Christmas in the Village & New Years at the Beach!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Unlike most of the towns in the United States there are very few decorations for Christmas in Rundu. There are not Christmas tree stands on every corner or Christmas lights on display. The only way you would know it is Christmas in Rundu is to go to the Shoprite grocery store to hear Christmas music over the intercom and the staff wearing Christmas hats or to catch a glimpse of a taxis with tinsel in the rear window. This Christmas was refreshing to not have to fight Christmas shopping crowds and really be able to reflect on the simple and real reason for Christmas.

Outside the hospital with the Gredanius family & Earnest and Kahilu

Our Christmas activities began on Christmas Eve with a visit to the hospital. We went to the Rundu State Hospital (where Julie volunteers in causality) along with Rob's family to hand out clothes, toys, and sweets to the children and their families that unfortunately spent Christmas in the hospital. We also had a chance to sing some Christmas carols! It was very nice to give the children gifts and help cheer them up. After that we went to Rob and Alissa's house for some snacks, including Christmas cookies, and to watch a Christmas movie.

Christmas came after a week of very hot weather and no rain, which during rainy season is uncommon. God gave us a very generous gift on Christmas morning...rain! We began imaging a new version of a Christmas song entitled 'I'm Dreaming of a Rainy Christmas.' The rain came very early in the morning and allowed the heat to subside for the day.

The angel bringing news to Mary & Joseph!

Christmas morning we went to Kaisosi Church for a drama of the Christmas story and singing. It was such a great morning. The stage for the drama was outside the church under a large tree. The drama was in the Lucazi language but we were able to pick up on the story and the humor that they worked into the story. There was a lot of very creative and talented people involved in the drama. It was so refreshing to see how Africans view the birth of Jesus. Some of the highlights of the drama were the angel that appeared to Mary under a white sheet, the star that the wisemen followed to Jesus actually moved across the stage with some help of string and people pulling the star between two trees, the very animated marching of the soldiers of King Herod, and the baby Jesus who was the youngest newborn baby in the village named Ricky.

 

Julie cooking over a fire for the Christmas meal!

After the drama we went to Maria's home and had a meal. Julie and the girls in our group cooked pasta, potato salad, and popcorn over the fire while us guys socialized sitting under a tree. (Africa is very traditional when it comes to cooking and household chores, I get varying looks from our neighbors when I hang the laundry without Julie!) The highlight for families in the village is a good meal for Christmas. The family we ate with even had a case of Coke and Fanta Orange, which is a nice and rare treat for many families. We were very welcomed and had a great time getting to know them a little better.

Rundu Beach for New Years!

For New Years, we decided to go to Rundu beach and celebrate the end of 2010 with the locals. The event was organized by the town council and had a number of local artist and dancers performing all night until sunrise. I invited my good friend Mashingo to go with us. Mashingo is a guy I have been getting to know very well over the past few months. I met him at the hospital through Laura. He has a dramatic story of how he ended up in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the waist down, after getting shot in the side. After that experience he has not lost hope and has turned his life over to God and is excited about learning about the Bible. Mashingo is a very inspirational guy and it is great to be building a friendship with him. It was great to be able to take him to the New Years event with us because so often here in Africa people with handicaps are forgotten about even if they are great people. It was also nice because Mashingo knew a majority of the performers from his childhood and we got to meet them. The night was filled with artists performing along with crazy talented backup dancers. The

Celebrating New Years with Mashingo!

dancers moved their feet in sync with one another at mach5 speeds and never seemed to wear out. We found everyone to be very friendly and glad we chose to come to the event. During the countdown they even had a couple fireworks to ring in the new year! All in all it was a lot of fun even if we were the only white people there and part of the few not drinking alcohol :)