The True Meaning of the Season

No matter where we have lived, our family has always had the tradition of decorating our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. Thus, our month of events began. Yvonne was our first guest to see and hear the story of our decorations. (She was also our first friend in our new city. We actually met her on a bus in HK before we ever moved here.)Every day in December was filled with activities. We had MANY guests over to our house to make Christmas cookies thanks to our good friends in Kentucky and Montana sending us much needed supplies. (Most of you remember Annie from a previous post. She is Libby's foster daughter. We are happy to announce that she became a sibling during the recent F G Festival held in our city.)
Next came the round of Holiday presentations in the local schools. Libby did an excellent job discussing the TRUE meaning of the season complete with props, games, songs, and gifts. Thousands of teens received a candy cane with THE message and a HIStory dvd to watch at home with their friends and families.

We were extremely blessed to spend time with three university girls from South Carolina during the weeks leading up to Christmas. They chose to give up some of their vacation time (and money) to come to our island to help us share the TRUE meaning of the season.

They were very active in the Holiday presentations in the classrooms, distributing Christmas cds on college campuses, hosting Christmas parties, and just hanging out with others their age. What a blessing for my family to have this opportunity to be with them. (EVERY person should take advantage of any opportunity to spend a short or long time abroad sharing HIStory with others around the world.)

Of course, one of the highlights of the month was hosting various Christmas activities at the orphange. Making gingerbread houses at any age is always a treat.

But, I must say one of the things we least expected was being asked to take part in a Living Nativity outside of a local mall. It was the first time for several clubhouses to join together and stage a mini-Bethlehem marketplace. They learned alot in the process and hope to make it an annual event. We all "donned" costumes and spent several evenings as shepherds, angels, and wise men.

It was definitely a VERY full month, but we are honored to have had so many opportunities to share HIStory with the millions of people that live on our island. We look forward to what the new year may hold for our family and our lives here. Happy New Year to all of you! May you spend it serving Him wherever you are in every way possible.

Island View

This week, our family finally had an opportunity to get out of our new city, and YES, we really do live on an island. We can actually be at the ocean in about one hour's drive time (on a weekday).

We wound our way up a mountain to a small "touristy" old town, and then wound our way back down the mountain to the oceanside.

The water was cold (in December) and the wind was brisk, but it was an incredible site to behold.

We saw lots of folks out on the rocks fishing, and we even stuck our feet in for a few minutes and gathered a few sea shells.
On top of the mountain, we of course, found several "famous" temples. I recently read a statement that I feel most adequately describes the people in our new city: "The folks here stop for a coffee at a well known chain, then go home to drink tea. They go to a cultural museum, then go to a temple to worship, then head home to surf the internet." Such a land of contrasts between the old and the new.

I've been doing alot of studying about the meanings of the various temple decorations. These three "gods" represent the three main wishes of all of the people here: prosperity, posterity, and longevity.

The phoenix encourages the "good times to continue to roll" and only appears in times of prosperity and peace in this country's history.

The dragon symbolizes goodness, strength, fertility, wisdom, and change.
It appears on temple pillars to drive off negative forces. Its presence is also supposed to protect the temple from the fire god (since most temples are made of wood).A pair of lions is often placed on guard at the entrance to a temple to scare off evil beings.
Puppet shows are often held in front of temples to explain the various stories behind the various gods. They are also sold for children to take home and use in playacting.
As we walked the crowded winding streets of the old town, we were reminded that our purpose in living here is to become fishers of men.
It is our desire that He be known as the only true God of this island and the world. May you join us in this task. "Follow Him, and He will make you fishers of men" wherever you are.