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December 25, 2008

Happy Christmas!

Happy Christmas from Gorom-Gorom !

Last night we had a small Christmas service in the Fulani church that Pierre is starting in our yard. Pierre calls the church: "Church of the Nations."

It was the first Christmas for most of the congregation. "R", "A", and "I" have only come to know Christ this year. "A" came with her two children. "M" also came, who used to go to church, but had stopped. "Yusufi" came with his wife "F" and two of his children. "F" gave her life to Christ a few years ago, but rarely gets to Gorom from the remote village where they live. This was her first time with Christians for Christmas.

It was a simple service, sitting on mats, everyone wrapped up because of the "cold". We sang a few songs, without instruments, just our ragged voices. We told the story of the birth of Jesus, and celebrated the long-awaited salvation that God inaugurated that day, most of the church hearing the story properly for the first time.

We wondered together at the experience of the herders, the first people to be told the good news ("they must have been Fulani - it is the Fulani who are herders!"). And we thought about their response to the angel ("na hulbini koy!" - "scarey, man!") and the angel's message ("duum jaati na weli nande" - "now that really is good news"). And we talked about how we too should run to the Saviour, thank God for his grace, and tell people about what God has done. And we committed outselves to make every day a Christmas, to celebrate God's grace in Christ.

Christmastime in Burkina Faso is bittersweet for me - I am glad to be away from the self-indulgence of Christmas in the UK, and to be in a place where Christmas is about Christ. But it is also the time I feel furthest from my friends and family. Especially when, like this year, there has been no post bringing greetings. And I could kill for a mince pie. Or turkey and stuffing and roast potatoes...

But this Christmas service has been probably the best Christmas service I have ever been to. To be with a small group of Fulani and Tamacheq Christians celebrating for the first time the coming of Immanuel, has been wonderful. To see the church of Christ coming to birth among the Fulani, Tamacheq, and Songhai of Gorom-Gorom and the province of Oudalan, is incomparable. It is as if Christ has come to a stable in Gorom-Gorom, and these are the first few, like the shepherds, who have the privilege of recognising him.

This is what it is all about. And it is worth the pain of separation from family and friends. And mince pies.

Thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray for God to reveal Jesus to people here, that they too may come to know the joy of the "good news that is for all people."

This Christmas, may you know again the joy of God's gift in Christ. And the joy of sharing that gift with others.

Posted by Keith at December 25, 2008 10:19 AM