The time had come – hot season was at its peak, oppressive clouds in the sky teased with the coming rainy season, everything was covered in several layers of dust, the mangoes were growing ripe on the trees – yes! Definitely time to decorate for Christmas!
Celebrating Christmas in tropical, rural Africa means a lot of things, but it certainly does not mean snow and roasting chestnuts and sleigh rides and large family gatherings.
Christmas in Africa means 95-degree weather. It means having a custom-made, wooden Christmas tree (that most people mistake for a clothes rack) rather than the real deal. It means being one of two houses in the 7,000 people village to put up any kind of decorations (the other one being our co-workers’ house). It means not waiting for snow but waiting for rainy season, that brings with it not only torrential rain and welcomed cooler weather but also scores of mosquitoes. It means our 3-year old decorating the Christmas tree without any clothes on, because, when you’re three and it’s super hot, why not?!? It means hiding all the Christmas presents in the bedroom instead of putting them under the Christmas tree because you don’t want your neighbors, who could never, ever afford giving each other presents like that, to see the bounty of it all. It means literally planning Christmas presents 6 months in advance and begging anyone flying this way from the West to stuff a couple of presents in their suitcase. It means homemade and often-a-bit-lumpy eggnog. It means watching Christmas movies on the projector with the occasional power outages. It means the closest toy store is a 5-hour drive away (and they certainly don’t have overnight delivery). It means getting really strange looks from Tanzanians who come into our home and see our few Christmas decorations – looks that say “What in the world is that for? Why do you hang weird looking little animals onto your wooden clothes rack and light the whole thing up?”
It also means the boys spending hours making homemade gifts for us and each other. It means finding freedom from the commercialism and materialism of Christmas that so plagues the West. It means sweet family time and making our own traditions, like baking Linzer Tarts, eating Knödel on Christmas Eve, and counting down the days with our DecemBear advent calendar. It means being away from the busyness of the holidays that so many Westerners complain about. It means being able to bless our neighbors and share a bit of Christmas joy with them by bringing gifts of food and clothes and toothbrushes. It means being able to focus more on the WHY of Christmas instead of the HOW.
Christmas on the mission field definitely has its challenges. Our kids miss their extended families. And snow. And eating copious amounts of sugar cookies at Nana’s house. And sleeping under Papa’s 14-foot Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. But we have learned to cherish the holidays across the world. To be thankful for what we have and to celebrate in a quieter, but more meaningful way. Together. And we hope and pray that one day, Lord willing, our neighbors can understand the true meaning of Christmas and celebrate with us, as family.
Merry Christmas from the Anyans!
God bless the Anyan family and all they do, thank you and the kiddos for your sacrifices 🙏 ❤️. Love you and Merry 🎄 (tell Judah It would make a awesome Christmas story, the wooden Christmas tree 🎄 by Judah Anyan)
Merry Christmas.