This is our 4th Christmas in North America after having spent half of our life (and Christmases) in PNG.) And I still miss our PNG Christmases! Perhaps if you’ve never lived overseas and not had any of the trappings we’ve grown used to, you may not realize how close you can get to your coworkers and how much fun we can have!
There were no great stores to shop in, no traveling to be done, rarely any Christmas plays or programs or practices, etc. We just had each other. In the Sepik town where we lived there were usually 3 or 4 missionary families nearby at the orientation center.
After only one or two years there, we realized that it’s just TOO HOT for a big Christmas dinner at noon. So we began eating our dinner on Christmas Eve and then had leftovers on Christmas day. That left plenty of time for going to the river (when the boys were small–it’s a pretty shallow river) or walking to the lake or playing volleyball or coming up with numerous other fun games.
We always had fun. No snowboarding of course, but no snow to shovel or drive through either!! We never had a lot of presents and I know the boys missed those some years, but I think we all agree we still had a lot of fun.
But we’re happy we can see our families now. What a blessing that is. At any rate, it’s about HIM anyway, isn’t it?
Please pray for the many people around the world who don’t know Him yet. And pray for these missionaries in training wanting to go and spread the good news!
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