Christmas

I’ve been thinking about coziness lately. For me the feeling of coziness, that feeling of being safe and warm, away from the cold, has always been associated with Christmas. I know it’s a little superficial since Jesus’ birth happened in a fairly hot climate and most historians claim that he was probably born some time in the summer. Still, coziness and Christmas have always waltzed hand-in-hand across my subconscious.

(The Advent Wreath that Chris and I made with a coat hangar and tinsel)

That’s why this really doesn’t feel like Christmas, because when there is no cold to come in from, you can’t really get cozy. Instead of “chestnuts on a roasting fire” you have “fresh pineapple on the beach” (which honestly isn’t a bad trade-off). Despite this more then subtle difference in my usually seasonal routines, the holidays haven’t been without their surprises and delights. Removed from the majority of the Christmas kitsch that can swarm around the last week of December, I was approached unexpected by a string of beautiful experiences.

The Waines aren’t exactly your traditional family, but they have one tradition that is worth keeping. On the 23rd four missionary families and us four volunteers converged for a “St. Nicholas Party.” After some team games to work up the appetite we tucked into one hearty potluck. Turkey legs, pumpkin, bean salad, sweet potatoes, gravy, pumpkin pie(!), and shortbread filled our stomachs seasonally. Next followed the main event.

Everyone had drawn someone’s name about a week ago by random (sort-of). The task was to make a hand-made gift (no buying!) and present it along with a poem or song. I was blown away by the creativity of the people in that group. Everyone was rolling on the floor in laughter when fellow volunteer Chris, who has size 15 feet, was presented with a board game entitled “Bigfoot Finds A Wife”, complete with tips from Jane Austen and tasks like “practice your dance moves.” Some gifts appealed to the appetite (a cookie the size of a pizza) and others played to an inside joke or character trait of the receiver (Like a multi-shot spit-ball gun for a 10 year old). With all the songs and skits and presentations and gifts it was a full night of sharing God’s joy with one another. It was beautiful.

(Matthew covered in Christmas lights)

Christmas Eve was a seriously low-key affair. A big game of risk, a large puzzle, a refreshing swim in the ocean, and snacking on leftovers from the day before. After dinner we all piled into the Land Cruiser and bounced and swerved our way over to some good friends of the Waines, where we had a campfire complete with hotdogs and marshmallows. Singing carols around a fire under the stars with a marshmallow in one hand and a cup of mango juice in the other ain’t a bad way to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Christmas morning started with a hearty “ho-ho-ho” and Dave dressed as Santa (sort of). We all started our search for our “hobo-sacks”, evidently the Waines’ equivelent of stockings, which were hidden throughout the house. Here’s mine. It was yellow!
Another day of just relaxing around the house, playing Risk, and surfing. The evening involved some candle-light reading of “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” and then presents. I got a box of “Swiss Miss” Brand Hot Chocolate. The day was seasoned throughout with a good dose of carols and yummy food.

Boxing Day saw us all piling into the Land Cruiser and heading off to Bomi Lake. It is now on my list of most beautiful places I have ever been. It was a huge quarry-mine-pit excavation that has now filled in with rainwater like a giant puddle. The water is crystal clear and so refreshing. There are no people there except for a small bottling plant and some UN buildings. I scaled a nearby peak to get you this photo.

(Click for a larger version)

Some of us climbed up the dried-up waterfall across the lake. When we got to the top we stumbled into a totally new world, one that looked like it was straight out of a Dr. Suess book. There was this whole valley of soft clay so everywhere you stepped it was really bouncy. It was formed into shapes and peaks. It was gorgeous.

Altogether a completely different but still beautiful Christmas.

