Merry, Merry Christmas!

This is my favorite photo from this year's Christmas party--Esther from Nepal and Sana from Pakistan. Aren't they cute? Thanks, Darjee, for all the photos! Before I post the rest of the photos from this year's party, I want to share a story with you.

You know, during our first 8 years in the Philippines, some American friends always invited us to their house in Manila for Christmas. That was our tradition, and we enjoyed it a lot. For us, childhood Christmas memories meant spending time with our extended family, eating special foods, laughing and singing Christmas songs. Even though James and I were away from our own families and countries, being with these American friends made us feel like it was really Christmas.

But when we became ISOT students, during our first Christmas in Baguio in 1987, no one invited us to celebrate with them! Most of our friends were Filipino, and they had their own families to go to. Our kids were small (ages 3 and 1), and it wasn't easy for us to travel. We just stayed home, and it was a very lonely Christmas. I felt so sorry for myself!

In the months that followed, as I talked to some of my international classmates at ISOT, I found out that they were lonely too, that Christmas day. No one had invited them either! I had no idea! So James and I determined that the following Christmas, we wouldn't wait to be invited. We would take the initiative. That was a turning point for us -- looking back, I feel it was that Christmas when we "grew up" and became givers instead of receivers. So, during the Christmas of 1988, we invited our ISOT classmates who had no other place to go, to come to our house for Christmas. We became family to each other, and it was a very precious celebration. That was 20 years ago, and we have done it every Christmas since then!

For the last few years, because IGSL has gotten bigger, we have split the celebration into two days. The graduating students come for lunch on December 24th and the rest come on the 25th. This year we had more than 50 students each day. I received several texts and emails from IGSL alumni all over Asia that day, saying, "Are you having the party at your house? We miss being with you!" It seems we have created our own tradition, and it has become a precious memory for us and for others.

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During this year's party on the 25th, I was talking to George from Myanmar. (George is on the left in this photo.) He said, "You know, Ate, it's really hard being here in the Philippines at Christmas. I miss my country, and I miss the way we celebrate Christmas there." I said, "I understand. I really do, because there are still many things I miss about my own culture. But when you go back to Myanmar, you are going to miss this!" Later that day, as they were saying goodbye, George told me I was right!

Here are some photos to let you have a glimpse of Christmas 2008. Merry Christmas to you all!

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Endless Variety

You never know where your day might take you. I started out grading papers yesterday morning, but ended up in the emergency room with some of our colleagues. I think I should re-name my blog "Endless Variety".

Their four-year old fell at IGSL and gashed his head, and it was clear he needed a trip to the ER for stitches. While we were there, I thought, "I could blog about this--it's definitely a typical glimpse of my life." So I whipped out my camera and recorded it for you. Not many people bring their cameras to the ER, but I carry mine everywhere! I took some close-up pictures of the wound too, but decided not to post them for the sake of you who get queasy.

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This is Seni and Lose from Tonga with their son Simeone after he was all stitched up. The folks at the Children's Hospital near our school are getting to know me well. Three weeks ago I was there with a student family from Kyrgyzstan. I spelled K-Y-R-G-Y-Z-S-T-A-N a few times for the nurse, and explained that, yes, there really is a country in Asia with that name. We had a long wait that day, so I was able to have a very good time making memories with that family. I always tell people that the best bonding times happen in the hospital! Last night we had a good time of fellowship in the ER too, and I only had to spell T-O-N-G-A once.

A year ago, after my third visit to the hospital in one week, the receptionist at the front desk said to me, "Who ARE you???? I always see you in here, but every time you are with someone different. Sometimes they look Chinese, sometimes Indian, always different! Is this your family???" Yep, that's my family, red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight.

Mehndi Party

This week I invited my Iron Sharpening Group (my discipleship group of IGSL wives) to my house for a Christmas party. We started out making Christmas cookies, which is a pretty typical thing to do during an American all-girls Christmas party. But since most Asian homes don't have ovens, baking is something unique and special for them.

While the cookies were in the oven, they brought out their own brand of fun called mehndi -- something South Asian girls love to do at an all-girls party. Mehndi is a dye made of henna that is used to decorate the hands and feet. You can learn more about it at this link. My ISG members are from Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and the Philippines -- so we had a fairly equal number of mehndi experts and mehndi novices. It was so much fun!

When we were finished dying our hands, we ate the Christmas cookies with Chai tea. All in all, a very cross-cultural afternoon, making fun memories together.

Farewell, Fodors

This week we said goodbye to our first students from Romania. Florin and Dana have been with us for two and a half years. Since Florin already had some course work done before he came, he was able to graduate ahead of the normal April schedule.

We rarely have Europeans at our school, so it has been a unique experience for them and for us. We have really grown to love them, and they have grown to love Asia, and Asians. Florin was in James' discipleship group, so it was especially hard for them to say goodbye. We'll miss you, Fodor family!

Two Memories

What shall I write about today? The past week and a half has been a whirlwind of activities. I won't bore you with a blow by blow account of the Christmas parties I have attended (there have been six parties so far, and there are two more tomorrow)! The photos above should give you the idea. It has been fun.

I think I will treasure two memories from the last ten days. One was a song sung by our student, Tiffany, at the IGSL Family Christmas Party. The song is called "He Made a Way in a Manger". Apparently this is not a new song at all (written in 1998) but it was the first time I had heard it. It touched my heart because I've always believed that Christmas makes no sense if you don't think about the Cross, and this song connects them so beautifully. In the past week I have learned it myself and have been meditating on it ever since. Thanks, Tiff!

The second memory I'll cherish is the Christmas party hosted by our IGSL international students for international university students in Manila. We had over 100 guests, and most of them were not believers. Honestly, we have struggled as we have planned this party. Our guests, for the most part, are students from totally non-Christian backgrounds, who have no understanding at all of who Jesus is. Christmas is a great time to introduce Jesus, since there is so much focus on celebrating Christmas here in the Philippines. As we planned the party, there was tension in our group between those who wanted to give a strong evangelistic presentation and those who preferred to use the event to begin to build relationships and win trust. I was encouraged at how God used it to spark some excellent discussions among our students.

You see, most of our students here at IGSL come from Christian families, even though they are from non-Christian countries. However, we have a growing number of IGSL students who come from Hindu, Muslim, and Buddhist backgrounds. I was especially excited as some of our Christian-background students began to seriously try to understand the thinking of our non-Christian guests. Some of these conversations were exhausting. We had endless discussions about how to connect with them, what kind of food to serve, what kind of games to play, what kind of music to present, what kind of message to share, and on and on. But in the end, the party was a great success, our guests are eager to get together again, and the IGSL students are excited about patiently helping their friends move a little closer to embracing Jesus. I'm tired. But it's a good kind of tired.

Christmas in the Philippines

There is nothing quite like Christmas in the Philippines. It starts in September and lasts until January. Filipinos know every Christmas carol ever written. I remember during my first Christmas here, I laughed when I heard "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" being played in the stores. But a colleague reminded me, "Where better to dream about it than in the tropics?"

There are parties and celebrations and gifts and games and more gifts and more parties. I looked at my calendar a few days ago and discovered that I have 8 parties to attend in the next two weeks. I suspect that there will be more than that; there are usually some last minute invitations. The particular parties on my list are not hectic or commercialized. They are just good times together with other believers, enjoying the gift of Jesus. The first one is this afternoon at IGSL. Let the parties begin!

(Note: the photo collage above is some of our Christmas tree ornaments collected through the years. We never have a color motif or theme in our house -- it's just "through the years".)