The Mission Diaries

After a brief interlude to give you some news from Central America, let’s go back to the discussion about holiday traditions. For some initial research I recommend this link at ChristianityToday.com, Christmas Origins.

One of the articles has an interesting summary of the history of December 25 as the date for Jesus’ birth. The author concludes with this comment (the boldface highlight is mine):

The pagan origins of the Christmas date, as well as pagan origins for many Christmas customs (gift-giving and merrymaking from Roman Saturnalia; greenery, lights, and charity from the Roman New Year; Yule logs and various foods from Teutonic feasts), have always fueled arguments against the holiday. “It’s just paganism wrapped with a Christian bow,” naysayers argue. But while kowtowing to worldliness must always be a concern for Christians, the church has generally viewed efforts to reshape culture—including holidays—positively. As a theologian asserted in 320, “We hold this day holy, not like the pagans because of the birth of the sun, but because of him who made it.”

So, in essence, the early Christians thought not of where a given festivity came from, but what they made of it. One could dogmatically attach a non-Christian label to many celebrations in our society, based solely on their origin. Perhaps it is better to seek a spiritual value to the celebrations that we do keep, and as Christians celebrate them in a way that pleases God and praises and proclaims his glory.

(to be continued…)

Jaime De Anda

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As I was praying yesterday, I realized that I haven’t posted any recent news from the mission field. Please excuse my musings and let me share some great news.

From Alberto and Tania Machuca (Aguascalientes, Mexico) we have this:

The church in Aguascalientes, Mexico, celebrated their year end family dinner in the best way possible: by welcoming a new member to the family of God! After a great fellowship meal and gift exchange, the 60 disciples and friends witnessed the baptism of Roberto Valdes. Roberto had been searching for spiritual answers for a long time; he had even read through the whole Bible on his own! A sister who lived in the same neighborhood had been sharing her faith from house to house, but never got an answer when she knocked at Roberto’s door. So she left an invitation to church at the door and prayed that God would do the rest. Roberto had been facing some tough problems when he found the invitation at his doorstep. He started coming to church and studying the Bible with some of the brothers, and now he is our brother in Christ!

From the church in Managua, Nicaragua, our brother Carlos Mendieta writes:

The church in Managua, Nicaragua, recently celebrated their 9th Anniversary with an event titled “Let Your Light Shine”. A young couple, Jorge and Elizabeth, celebrated in a very special way. Elizabeth’s sister, who is a Christian, would always tell her about the church. Although Jorge and Elizabeth lived several hundred kilometers from Managua, whenever they had a chance they would visit the church. Through different situations that showed God’s mercy at work, they ended up moving to Managua, where they studied the Bible and were baptized during our anniversary celebration!

This has been a time of mixed emotions, though, because our ministry leaders, Wilfredo and Diana Coello, have been called back to Honduras after serving us for 4 years. They will serve the church in San Pedro Sula. Marcelo and Maria Gema Carcamo (right), who were converted 8 years ago, will lead the Managua church. We are grateful for the Coellos and trust that God will use them powerfully in Honduras, and we are also encouraged by the Carcamos and their heart to serve God.

God continues to do amazing things in our mission field. We’ll keep you posted on the churches’ plans for the coming year.

Jaime De Anda

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We haven’t addressed the questions about Christmas: should Christians celebrate it? After all, isn’t it just a pagan celebration with Christian “dressing” all over it? Wasn’t Jesus really born in the summertime?

Like I mentioned in an earlier post, I have several perspectives on these questions. Let’s talk about the timing of Christmas… 

6 For to us a child is born,
       to us a son is given,
       and the government will be on his shoulders.
       And he will be called
       Wonderful Counselor, [b] Mighty God,
       Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
 7 Of the increase of his government and peace
       there will be no end.
       He will reign on David’s throne
       and over his kingdom,
       establishing and upholding it
       with justice and righteousness
       from that time on and forever.
       The zeal of the LORD Almighty
       will accomplish this.
       (Isaiah Chapter 9, NIV)

The birth of Christ was foretold by the prophet Isaiah hundreds of year before it happened. Isaiah’s prophecy spoke of a kingdom that would be established and would last forever. Like many of God’s works, the coming of Christ was more than a historical event. It was the fulfillment of God’s plan of deliverance for His people: and that includes you and me. As such, I believe that it is totally extemporaneous. It doesn’t really matter what time of year Jesus was born. It doesn’t matter if the Wise Men were three or more. It doesn’t matter if they visited the baby Jesus at the manger or at a house. It doesn’t matter that shepherds might not have been tending sheep during the winter months.

