Christmas!!!

Christmas in Obulle is one of my favorite times of the year. All my friends are home from boarding school, there are lots of church events, and everyone is preparing for a big celebration which means many shopping trips in town. Every December our church hosts a conference for its sister churches in various villages. This year's theme was our identity in Christ. I did not sit in on many of the sessions, but the few I did listen to where encouraging, exciting, and challenging. 

Preparations for lunch. 

Serving lunch. The man sitting next to me is Ojok. He will always make you laugh. It was so fun to hang out with him every day. 

Some of the cooks.

Samson and I are good friends. He gives me a big hug everytime I see him.

The amazing kitchen team that kept everyone fed. I spent most of my time in the kitchen - also called the power house. 

But I also helped teach the kids one morning. We did a short skit in which I was the Holy Spirit. 

My little buddy was tired of walking and being around a large group of people by the end of the day. He needed lots of hugs to keep going. 

We also did a live nativity this year which we called Journey to Jesus. While people practiced, some of us went to the trading center in invite people.

Some of the angels and shepherds. 

Christmas day we celebrated at church with a couple families. We had a big meal and played volleyball. We played adults vs kids. Everyone got into the game! 

A few of my closest friends in the village. It's becoming a Christmas tradition that we have a photo shoot in our Christmas clothes!

Christmas is my favorite time of year! I absolutely love celebrating the birth of Jesus. This year Lydia and I did a Bible study with the youth group about the value of human life. We related the sanctity of life to the Christmas story, describing factors such as Mary's age and virginity that would prompt her to have an abortion. We outlined three factors that make something valuable: the time and effort it takes to create something, it's purpose, and it's price. One lesson described the development of an unborn baby, displaying how God knit us together by hand. We also discussed how God created us with a purpose - we are not an accident, even if the world around us says we are. Finally, we reminded each other that Jesus paid a high price - his life - for us to be reconciled to God. We used these three points to explain to the youth that everyone has value in God's eyes. We challenged them to develope a lifestyle that values life, contradicting the culture. It was very special to watch the teenage girls hold examples of babies at 12 weeks of development and understand the growth of a baby through the visual of fruits. The young men were challenged by the example of Joseph and his response to Mary's pregnancy. It is very common in Uganda for kids to be raised by grandma because their parents were unmarried teenagers and are no longer together. The young men in the group resonated with Joseph's decision to love Mary and raise Jesus even though it was not his child. What a blessing it is to walk along side the youth here and be a part of their faith journey!