At the end of each year we celebrate Jesus' birthday as well as the birthday of each Ayoré child in the three villages where we mostly work with the children. This past week we had our Feliz Navidad and Feliz Cumpleaños('Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday') party in each of the villages. The children rarely know the actual date of their birthday so celebrating them all at once is an ideal occasion. We pass out cake and koolaid while wishing each of them a Merry Christmas and a Happy Birthday. Some of them like to tell us how old they are now and others only know their approximate age. All the same we celebrate. The celebration comes after a Sunday School type lesson on Jesus' birth and why it is that we celebrate Christmas at all. In one of the villages I was telling the story of Mary, Joseph and Jesus when I pointed to the poster of the nativity scene and asked the children where was Mary. They brought smiles and laughs to us and the other adults around when more than one of them pointed at one of the Ayoré women named Mary that was sitting in on the lesson. In another village Charles and I were sad to hear when we asked why we celebrate Christmas not one of the 30-something children could come up with the answer. They were all unaware of the connection between Christmas and Jesus although so many of them had heard of both separately. We pray that God would do a mighty work in the lives of these children and use them to speak to their parents and entire communities about Jesus. Please pray with us for these children this Christmas season.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Ayoré Team Christmas Dinner
It is tradition to have an Ayoré Team dinner at the end of the year. The evening allows for a time to gather outside of work and ministry and enjoy each other. In addition, we invite those who help our team throughout the year with camps, medical attention and so on. Charles and I hosted the dinner at our house Friday, December 14 and I think it was a very merry time for all 40 of us. Normally the dinner consists of traditional Bolivian cuisine - steak, yuca, cheese rice and salad. This year we diverted a little from the norm and Charles made Texas-style brisket. Since we aren't huge fans of the boiled yuca we substituted baked beans and ended with the popular Latin dessert Tres Leches.
(This is Dra. Jenny Vidal - my doctor who will deliver Baby McCall - and me in the baby's room after the dinner.)
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