December 2010
Dear Friends,
Merry Christmas! It’s always fun (and a little strange) for me to wish you a Merry Christmas so early. But you won’t receive another letter from me until after the New Year, so I guess I can be early.
Usually, when I write my December letter we haven’t even started to think about Christmas yet here in Galati. But this year is a little different. Both of our regular guitar players (Magda and Rachel) left last January to serve with Word Made Flesh in Moldova. That left us with no guitarists. But Ana and Fani have jumped in to take turns leading us in worship. And with Christmas fast approaching, it also falls to them to lead our caroling with the kids. They aren’t super confident in their guitar abilities just yet, so they said we needed to start having practice with the kids extra early. So the center is already being filled with the sounds of little singing voices. I love it.
As in years past, this season promises to be a busy one for us. We’re planning a pageant for the parents and siblings of the children. We’re also going to have a separate show for their classmates to attend. We have a staff Christmas party planned. And nearly all our staff members are very involved in their local church, so that fills the calendar, as well.
We are planning once again to have two evenings of caroling with the children. On the 23rd of December we will go to each of the children’s homes to proclaim the birth of Jesus to their families and neighbors. This is always a highlight of the year. It’s so amazing to go as a joy-filled group into some of the poorest areas of town to proclaim the great news.
The second night of caroling, on the 24th, is for trekking all over the city to the homes of those here in Galati who support our ministry. This, too, is a fun night. It’s a time for many to see the faces of the children they have prayed for so often. Wouldn’t it be fun if we showed up at your house on Christmas Eve to sing for you? I wish we could!
Then, of course, comes our annual all-night celebration on the evening of the 25th. We have a time of reading the Christmas Story together followed by prayer and singing Christmas carols. The rest of the evening is filled with games, art, decorating cookies, and so on. Around 11pm we have Christmas dinner with all the traditional Romanian trimmings. And after dinner… presents! I can’t wait to see all the new kids open their gifts. We have more new children this year than we ever had at one time. It should be a great time.
After presents, we put out the mattresses and start watching films. There are usually three or four films through the entire night. We like to “keep score” by watching to see which kids fall asleep during which movie. There are always serious bragging rights for anyone that sees them all.
Please remember us this Christmas season. Pray that Jesus will be glorified in all of our planned celebrations. Pray that this would be a special time for the children to know Him even more. One more time, just in case you missed it… Merry Christmas!
Love,
Paul and Ana