Two days after Christmas, there was a speacial community outreach for the children.  It was amazing as over 400 children filled the sanctuary of Abundant Life Church.  There were even children from the families of the Shiite muslims that the church reached out to during the war last summer.  The atmosphere was electric, as you can imagine from the craziness of having so many kids running around.  It was so fun watching the children singing songs and dancing for Jesus.  The story of Christ's birth was shared with them.  The message of salvation was given through the "Wordless Book"  where colors are used to explain that our lives were dark with sin and it is the blood of Jesus that makes us white as snow.  It was a wonderful opportunity to sow God's Word in so many young hearts.

On December 22, we turned our regular weekly youth meeting into a Christmas celebration.  It was a great time with the youth of Abundant Life Church filled with fun games, and of course plenty of food.  Everything in Lebanon involves plenty of food.  The theme for the night was "Rebirth of Hope".  it was inspiring as we focused on the hope that was renewed when our Saviour came to live amoung us, and the hope that is reborn when He comes to live in our hearts.  We were filled with hope for this new year that we will see God do a new thing in the youth of Lebanon.

 My first Christmas in Lebanon was so great.  I stayed with a family from the church who lives in the mountains about an hour from where I live.  It was much colder than in Beirut, which made it even better.  The best part about staying with Hagop and Najwa Kassabian is that Hagop has three brothers who live near and came over with their families to celebrate.  So, it was a big crowd, which is what I am used to for the holidays.  Everyone there is very involved in the church and I am very close to them, so it was like being with family.  Another family from the church, the Makassians, joined our celebration; and Pastor Chady and his brother, Hady, came by after midnight.  (This is Lebanon, at midnight the night is still young).

 

I know that most people want to know how Christmas is different here.  I would say the biggest difference is food.  Other than that, it is very similar.  The Christmas decorations look the same, most families put up a Christmas trees and a nativity set, and you hear Christmas carols playing everywhere you go.  The food we had was not the same.  Many families do have a turkey, but as far as I know, there is no stuffing or many of the other traditional American foods.  We did have plenty of food, though. Everything from pizza to hummus, including tabouli, chicken Caesar salad and crab salad, baba ghanoush, beets (that I helped peel and cut up, I didn’t even know that beets came from anywhere but a can), raw meat, kibbi, some other things that I don’t know the name of, several types of cheese, roasted chestnuts and plenty of fruit including a couple that I had never seen before coming to Lebanon.  So much food that even several hours later we still didn’t have room for desert.  This, I would say, is another difference; the focus being on the dinner and not so much on the dessert.  In America, well at least my family, we have just as much dessert as the main dishes, and you are never too full for pie. 

 

My first Christmas in Lebanon was very good.  Even though I wasn’t with my family in the States,  I was with family here in Lebanon.  I could not have asked for a better place to spend the holidays.

 

I hope that your Christmas was good as well, and that this New Year has many blessings in store for you.

 

God bless, Mary Beth Thoms

Many of you have asked what Christmas is like here.  In most ways, it is like being in America.  I would say that the biggest difference is that it starts a little later here, not until December.  Also, the old Christmas movies, like "It's a Wonderful Life" and the orginal "Miracle on 34th Street", don't seem very common here.  It is a lot like America here, though.  There are Chrismas lights and decorations on the streets and in the stores, and you hear the traditional and the new Christmas songs everywhere you go.  Everyone has a Christmas tree in their home, and as Christmas day approaches they will place presents underneath the tree.  This season has been a little different for me, not being with family, but I am enjoying the holidays here.  It really is the most wonderful time of year, it is amazing to think of how all over the world people are celebrating the birth of our Savior.