On Christmas Eve day we went to Abri to a Botanical Garden. They would pull cocoa beans off of trees to let us try and break twigs to smell Cinnimon in a cinnimon tree. Crazy! This is a picture with us, a fellow teacher and his mom.
This is a strangler ficus tree. It wraps around the outside of another tree until it kills it and leaves it hollow inside. We decided to climb it when noone was looking.
Here is Cathy and me inside the strangler ficus. 
Here is a picture of the program. The girl is carrying sticks on her head, it is amazing what they can caryy!
Focusing on the children's faces is so important. This is the reason why I live, to share with these children.
These are Cathy's little sheep. Aren't they cute? Before, the one on the left has a really cute smile that really means trouble. Cathy had a great and tiresome time keeping charge over her little flock. I like this picture since you can see her in the background, always keeping an eye on them!
Here is the manger scene, with Mary in her Ethiopian veil, the angel Gabriel in Ghanaian print, and the shepherds. I love the African flare to the Christmas story. The most important part that is still the same is the focus on Christ.
The little boy, Ella(Emmanuel) did such a great job. He had to sing with the older girl here and say a very important part. Wow! Thanks! God Bless You! Oh if you could only hear him say it. I taught him how to say it with an American accent since his English is limited. He even said his "th". The poor thing was sick on the night of the program and was trying to sleep whenever he wasn't on stage but he did a great job still. Cathy tried to get him home in her suitcase but we didn't think his family would approve.
The angels before the show. They are ready to go!
These are out of order but this is a picture of the wise men coming down to worship the newborn King. I love their outfits, very African!
Auntie Jean, the founder of Children of the Light, is giving a thank you speech at the end of the program. All the children are beautiful in their outfits.
This is the finale of the Christmas Program. They look excited to be done but they all did an excellent job throughout the program especially since English is not their first language.
These children can dance! They are doing a choreograph dance for the finale. They tried to teach me to dance but it was a failure, they just got to laugh at an obrunei instead!
This is before the concert as we rushed around like crazy people trying to get everything finished before the show. The angels have to have their wings to share the good news with Mary!
Do you love the title? Although I have not written in over a week, this title sums up the people and memories Cathy and I have been making. Two days before Christmas, Cathy and I went up to Auntie Jean's to help with the program for Children of the Light. Just in case you are not familiar with what I just wrote, I will give you a brief overview. Auntie Jean (preschool teacher at my school) has her own ngo for children in her village for them to learn English and about Christ. This is the fifth year she has put on a Christmas program on Christmas Eve. The theme of this years program was "The Indescribable Gift," whom seem familiar anywhere? It was also based on the Christmas shoes where a shoe maker gives a pair of shoes to a little boy who has none. The children traveled on a trotro to the Christian Center where the Christmas program would be held. This was an eye opening experience for some of the children as they had never seen toilets before. They all rushed to the bathroom to watch the water swirl around, a new concept to most children as they are use to a hole in the ground. Little things that are so trivial to us like flushing a toilet is a new revelation to children here. It is a different way of life, something that is hard for us who have a lot to grasp but thoughts we must think through.
Practice was brutal as we practiced from 4-7:30 for two nights in a row. Children are the same everywhere as they were tired and ready to leave. Cathy was in charge of the little ones who were going to play the sheep. That was a full time job as they were very cute but very sneeky to get into mischief. On the night of the show, one of them was ready for his sheep constume. He kept yelling and gesturing with his hands, sheep dress, sheep dress, where my sheep dress? All the hard work of the children payed off as they performance on Christmas Eve went well. There were 40 children involved including the main characters, the choir, shepherds, angels, sheep(don't forget them!), the wise men, and Mary and Joseph. I actually don't know how well the show went as I was back stage trying to get children on an off the stage with the right costumes on. This is hard to do with children, let alone children who don't speak much English! The most important message that rang out very clear that night was the gift that God gave us, his only son, to come as a baby and then to die for the sins of us all. This message was proclaimed to children in the audience, adults, and the performers as God gives to all. These children wake up on Christmas morning and go to church. But Christy, you left out the part about ripping open the presents spilling out from underneath the tree?
