Sabah Kind of Christmas

I wanted to share some thoughts about the holidays that are also mentioned in my December newsletter back home.  Enjoy!

As I write this, it’s Christmas Eve and I can’t help but look back on what December has brought my way here in Tenom.  I remember thinking on the airplane back from the YAGM Malaysia November retreat that a small part of me dreaded the holidays.  I had been trying to tell myself to let go and see what happens around me, but I still had this nagging feeling that the holidays would make homesickness a challenge.  But I kept telling myself to stop focusing on what I was missing.  This might be a whole new kind of Christmas if I would just allow myself to be in the moment of everything around me.

While in college I worked as a camp counselor at Lutheridge in Arden, NC.  Every year we would celebrate Christmas in July week.  Though the summer temperatures would soar and there was no snow or any of the other commercialism that comes with Christmas, at the end of the week, we would celebrate Christmas Eve and it would feel just as amazing as Christmas in December.  In some ways, I have realized that celebrating Christmas in July prepared me for celebrating Christmas in Sabah.  

There’s a great deal less commercialism that comes with the holidays here in Tenom.  Ok, G-Mart and Bestamart, the two supermarkets in town put up decorations around December 1^st and there are decorations is a few of the stores, but I have come to appreciate not being bombarded by commercials.  The temperatures still feel like summer and there’s no chance of a white Christmas (no matter how many times the youth sing “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas”).  But I have come to realize that having all my expectations for what Christmas should be wiped clean has made room for me to appreciate how we celebrate in Tenom in a whole new way.

As we’ve planned events and celebrated in anticipation at church, I have come to see the family that has built up around me.  In the absence of the mad Christmas rush and the routine of traditions that I’m used to, I’ve found some God moments in the Advent season that add deeper meaning to the celebrations.  At first I missed the Christmas ‘buzz’ that surrounded the month of December, but I’ve found moments of joy with my community that have grown to fill the days. 

I started this month feeling a nagging dread that I was not going to enjoy the holidays as much, but that dread has turned to joy and anticipation.  This journey has truly been God’s way of stepping in and providing a peace that I needed.  So with this peace, I look forward to celebrating Immanuel the gift of Christ to the world.  May you experience God with you this Christmas and throughout the year.  Peace!

Love Meets Love...Extreme Caroling 2012

If you ever want to experience Christmas caroling taken to the next level, do take a look at Tenom.  Someone was incredibly ambitious and scheduled the youth to go caroling at approximately 80 homes over the span of a week.  We’ve practiced songs weeks in advance to the point that BM lyrics for traditional songs jump to my mind before English ones.  We’ve ordered polo shirts for the occasion (very classy).  And, we’ve gone everywhere (across the creek and through the jungle).  I had no idea that the church bus could handle so much off-roading.  I also had no idea that we could squeeze 25 people inside, but hey, everyone just yells “BOLEH!” (can) and makes it happen.  So as Extreme Caroling day 5 comes to a close, I wanted to share some thoughts. 

The youth have brought an incredible amount of love and enthusiasm to every house we’ve gone to.  And we do manage to go many places.  No house is too far out or too isolated for us to reach.  If it’s on the list, we find a way to make it there.  There have been some times I didn’t know how we’d make it, but we found a way whether it’s through rain or rough roads (kudos to our amazing bus driver).  At every house, we share a mini-program with the family complete with a greeting, prayer, a couple of songs, a Bible passage, and “Selamat Hari Natal” (aka “We Wish You a Merry Christmas) in Bahasa Malayu, English, Chinese, or Murut.  Even though we’ve done this routine at least 8 times each of the past 5 nights, the youth come and share as if each house is the very first house.  Just because we happen to be at the eighth house of the night doesn’t mean that the family there is any less important.  This incredible love has been met each time with an incredible welcome.  Some families live in neighborhoods where everyone has AC, a couple of TVs and spacious homes.  Some families live in kampungs with homes that have floors of bamboo or wood.  Some places have electricity while others are lit by lantern.  But all the people receive us with joy.  In the village, children stand on their porches and listen as we go from house to house, gradually getting closer to theirs.  People invite us inside and sing along to the music. 

Tonight, one instance stuck out to me.  At about the fifth house, we climbed up inside the common room of a home where at least nine people lived.  The place was lit with just one electric lantern and we needed our flashlights to see the music.  During the first song, I saw one woman sitting with her eyes closed, singing along to the music and swaying to the rhythm.  The look on her face showed she was savoring every moment.  When we shook hands to leave, she held everyone’s hand just a bit longer.  It hit me then that this was far more than just a ten-minute program for her.  She was holding each second and fully taking in the time we spent there.  I can’t speak for her and say what that moment meant, but there was something in that time where the love of the carolers met the love and welcome of the people we visited.  It’s one of those times when you put every ounce of love into what you do and leave the rest up to God.  My hope is that as we’ve gone out this week, we’ve been a blessing to everyone we’ve met.  I know the people I’ve gone with and the people I’ve met have been blessing in yet again helping me experience those God moments.