Missing A First World Christmas

I'm going to say words. Because they're true and honest. Not because I have regrets. But because I have feelings.

One of the hardest things right now in this Holiday Season so far from home is that I'm a first world girl in a third world country. (I know. You thought I was going to say family. But really, I had braced myself for that. That was an expected struggle. This caught me unaware.)

I miss the hustle and the bustle of the holiday season. I miss putting on my pea coat and scarf and boots (oh! How I miss boots!) and going to the mall, all decked in Christmas cheer with seasonal music playing and people with parcels talking and laughing as they flit from store to store. I miss going to Starbucks and getting my red cup, regardless of what design is or isn't on it. A triple grande peppermint white mocha. And I miss looking through their ornaments and mugs and watching people pass by the glass windows while my coffee is being hand crafted. And I miss following whoever I'm with as they work on their Christmas shopping, because, let's not play, my income level was on the low side, so I wasn't actually involved in much consumerism myself.

And I miss finding the exact something I was looking at in the mall (but was a little too expensive to buy for myself, especially during the holidays) under the tree, because the person I was following saw me eyeing it and thought to get it for me.

I miss the spirit of giving that's found back home with all the atmosphere of the season mixed in. (Not that there's not a spirit here! These are some of the most generous people I've ever met, but the atmosphere is a little lacking…)

I know that the spirit of giving can become a little corrupted with the spirit of receiving and consumerism, but for a lot of people, I think that the "pagan" aspects of Christmas still have Christ at the heart, reflecting His gift to the world in our gifts to each other.

And I miss the whole shebang.

Here, stores have some garland and a garishly decorated tree. Sometimes Christmas music is playing but often it's a bit odd… Like the mash-up of Hark the Herald Angels and Dame La Gasolina we heard the other day. And it's really no weather for a pea coat and the lightest of scarves would be stifling. The other day I thought it felt like a nice spring day and looked to see it was 90*. 

How I miss all the little things "The Season" entails…

But even while I get tucked into bed with visions of lattes dancing in my head, I know that the reason for the season is Christ coming to the world for everyone. Even these people with tacky Christmas trees and an utter lack of winter here in Papua New Guinea. And we're here, my little family of 3 1/2, to help see transformed lives, through translation, literacy, and incarnational living. To help those far from God, to help the skin Christians (nominal Christians), and to help those with the cargo cult mentality (a mix between consumerism and the prosperity gospel) be raised to true life through the most precious gift of all: Christ Jesus.

So I'll download a Christmas music playlist, and decorate my house as pretty as I can, and watch Christmas movies, all shamelessly in the name of teaching my son American culture so he won't return to America as a bushkanaka (jungle hillbilly). And while I'm relishing in the semblance of Christmas culture I have cultivated here, I'll busy myself with work to help bring the Good News of the birth of Christ to the people here in their heart language, so that it can truly change their hearts.  

All of our work is done through generous people who are willing to give a bit of their income to the Bible-less of Papua New Guinea. If you would like to extend the Spirit of Giving this Holiday season to this ministry, whether through a special gift or a monthly commitment, you can check out our giving page or email me personally and I can let you know how you can help! Thank you!