, I am not sure if many of you remember Lusanda, or Mama Aya, from South Africa when I lived there and worked at Ithemba, but I got a chance to travel to South Africa and check up on her, some of the other ladies I worked with, and of course all the children who are still there. I cannot tell you what a blessing it was to reunite with her and her son Aya. I felt like it had been forever, but just yesterday all at the same time. The situation with her husband who gave her HIV is the same, not good at all, but she has a new baby girl who is so precious and Aya has gotten so big and handsome. Lusanda is doing really well herself as she has been able to gain weight and stay healthy. I had a KFC party, yes Kentucky Fried Chicken, with all the mamas while we watched a movie and caught up on the last four years since I have been there. We laughed so much about the past, they told me how much Ithemba has grown, about the new orphanage next door, and of course made plans for me for when I would return. I love them so much. I also bought Aya some new shoes, diapers for the new little girl, and gave Lusanda some money for food or whatever she needed. It was truly a blessing to see them, but it is always rough when there is limited time and you have to say goodbye again not knowing exactly when you will see them again. If I could just put everyone I love in one place my life would be so much easier, but I guess as everyone says, you have to experience loss or sadness to understand and be thankful for gain and joy. It is just not easy, you know?

As usual, I miss you and love you more than you know. Your emails are such a blessing, and again I couldn’t do any of this without you. Thank you for giving to me so I am able to give to others. Katie :)