December 22, 2009 Liv and I hopped in the back of a Land Rover and took a 45ish minute ride that took us to a place that forever changed our lives. JBFC. Now, technically, the place did not change our lives, but the people and experiences there that God used to teach us new things changed our lives. JBFC is a home for girls that was started by a guy my age from Oklahoma. You can check out what they are all about here. After getting ourselves settled in, spending some time getting to know the girls, and learning how things were done, we were ready to do something.
It was Christmas Eve... On Christmas Eve I typically sleep in, spend sometime with the family, maybe bake a few cookies, then attend the candlelight/communion service at church followed by a Christmas get together with some families from church. Ha...that's not the way Christmas Eve works in Africa!
We got up, grabbed some breakfast and got our assignment for the day. What was that you ask? Painting. Painting the walls of the school that would be opening in 2 days. Being involved in Children's ministry I am used to painting. I'm just saying that you don't go to a store and buy VBS backdrops! As Liv and I walked down to the school I thought to myself, "This is nothing...We can knock this out in no time flat!" I was sadly mistaken! Chris showed us the walls that needed to be painted. Three of the outside walls then 2-3 classrooms. Piece of cake...So I thought. Liv and I grabbed our rollers and dove right into the pale yellow paint. As we began to paint we noticed a few things. The first thing we noticed was how runny the paint was. Now, when I say runny, I mean runny. Like it was so thin that as we rolled it on we ourselves were covered in splatter. I could live with that...It was kind of fun. Then we noticed this distinct smell. After doing a little research we found that they put kerosene in their paint to make it go farther. So not only were we going to be splattered with paint, but we were also going to smell like kerosene too. I guess I could live with that. Finally we noticed our hands. After just a few minutes our hands began to ache. African paint rollers are well...horrible. Within minutes we both had huge blisters...I could live with that until they started to bleed and paint mixed with kerosene got into them. OUCH!
Although the conditions weren't great (Did I mention it was summer time in Africa and it was WAY HOT!) we both were having fun. As we painted we both reflected on past Christmas' and shared stories from when we were kids. We were sharing our favorite things about Christmas Eve and we both agreed how much we loved the Christmas Eve service at church. We both love the music at it. That led us into a conversation about Christmas songs and it was at that point that we both wished we had a radio that played Christmas music. Well I didn't have a radio, but I did have a Liv. I always tell her she is like a personal jukebox. I could think about a song and she could sing it. It's crazy, but it was useful! I'm pretty sure for the next two hours she sang every Christmas song ever written and it was awesome. The African men working on the other side of school kept looking through the windows at us and laughing! It was a little piece of home in Africa.
Well what started out as a couple of hours of worked turned into 5. By the time we finished the all the walls we were covered in paint and blisters. However, if you look at the picture bellow I would say we did a pretty good job!
The picture on the right is one of the photos we took once we were done. Notice all the paint on our face. I'm pretty sure this was taken after we had already washed our face once! It was a long, tiring, messy, and somewhat painful experience, but we made the most of it! As I laid on my bunk before dinner while Liv was showering I thought about how my family was just getting up and starting their Christmas Eve, while I missed them I knew that I was exactly where I was supposed to be. I also thought that my Christmas Eve could not get any better...Boy was I wrong!
We cleaned up, rested a little, and did some crafts with the girls before dinner. Typically we ate our meals in Chris' house and they were somewhat "American" meals. Chris had to go into town to pick up another guest from the airport so we were going to eat dinner with the girls and the matrons in their dinning hall. We walked into the dinning hall and were directed to go to the front and fix our plates. Our Christmas Eve dinner consisted of rice, beans, and fresh mango. Hands down the best Christmas Eve dinner ever.
We went and set at a table and our three little girls that followed us everywhere came and set with us. This is a picture of them. From left to right it's Salome, Abby, and Zia. LOVE these girls! Anyway, they joined us at our table, just the 5 of us. A far cry from me sitting in house of about 30 on Christmas Eve. It was getting dark outside and generator had not been plugged in yet so one of the older girls came and set a lantern in the middle of our table. It was Christmas Eve...in Africa...We were sitting at a table with three young girls who had been orphaned...eating rice, beans, and mango for dinner...It was a Christmas Eve I will never forget.
As I sat there soaking it all in, I had a moment. One of those moments where you feel a lump in your throat and then it takes over your whole body and you kind of think a tear might be coming. It was a moment worth remembering. It was a very humbling moment. Who was I that God called me halfway around the world to share His live at Christmas time. There definitely was a tear. To keep from sobbing like a baby I looked across the table at Liv to see if she could lighten the moment....It didn't help. The moment we made eye contact I knew she was having the same exact moment I was having. We both sat there for a few minutes soaking it all in...There definitely was more than one tear! It was incredible and life changing for both of us.
After we collected ourselves and finished dinner we wanted to spend a little more time with the girls. The girls LOVE to sing and so does Liv so she decided to teach them Silent Night in English. We sang together and it was awesome. One of the girls pulled out their Swahili hymnal and opened it up to Silent Night. They then taught it to us in Swahili. We spent the next hour or so singing hymns with them in Swahili. Well, Liv did most of the singing and I held the flashlight so we could see! Yeah, I do not sing any better in Swahili than I do in English! :)
It was an absolutely incredible evening. Usually at night I would take a shower and by the time I got back to the room Liv would be half asleep. Not that night. She was wide awake still humming Silent Night as she laid in her bunk. We ended up talking for awhile and swapping stories from the day of how God spoke to us. We both were changed. We both experienced a Christmas Eve that we would never forget.
From that moment on Christmas Eve would never be the same for me. It used to be about getting all the presents wrapped, cookies baked, and plans for Christmas day in order. This Christmas Eve all I can think about are the faces of the kids in Africa. This Christmas Eve I spent my time thinking of them, praying for them and thinking of things I can do to minster to them. Jesus came that Christmas Eve many years ago to give. He came to give us life. Abundant life. You and I have been abundantly blessed...How are you going to give?
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