Christmas Around the World

Here it is – Christmas, December 25th! We’re used to hearing carols played as we stroll through the crowded malls and stores. We’re familiar with the ringing bells and bright lights of the various businesses we frequent. It’s common to hear “Merry Christmas!” ring out from people we meet on the street, in the stores or at church. What a contrast for us this year.

This part of Central Asia has a high percentage of the population that has no concern for the Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus. The next largest group celebrates Christmas on January 7th, but doesn’t emphasize the good news of the gospel – Jesus became man to pay the price for the forgiveness of our sins. Just a very small percentage of people (less than 2%) have any awareness of the significance of this day. For the vast majority of the population, this is a normal day with work, school, chores and the usual mundane tasks. This really underscores the need for work in this area of the world to bring good news to those who are so spiritually impoverished.

Spiritually impoverished? Well, on one hand, they are a very religious people. There is an increasing identification with the dominant group (security concerns prevent the name), though it is predominantly cultural identification more than doctrinal. There have been studies conducted that determined the vast majority of the people affiliated with the main group don’t know the basic tenets of that group. (Barna has done research in the States and found that there is a frightening paucity of knowledge about primary Christian doctrines as well among those who identify themselves as Born Again Christians.) The people here are similar to Saul (before his conversion) in that they have a desire for God but don’t know where to look.

The need for building leaders for the future in this part of the world is critical. There are very, very few people who can say that one of their grandparents was a Christian. Most of the believers are first-generation Christians. It is wonderful to see people come to faith in Christ. One practical difficulty that is inherent in this situation is this: who does a young adult believer marry? There isn’t a wealth of candidates for the young man or woman looking for a life partner. Pray that God will raise up a generation of young people with a heart for him who will establish solid, Christian families.

We’re spending these days in study, reflection and working to look ahead toward creative avenues of service in this society. Whatever the model that is used, training new leaders for the church is critical. We still don’t know about our long term involvement in this country and are seeking God’s guidance for our own future. The promise is still true, God holds the future.

Just a note about the pictures. These were taken at a mall we occasionally visit. It caters to Westerners and upscale nationals. These were taken just before we got our three inches of snow. Interestingly, the mall was almost deserted. Most of the shopping at this point of the year seems to take place in the bazaars. And, no, this is not where we shop. There is a Western type "grocery" store that carries some things that have become staples for us - peanut butter, crackers, spaghetti sauce and Parmesan cheese.

Milestones

Milestones. Have you given them much thought? Where does the word come from? What does it really mean? That came up today as I tried to explain to our Russian teacher what a milestone was/is.

This began when I told Irina that Suzanne and I had passed a milestone in our time here. We’ve felt in the past that there have been points of transition in our stay: someone actually asking us for directions. (Well, we think they were asking directions since we didn’t understand what they were saying.) Or, getting on buses by ourselves then getting off at the right place. We’ve passed another milestone. (Admittedly, these are “small potatoes,” but we get excited over baby steps. You have to when they’re the only type of steps you’re taking.) We were asked for directions and gave an answer that fit!

Suzanne and I attended the International Christian Fellowship this past Sunday. It’s a gathering of English speakers from about 24 different nations who want to worship Jesus. After church, rather than catching a bus nearby, we walked about 20 minutes to a popular area of town that features a market, a Western-type mall, and a park. From there we took a bus home that almost stops outside our door. On the bus, a young man turned to me and asked me a question in Russian. I didn’t have a clue what he said, but I answered confidently, “Nyet Russki.” (“No Russian.”) Not discouraged he tried again, “Do you speak English?” “Yes!” I answered with a fair amount of surprise. He proceeded to ask if I knew the way to a suburb which happens to be where our friends live. I told him to stay on the bus we were on, and after we got off it would be two more turns and then gave him the name of the bus stop. Wow! I’ve only been here three months and we’re able to help with directions!

You can see that we get excited over small things. It makes me wonder: what ever happened to our excitement over small things? We get excited when children accomplish small things. Why can’t we carry over some of that same excitement about the things that occur in our lives? What about our spiritual lives? Can we see progress? Perhaps we need some more celebrations to make our lives more exciting and less dull or routine. When we see progress let’s get excited that the Living God is active in our lives.