What does Christmas look like on the other side of the world?
As a little boy, I remember seeing "Christmas Stars" — giant paper lanterns — light up my father's South Indian village in a rainbow of colors. My sister and I loved to see them shining on our neighbors' houses each night in December, leading up to Christmas. We knew they represented the star that pointed to the birthplace of Jesus over 2,000 years ago.
To many of us in the West, Christmas time has a very particular "look" — photoshoots with Santa, decorating trees, baking cookies, and navigating the crowds and chaos at our local malls. It's a joyful season, but it can also be an overwhelming one. All the commercialization can sometimes steal away the peace and significance of what this season is about.
On the other side of the globe, Advent and Christmas tend to look a little different than what you or I might be used to. While there is much celebrating and rejoicing in the coming of Christ, our brothers and sisters in Africa and Asia are also aware of the incredible opportunity the Christmas season offers to share the hope of Christ with those around them.
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I've talked to many of our missionaries in Nepal who find joy in celebrating Christmas by trekking through snow-covered mountains to provide blankets and warm clothing to those in need while sharing the Christmas story of God's love.
In another part of the mission field, many churches organize carol singing throughout their local areas to bring the best news to their neighbors.
Over in Sri Lanka, Christmas begins on December 1, with fireworks going off at dawn to celebrate Christ's incarnation.
It can be extremely easy for those of us in the West to find ourselves on a slippery slope of forgetting the meaning behind our Christmas traditions and instead focus only on the immediate excitement and emotion of the moment.
If we are not deliberate, we will reduce this most precious time of the year — a season meant to prepare our hearts for Christ's coming and deepen our longing for His anticipated return — to meaninglessness, leaving ourselves empty and hungry.
The name given to Jesus, Emmanuel, which means "God with us," is the very heart of the Christmas story. He chose to come down and live among us, entering our world in the most vulnerable way possible: as a helpless baby. His presence among us is a declaration of His love and His desire to be near us. And it is our incredible privilege to take that declaration of love to every corner of this earth.
When I was younger, my father and I traveled in a vehicle in South Asia on Christmas Day. As we drove along, we noticed a farmer plowing his field. My father asked the driver to stop, and he quickly got out to talk to the older gentleman. He asked him, "Why are you working on Christmas?" The man looked confused and replied, "What is a Christmas?"
This man had never heard of Christmas and what it was supposed to mean. More than that, he had never even heard of Christ once in his life! This may seem shocking, but it is the reality for millions of people around the world. While we sing songs and open gifts, multitudes still wait for someone to tell them about the hope of salvation.
The challenge for all of us is that we will never be satisfied with just the excitement of celebration. Instead, we must be deliberate in our lives and churches worldwide to ask ourselves, what will we do in response? How will this celebration cause us to live differently? What can we do with our time and resources as a family to bring more people to know about Christ and His kingdom?
This year, considering looking around to see what you can do to invest your life in bringing hope and healing, especially during this Christmas season. Maybe that means partnering with GFA World to provide poverty-alleviating gifts to some of our generation's most poor and needy. Maybe it's getting involved with a local shelter and sharing about the hope you have in Christ.
Whatever it might be for you, be sure to commit to celebrating this Christmas by bringing the gift of life to those who still long and wait.
Bishop Daniel Timotheos Yohannan is the President of GFA World and is consecrated bishop of the Believers Eastern Church. In his role as president of GFA World, Bishop Daniel serves as a primary link between thousands of Christian workers and missionaries serving throughout Asia and Africa and the rest of the church worldwide.
