“Give me an African Christmas, peace & love throughout the land. We need an African Christmas, standing together hand in hand…Let this be the Christmas, let this be the year!”
I bought this CD last week while visiting Kruger Park in South Africa. It says “favorite Christmas songs to an African beat.” And it is a great CD for The Barnes’ 2011 African Christmas!
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration in Hluhlwe, South Africa amongst the animals, wonderful friends and the stunning scenery. And this past weekend we were so fortunate to visit Kruger Park for the first time. This is the largest game park in South Africa. We saw rhino, buffalo, elephants, a lion, hippos, tons of birds, impala, kudu, other buck and so much more. We were with good friends, fellow Global Ministries missionaries, Scott Couper & Susan Valiquette and their friends, along with Scott’s sisters family and kids. There were 12 of us all together and we made loads of great memories together.
We have spent the week before Christmas here in Mozambique and the holidays seem to be in full swing. People are off work, the beaches and roads are busy & crowded, kids laughter and energy are felt everywhere, the weather is hot & steamy, AND there is little gas for cooking, gas for vehicles, food on the shelves disappear quickly and the internet even slows down! The church offices are closed as well. We hosted a lunch at our house last week to celebrate the season and to say thank you to the church leaders. We made the local fare for lunch – flat chickens, woers, and fish on the braai. The offices will only open again mid-January! Holidays are really holidays here in Africa!
We head for Durban, South Africa to celebrate Christmas and ring in 2012. We will again be with Scott and Susan and are thankful that we have “family” on this side of the sea to celebrate together. We have and will miss our families this year as the holidays come and go. This will be my family’s first year without my grandmother, so it will mean creating new traditions and memories and I will certainly miss being a part of that. We will miss our 2 nephews and niece on Christmas Day, eating our favorite Christmas meals & sweets, seeing the magnificient lights & decorations, and worshipping in our home church. But this time last year, we were so fortunate to be there and experience all of these things together. And now….we have our African Christmas!
We have so much to be thankful for this year….my mother is 1 year cancer free, we have transitioned fairly smoothly into a new home & new work, we all have good health, our kids excelled in school and are happy, we have food in our cupboards, our families are well & happy, we have a car to take us where we need to go, and we have hope, love, joy and peace in our lives! However, when I look around on the street where we live I see hunger, poverty, pain, hurt, sadness and then I hear the words of this song…”we all need an African Christmas…. peace & love throughout the land…standing together hand in hand.” Then as I walk down the street…I think how can I stand hand in hand with my African brothers and sisters this season and in 2012. Justice, prayer, empowerment, education, love, hope, healing and the list just goes on in my head. I sometime can’t help but cry when I return from my walks…sometimes the burden is just too much and other times I return laughing filled with joy from a child’s smile I have encountered or a pleasant exchange with a neighbor. Walking hand in hand means walking through the good and the bad times, through the tears and with the smiles. And it means all the year through…not just at Christmas time, nor just in Africa, but around the world.
My hope is that the season of Christmas…the season of hope, love, joy and peace, the season of giving & helping our fellow brothers & sisters…that this season will last all year. “Let this be the Christmas…let this be the year!
From our African Christmas to yours…….Happy, Happy Holidays and Cheers to 2012!!