What tree and what presents are you talking about? This isn't a reality for the children here which might leave you horror stricken but on the flip side, Christ is focused on more during Christmas than in America since there isn't presents to get in the way of praising Christ. All the children that performed were able to receive an extra special Christmas as they were a part of sharing Christ's message with others, something they deserved to be proud about. They also received small gift bags from another teachers' parents who came to visit for the holidays. After the program, all the children in Children of the Light received dinner. However, there were many other children who just came to the performance from the village. It was insance afterwards as they were all trying to get food but we had to stop them as it was only for our children in the ministry. Oh their eyes and faces were enough to kill you in a second, but Auntie Jean told them that all they had to do was register to be a part of Children of the Light. Even though it was hard for me to watch them begging for food, Auntie Jean reminded me that the children need to learn that they can't get everything handed to them, they must earn some of it like being involved in the ministry. This was a valid point as the people will continue to beg unless they are taught to work some for food and needs. However, by God's grace he provided enough food for all of the children to have! It worked out anyway. After the excitement of the evening and picking everything up, we sat down to a nice Ghanaian meal outside underneath the stars with the city lights below. The Christian center, where the program was held, is up on a hill that is secluded and gorgeous. It looks out to the crowded city below, far away which is what I like! A year ago, I had no idea that I would be sitting outside for Christmas Eve with my new friends and sister. God works in amazing ways! Don't get me wrong, I most definitely missed Christmas Eve service at home with the candlelight ceremony. The fellowship and friendship I have at home will never be replaced but I am thankful for the relationships that I can build here. To build relationships, it is important to spend time with people, I know seems like common sense but you just have to take the time to listen to peoples stories; triumphs and difficulties.
We awoke on Christmas morning to the waking sun, bright colorful flowers, and of course exotic palm trees. I mus say that this is the complete opposite of most, okay all of my Christmas' I have had. We went to Auntie Jean's land in the morning where we read the Christmas story and prayed. I wish you could all meet Auntie Jean as her vision is amazing. She has purchased land in the middle of nowhere for children in the surrounding area. Most people think she is crazy but she is only listening to the call of the Lord. No matter what goes wrong, the Lord shows himself by giving the right amount of money to purchase the rest of the land, or finding a road not too far from the land. She continues to be faithful and the Lord provides. Everytime we doubt about how the Lord will provide, he goes above and beyond! I feel at peace on the land and seemed liked the perfect place to praise the Lord as we celebrate His sacrifice. The hot sun beamed down as we ascended from the land to greet many people doing their normal routines;bathing, gathering water, farming, cooking, cutting chickens heads off(didn't stay around for that part), and even using the restroom(sorry, but its the truth!). Nope, we didn't see one Christmas tree with presents underneath it, and we would have seen it as none of the houses are complete! This is the complete opposite of America, people here will go to church but other than that they have to go on with their normal business to survive the day. These sights are a reality and I will never see Christmas the same way. It is much larger than a Christmas Eve service or spending a quiet Christmas at home, don't get me wrong, these are so important, but it is also about practical Christianity, about brining the message to the masses, the lowest masses as Christ himself had a lowly beginning.
The celebration continued as we headed back to Accra on a trotro, a dream come true on Christmas. Even Medina, the market, was still busy on Christmas, like I said before, people still have to make a living, even on Christmas. The day was all around glorious as we skyped my parents later to open presents. We then went to a Christmas party to have all of the usual goodies and some unusual ones to Americans as there were many nationalities present. God's church is universal and it was a lifetime experience to observe the festivities of the birth of Christ in a different culture. The focus was just on Christ, not Christ and rush around to get presents.
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