Put Christ in Christmas

Feliz Navidad! The Spanish greeting for Christmas means "Happy Day of the Birth". When we’re in Ecuador, we hear and see "Feliz Navidad" everywhere during December. Does that mean that the people know Christ and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas? In the holiday season, we often see intoxicated men staggering down the street or lying senseless on the side of the road. Family violence increases. Daily, people march in Christmas parades that claim to honor Christ. Someone in the procession will carry an image of the Christ Child while others carry flowers or bottles of whisky. The image of the child is followed by a witch doctor and a man in a costume representing a spirit of the mountains. Although they cheerfully greet each other with "Feliz Navidad", is Christ in their Christmas?

In my home country, many Christians are concerned that Christ is being taken out of Christmas. I personally know Jesus Christ, and no one can take Christ out of my Christmas. As we have seen in Ecuador, if someone does not know Jesus, then saying "Feliz Navidad" or "Merry Christmas" will not make Christ a part of his holiday. The only way that a person can celebrate the true meaning of Christmas is to know Christ and what He did on the cross. If we as believers want others to truly celebrate Christmas, then we have to introduce them to Jesus. When they understand why He came to earth and experience His love and forgiveness, they will have Christ in their Christmas! Instead of being offended when someone fails to wish us a Merry Christmas, let's tell them about Jesus and give them a reason to say it from the heart.

How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed?

And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard?

And how shall they hear without a preacher?

Romans 10:14(NASB)

Welcome Home?

“Going home” implies the return to a safe, familiar place. I don’t know where home is in this country. I have spent 23 out of the past 27 years outside the US. When I return after 3-4 years, nothing has stayed the same. People move, marry, grow up, get old, change. Places change. I change. I no longer understand cultural cues. I think differently. When I greet someone, I don’t know whether to kiss, hug, shake hands, or just smile from a distance. I am not like the people in this country.

Where is home? Maybe when I accepted the call to be a missionary, I gave up the right to feel at home in my birth country. As I write this, I’m sitting in a comfortable church as the praise team leads songs in English. My mind wanders to a small group of believers in Riobamba, Ecuador. Right now, they are praising God in Spanish. I want to be there. They are the people with whom I share, pray, laugh, play and cry. When we return to Ecuador in 6 months, I will feel more at home than I feel at this moment.

If you have an opportunity to greet a missionary as she returns to the US, please do not say “Welcome home!”.

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Phil. 3:20