Snapshots of December 2013

A few photos from December in Bunia. This is a wood carving of the Nativity (it's hard to make it out in this photo, sorry) that we bought from a local artist. I had been decorating the house with Christmas cards we received from the U.S. in previous years, and I was struck at how, well, white all the figures were - the angels, Jesus, Mary. It made me appreciate all the more this depiction of Jesus in an African context, in African art.

Slices of Life in December

Here are just a few highlights from the last weeks of December:

Dancing:  Our friends hosted a Christmas recital, of various adults and children singing, playing piano, and reciting Scripture.  The highlight for us: two, adorable five-year-old girls gave a (very short) ballet recital in beautiful pink tutus.  They had been taking lessons with me for several weeks, learning some of the basics and playing games like "Doll Shop" and "Mermaids".  Such fun!

Shopping: My friend Suzanne who works with MAF (and has a vehicle) took me to the big market across town.  I bought an electric burner (electricity, while irregular, is much cheaper than the gas we normally use for cooking) and a piece of cloth for a new dress.  Suzanne handed out Christmas gifts to the merchants she knows best: bottles of highly-prized palm oil. (I thought that was a wonderful idea.)  We also saw an evangelist, standing in the middle of the rows of shops, shouting at the top of his lungs (in Swahili, so I didn't understand much.)  I tried to keep a low profile as I walked by him.  But I did notice he had very clean, white, pointy-toed shoes.

We also bought a pair of carved elephant candle holders from Papa Joseph, an artist who visits us regularly to show us what he has to offer.

Stuff Missionaries Like, Christmas Edition

Christmas 1970.

As missionaries, we want to adapt to the (Congolese) culture we're living in, to make our homes comfortable and welcoming to Congolese people.  If we try to re-create our home-country environment and use lots of American stuff, people may not feel as comfortable when they visit.

That said... it is always nice to have some reminders of home.  And that is never more true than during the holidays!!!  A Christmas tree, decorations, special food... stockings... music... bringing a little "merry and bright", a little red and green, a little tinsel and sparkle, into our earth-toned lives, at least for a few weeks.

This is our first Christmas in this house in Bunia.  On Monday (a holiday here, because of national elections), I hauled out our Christmas box and the wire-and-marble tree we got in Nairobi, and started planning.  I quickly realized that our brown-and-olive themed living room with beige African ornaments and batik (also mostly beige) was not going to be transformed into a primary-colored winter wonderland. 

White Christmas (by Jennings)

When I (Jennings) was growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, a local radio station had a contest to win a "White Christmas"... that is, to have fake snow dumped on your front lawn from a helicopter the morning of Dec. 25.  Little did we think that Alabama would ever have a real "white Christmas"... and yet is has come to pass.

Which has gotten me thinking about the images and cultural baggage that come with the "Christmas season".  We certainly have plenty of it in our own country, some good, some not so good... time with family and friends, charitable giving, singing on the one hand... excessive spending, excessive eating, seasonal depression on the other.  Our iconic images of Christmas come from elsewhere -- New England snow, German cooking, English carolers -- and may not reflect the way people or nature look where we live.  I have never ridden a sleigh or needed a woolly hat on December 25.  Sometimes we barely needed long sleeves.

When I moved to Nairobi, Kenya in 2004, it was even more striking to see how these images of Christmas were imported there.  Billboards of Santa Claus drinking Coke in a winter wonderland.  The mechanical Santa (made in China) outside Nakumatt supermarket who danced to such Christmas classics as "Yellow Rose of Texas".  A "Santa's Grotto"... complete with fake snow... at an upscale mall.  Christmas means snow, luxury, extravagant food and gifts.  Unlike most of Africa, there are actually Kenyans in Nairobi who can afford to "do" Christmas this (expensive, foreign) way.  But for most, it is way beyond their reach.  An article in the Daily Nation a few years ago declared that "Christmas is for the rich"... at least that is how it seems to many.

This is not to say that Kenyan Christians do not celebrate Jesus' birth - they certainly do! But the cultural, Western "Christmas" is shoved in your face everywhere, and available to very few.

So it was rather gratifying to see that Christmas is much less commercial in Bunia.  Some merchants sold plastic trees and ornaments, and churches were decorated with shiny lanterns and tinsel.  But, according to friends, the main activity surrounding Christmas (and New Year's) is going to church and getting together for a big meal with family and friends. Not shopping, not snow. When we asked one friend about Christmas when he was growing up, he remembered people traveling to be near the large churches that would have the good preaching and services.

This was our first Congolese Christmas, and admittedly, we it included a lot of traditions from our home culture.  On Christmas Eve, we went to a party for English-speakers given by a Congolese pastor, and later to a carol sing (also in English).  Christmas morning, I made sweet rolls, using Douglas' Mom's recipe - a tradition we've had for a few years now.  We played carols on the stereo and opened fun gifts sent by family, and gifts to each other (including Douglas' first Congolese shirt, below).

In the afternoon, British, American, Congolese and German friends came for Christmas dinner, featuring pot roast, pork, manioc leaves, sweet potatoes and mince pies. Later, we gathered again at our friends' house to join their Christmas night tradition -- opening gifts together, drinking tea, eating (more) mince pies and Christmas cake, and playing Uno.

No snow, but magical just the same.