Content

I spent this morning setting up fake medical emergencies. It was a riot. We needed to take some good shots of our people in action, especially relating to the medical side of the work, for some publications. We got a team together and headed out to the nearby clinic. We gave fake injections and set up drip IV's for fake patients, and bandaged totally healthy people, and made a stretcher in a minute and put a girl inside and ran around...all the while taking photos. The result was better then I expected. See below.
The funny thing is whenever we got someone to pretend to be the victim, they always started smiling and laughing, instead of displaying the face of pain that someone who had just broken their legs might have. Liberians have so much joy!

Speaking of joy, I had a distinct lack of it earlier this afternoon. I had finished the photo shoot and didn't really have anything left to do for the rest of the day so I just drifted around the office, bored. I was feeling really discouraged and restless. I wanted to get out of Ganta, get out of the country, not talk to another Liberian for a while. I wanted a nice hot shower in a world where things run on a reasonable schedule. I read my bible a bit and then decided that I was going to lie down on my bed and pout at God until he talked to me.

He did. The minute I lay down I felt him tell me to just get up and go outside. I wrestled with my soul for a few minutes and then summoned the willpower to get off the bed and out the door.

I went at sat down on the porch railing that oversees the back area of the property. There is a little cookhouse there where a number of mothers always prepare food for their families, and there are always children running around. I just sat there for a few minutes watching the kids, and felt my frustration slowly dissipate, the way it always does when I stop thinking about myself and just start enjoying the life that God's given me.

I started talking with some of the women and joked around with this one kid, Sam, who has the chubbiest belly and the healthiest smile. I borrowed one of their small pots and heated up a can of Campbell's Cream of Potato Soup on their little coal fire. I felt so content, so satisfied with where I was, surrounded by the most beautiful children, at home in this foreign land, with ducks and chickens scrambling all over the place.

My terrible smile and Sam.

A Brief Hiatus

Hey, sorry I haven't written in a while. I've been laying low the last couple of days, with some good old diarrhea, dizzyness, and headaches. Took some anti-malaria medication stuff to be on the safe side and I'm feeling just fantastic now.

Dave and Audry's three younger kids came home on Friday from boarding school in Senegal. Most of the kids there are originally from England, so they came home with these hilarious British accents. Life is better with kids around.

I'll probably be heading back up to Ganta in a day or two for another Equip staff meeting, and then things will start to close down for the holidays. Christmas here is both surreal and tacky. While you are all skiing I'll be surfing!

My Liberian Appetite

Have you ever had a massive plate of delicious food in front of you, but somehow your just not hungry? Nothing on the plate grabs you. The smell invites no deep desires from within and the taste fails to inspire. You nibble around the edges, pick out the most interesting looking bits of food, and push the rest around with your fork. You make patterns in the mashed potatoes with your fork and to be honest, this whole eating thing bores you.

For the last few years, that has been how I’ve felt when I approached the Bible. I knew it was delicious and wholesome and good for me, etc…but it never really gripped me. I’d idle from book to book, reading a chapter of Matthew, then picking at a psalm lazily, while swishing around a slurp of Leviticus with complete disinterest. I found it all kind of dull. It didn’t grab me.
Since I’ve been here my spiritual metabolism has taken a quantam shift. I quite simply can’t get enough of the Bible. I’m serious. Lately I’ve been approaching it like I approach one of my Mom’s steaks. I’ve been taking big bites of it, and I usually forget to chew. Everything seems to leap out somehow. There always seems to be a verse that speaks directly to me, a verse that must have been written with just this moment in my life in mind. The miraculous thing about the Bible is that it has something to say about every part of your life! The repercussions of believing that are just starting to hit me.

I’ve actually managed to misplace my Bible somewhere. It’s driving me crazy. I’m starving! (Don’t worry, its only spiritual. I get fed well.) I stumble around the house searching for it like a lost man stumbling around the desert looking for water.

I’d like to invite you on this journey of mine. Next time you grab your Bible, come to it with a spirit of expectancy. Take faith in the fact that there is something in there for you, in the situation your in, that speaks directly to how you feel, and then just you would with your favorite meal, dig in!