The point is: God came through. He fulfilled His promise. A savior, a deliverer, a king was born, and -with him- our hopes and dreams…

And, whatever the “dressing”, that is worth celebrating!

(to be continued)

Jaime De Anda

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As I have mentioned in previous posts, one of the challenges faced by missionary families is the instability of their lifestle. Your children set roots and make new friends, and then you get the call to go somewhere else the next year. I’m sure that there are other fields of work where the families face similar challenges (example: the military). In my previous post I talked about family traditions and how different elements of the family culture serve as emotional anchors. Wherever you live, these traditions go with you and provide your children with a sense of stability. However, family traditions are not necessarily unique to a Christian missionary family. The true anchor for a Christian family is Christ himself.

For us, God’s kingdom provided a background for everything we did and thought. Every experience, every moment, was cherished because we knew by faith that everything that happened was an expression of God’s dynamic presence in our lives. Everything fit into a greater scheme.

One day we asked our five-year-old son Ruben to draw a picture of God. He drew a big, amorphous “thing” with a smile on it. We asked him what it was, and he explained, “It’s a big rock!” In his own way, he understood one key concept, one foundational value that many children are missing today: There can be stability, there can be security, there is a source of strength in this life, and it is God.

This strength, this stability, this security became a foundation for our family. No matter what challenges we faced, no matter that we would sin and even hurt each other’s feelings, we had the constant presence of our Father, always there to love us, hold us and take care of us. This was the context of my relationship with my children. They knew that Dad was not perfect, that he could “mess up.” They knew that every year came with the possibility of another move. But they did not get insecure or destabilized because they knew that God was in control of everything.

Which brings us back to Christmas… (to be continued)

Jaime De Anda

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This past week our family carried on with one of our traditions: the Christmas Tree. For a long time we have kept to this yearly ritual. We all pack into the car, put on a Christmas CD full blast (since the 90′s it’s been Mariah Carey), and we ride out to buy our Christmas tree. When we get back to the house, we set it down in its stand with great teamwork and geometric precision :-) and wait one day for the branches to drop down. Then we all participate in the decoration. I used to put the lights but now my son Darren, who is the tallest, has taken over that very important role. Mom cannot do any of the physical work these days, but she checks in periodically to give her yay or nay. When we lived in New England, she would make hot apple cider, but we’ve changed that in recent years because we’ve lived in warmer climates. When the tree is all decked out, we step back and for a few minutes stand in awe, gazing at the current year’s masterpiece, until someone breaks the silence with a “Wow! Looks great!”

People have sometimes asked me, “Should Christians celebrate Christmas? After all, wasn’t it originally a pagan holiday?”… or “Wasn’t Jesus really born in the summertime?”… and, of course, “Isn’t the Christmas tree a carryover from pagan religions?”

I have a few thoughts on the subject that I’ll share this week with our readers.

But let me say this first: For those of us who went to the mission field, who left behind family and friends and had to forge a new home and sometimes a new cultural identity, family “traditions” -like the one I describe above- served as an emotional anchor in the midst of frequent changes in circumstance. Together with other family traditions (the Saturday Pancake Breakfast, the Bedtime Story and Prayer Time, the Family Time, and the Spring Break vacation), these elements of our family culture provided fun and great memories to mark the time in the development of our relationships. They also gave our family an identity that went with us wherever we lived. It said to our children: We may have to leave this place and live somewhere else next year, but our family life will continue the same way.

And, at the very center of our family culture, stood the strongest anchor of all: Christ…  (to be continued)

Jaime De Anda

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