Hot or Cold Christmas

Moving to the other side of the world, we often have to weigh the balance between keeping a connection with our home culture and traditions and giving those up to make new ones. Sometimes we have clung to traditions that we probably should have just let go of, other times we have found ways to recreate them with an island-twist or replace them in completely island-style.

Decorating for Christmas

But we are struck by how much of our home Christmas traditions are wrapped together with it being in winter. What would you do if you moved to a tropical island, where Christmas was at the hottest time of year?

Throughout this month, our kids have been making paper snowflakes and putting them up around the house. Snowflakes?! When it is so hot and humid that we are constantly sweating? In a place that never drops below freezing and where most people have never seen a snowflake? Maybe it is a little silly, but making paper snowflakes at least is an easy thing to do here (even if it doesn’t have much to do with the islands or the meaning of Christmas).

The islands don’t have any Christmas traditions because it isn’t usually celebrated here. But that’s not to say that the only people who celebrate Christmas are north of the equator! Our good Brazilian friends talk about associating Christmas with going to the beach and barbecuing outside! Perhaps we need to steal some new traditions from those hot Christmas places. Or we could do as some of our Australian friends have talked about and celebrate ‘Christmas in July’ too as a way to retain some cold-weather Christmas traditions. (Not that the islands get that much colder in July.)

We associate lychee season with Christmas!

There are definitely pros and cons to retaining our cold Christmas traditions. Most of the value comes from helping to connect us to home and stave off homesickness at a time of year when it easy for overseas workers to miss home. There is also the desire to see our children experience things that we loved growing up and therefore have a way of making the time special and meaningful and help them feel more connected to extended family.

What is the cost of retaining old traditions? The personal cost is that it usually takes a lot more time and effort to recreate home traditions here. Things easily bought in a store at home have to be made from scratch. Substitutes have to be found or created for things or ingredients unavailable. Even then, it may end up a disappointment as we can’t always recreate what it is like back home. But a bigger cost that we also have to weigh is the impact on islanders. Will those that want to celebrate Christmas feel that in order to do the holiday justice they have to find a Christmas tree and import various products?

When we talk to islanders about celebrating Christmas, we try to downplay the decorations up in our house. Instead, we try to focus on the Advent themes of hope, peace, joy and love— how we try to reflect on and remember these beautiful realities in the context of the story of our Savior’s birth and how they are lived out in our lives and communities.

Tom & friend on hike

If an islander comes to our house right now, they may notice a small decorated tree, or see our stockings made with island fabric, or watch the colored lights blinking, and they may hear Christmas music playing. But hopefully they will also read the signs with the words hope, peace, joy and love in the island language—it is our prayer that they would see those things in us and through our words and deeds.

I bring you glad tidings of great joy! We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our big holiday gathering had over 50 people. It was very encouraging to be together to sing, read and eat together. We were especially encouraged by the traditional island style that was included in the event (from dress, food to music). We are very thankful for our teammate who hosted the event at her house and helped coordinate lots of the arrangements. Megan was able to schedule an MRI in Kenya for when she drops our daughter off at school at the New Year. The boy that stole from us is back at our house again today.  

PRAYERS REQUESTED
One of our colleagues was diagnosed with a detaching retina and had to rush off island for surgery, leaving her husband and kids behind. Pray for a smooth surgery with no complications and a quick recovery and quick reunion with her family. Pray for this coming week— we have several smaller Christmas gatherings, including our annual English Club Christmas party. Pray that these gatherings would be full of truth and the hope, peace, joy and love of the season. May they lead to good questions and deeper conversations.  We hope to celebrate as a team/family on Sunday morning and would love for a break in the heat—so we pray for big rains that day and for power all day for fans (usually power is out half the day on Sundays). Our old teammate is supposed to be joining us from I1 for the holiday weekend but has been in pain— pray for her healing and that she can still make it!