Christmas in Kenya

Merry Christmas!!  Here in Kenya we have no snow and the weather is like summer-time in Colorado, so it feels not at all like winter.  For the past few days I have been out of school and I have been staying with Pastor Paul and his family.  We had a count-down to Christmas as well as Christmas movies every night.  The mood at their house was set for Christmas, even though the outdoors was nothing like it.  They put up a tree, played Christmas music, and had goodies just like Christmas in the States.  Although I have them here, I still dealt a lot with home-sickness.  This is the time for family and I truly missed all my family and friends back in the States.

Christmas Day was our "Christmas Eve," since we had church that morning, we couldn't hang out in our pajamas all day.  On Dec. 25, we had a church service and a time of testimonies at the church.  It was good to be able to share that day with the people from our church.  Afterward, we had cookies and juice and a time of fellowship.

Boxing Day (Dec. 26) was "Christmas Day".  We got up early and unwrapped presents.  Finding presents here is a task and I tend to procrastinate in the States, so the same thing happened.  I spent over an hour in the local Masai market looking for good presents.  As we opened presents, each person would have a present and then everyone would watch that person open the gift.  Pastor Paul and Emily were nice enough to think of me and get me some presents when they were in Colorado in October.  It was a great Christmas Day.  We had lots of food and goodies.  We spent the rest of the day playing with presents and hanging out.

Don't forget that Christ is the true reason for Christmas!!