Ho Ho Ho

Christmas always facinates me how much we anticipate the day and then when it arrives it's still passes in the same 24 hour time span just as the rest of the days in the year does. Having a Christmas away from the Christmas stuff was rather refreshing. It was just a lazy day of watching a DVD, reading and heading to the market to try to create something for a Christmas dinner. Shocking as it may seem I officially cooked my first Christmas meal. We didn't have the normal turkey, sweet potatoes and apple pie but it still passed a a decent supper. We had a beef stew, biscuits and fruit salad. It was kind of nice to make a meal and share it with my little family here. I can't complain too much. Then I also got to chat with my parents for a while and a couple of good friends. All in all a sucessful Christmas day.

There has been a bit of a theme running through my life lately that popped up again yesterday. It the verse Matthew 7:8 about being persistant in our prayers and to continue to ask God for stuff. This has really been important for me here in praying for peace in Darfur. It's easy to live in the middle of this crisis and get your work done but forget that only God can bring the peace that will solve this chaos. But there are other areas of my life that I quit praying for because I feel like God knows this stuff, so why do I have to keep asking for it? But I also know when I'm reminded to pray again something in me changes and I get a bit closer to the answer. So I was thinking about this when I was contemplating Christmas and the parts that I don't miss. I don't miss all the comercialism of it and the Santa part ot it. I know Santa is fun for kids and I don't shun it but as we grow up it seems a little crazy how big of a part of our Christmas this character remains. Santa seems like this big guy that all we have to do is ask him for what we want and magically it will appear under the Christmas Tree Christmas morning. So we tend to ask our families for stuff that we want and we ask Santa for what we want but do we ask God for what we want? I was thinking it's wrong to ask Jesus for something on His birthday but really when we sit down and chat with Him and talk to him about what our heart really wants, that's a gift to Him. What Christmas is all about is that He came so that He could be with us. He came so that I could ask Him for stuff and He could work in my life instead of Santa. It was a cool gift giving morning with me and Jesus talking about stuff that I want Him to do in my life that I know can't happen without His help. How sweet is that!

So that is my Christmas revelation for 2006. Start asking again for the stuff that you have given up on. He promises that He will answer.

And Then There Was One

Well it’s just me and the boys. Mary Ann finally got out of Sudan after weeks of waiting for an exit visa and is now enjoying Christmas at home with her family. So that leaves me with 6 guys. I don’t think it will be so bad to be the SP Princess but I will miss the good girl talks where you are allowed to be way too emotional and still be heard and understood. But the good news is that my friend that I worked with in Mozambique has finally arrived in Sudan. He’s still sitting in Khartoum waiting for a travel permit but at least he is here. So it looks like there will be three of us in Nyala for Christmas. It will be very quiet and in some ways I’m looking forward to that part of it.

This is my second Christmas in Africa. The first one was spent in the bush in Ethiopia far from a phone or internet to call home. But this year I will be able to at least communicate with friends and family. But it is still the farthest thing from a Canadian Christmas. It has cooled off a bit here and it’s kind of nice to sleep with blankets and have to wear a jacket in the mornings. But it will be a dusty Christmas rather than a white one. I inherited a Christmas Tree shaped candle which is sitting on the two gifts that I brought back with me to be opened Christmas morning. That’s about as festive as it gets. I was going to pick up some Christmas lights when I was in Khartoum by time flew by and I missed the opportunity. But I have realized that even though the egg nog, shortbread cookies and turkey will be missed it’s more about the friends and family time that will make it a lonely Christmas. I love the Christmas parties and the gatherings where you huddle into a warm house and drink hot cider and eat too much and talk about nothing. There are some other expats from other NGO’s that will be out here so maybe to can do a little of that even if it looks a little different.

Things here in Darfur continue to decline. NGO’s are starting to pull out of areas because it has gotten too dangerous. Vehicles are being stolen every week and there is not much we can do about it. So far we have been blessed to not have any incidents. We have stopped working in one of our areas north of Nyala again. So we wait for things to quiet down again so we can head back in and pick up where we left off. The rest of our areas we continue to get the work done but food rations are being cut back in January so some of our activities will slow down. I don’t know if things will ever change here. Everyone just keeps on saying ‘it’s just a matter of time’. The implications for that are many. So we sit and see what time will bring.

So that’s the update from the dusty Canadian. I miss you all and I really wish we were together for Christmas but know that you are all in my heart and prayers. Until next blog …

The Gang

 
 Just thought I would post some picutres of all our staff - Enjoy!