Christmas Programs

Yesterday was the Christmas program at Carlsen Field Mennonite Church. It was scheduled to start at 3:30, and we arrived around 2:30 to help get things ready. Mostly, people were putting together bags of treats for the kids afterward. Soon people started to arrive. The chairs filled up fast and soon there weren't enough chairs for everyone. I was surprised at how many people came considering that there are usually close to 20 people on a regular Sunday morning. We heard at the end that there were around 150 people, but we think that might have been a little high. The service consisted of the drama the youths had been working on, some singing of Christmas carols, our family performing Mary's Boy Child, my parents performing The Virgin Mary (on the spot, just to kill time), some people performing Away in a Manger and the preacher saying something. One of the things I noticed was that there was a very high proportion of children to adults. From what we heard, there were about 120 children and 30 adults. That means that mostly children came without their parents. But, they could walk because I think pretty much everyone except some of the members of the church were from the village. But, I'm still amazed in general at how many children come to church without parents.
~Olivia

We just returned from the Chaguanas Christmas program. We had been asked to sing a song there also. It seems that providing music in the churches has been a fairly major part of our work here. How fun. This morning we were at Charlieville Church where Richard preached and they needed someone who knew The First Noel well enough to lead it. They spontaneously called on me and all seemed so impressed that I could lead it.
Tonight I got to play the water jug again as percussion for Mary's Boy Child while Roxy played violin and Olivia played flute. But the really fun part was some of the other music we heard. Most of the time the music in the churches here is very American. But tonight we had one group that included a steel pan. That was the first time we really heard and saw it live. Another group performed another kind of traditional Spanish music called parang. While we have been hearing it on the radio, this is the first live group we've heard. All this happened along with skits by the 2 cell groups, the youth group and the kids club from the church. The program took place in the Savannah (park) under and around a tent. Several times during the program the rain fell hard and everyone had to try to squish together under the tent. Then it would stop and we'd wipe off the chairs and try spreading out again. I think by the end everyone was somewhat damp, but happy nonetheless.
~Barb

Just a few observations from the two Christmas programs the last couple of days:

• Both of the programs were held outside since neither of the churches have enough space inside for more than about 40 people. This marks the first time for me that I've attended an outdoor Christmas program without having to really bundle up in layers. In fact, at the program yesterday afternoon I was wearing short sleeves and still sweating in the heat. The rain and darkness made things much cooler this evening, but I still didn't need even a light jacket.
  
• Both of the churches also used the programs as a significant time to connect to the communities in which they meet. We had gone with members of the Carlsen Field Mennonite Church last weekend to hand out invitations in the neighborhood. I was amazed at how much response they got from this effort. A church that usually has about 20 people on a Sunday morning (essentially 3-4 families) ended up with around 150 for the Christmas program.

We look forward to another Christmas program at Hope Mennonite Church next weekend.
~Richard