Happy Christmas!

Instead of Merry Christmas here, it's Happy Christmas. It sure has been a while since I've last posted, and I apologize. Things have just beens so busy! I don't know where to start... How about Christmas Caroling?! I experienced my first caroling adventure in India and it was great! Janna and I had no idea what to expect when we arrived at the meeting place. Come to find out, we were going to be the only girls present. Can you say AWKWARD!? It was too late to turn around and go home, so we decided to be troopers. After all, we knew a few people that were there so we made the best of it. And it turned out to be one of the best nights ever!

The first stop was an apartment complex. Everyone made their way up the stairs and entered the house singing a Hindi Christmas song. We were greeted with croissants, cookies, and an amazing vegetable soup. The soup was so good that me and Janna had seconds. Little did we know that the soup was only the beginning of the food to come. At the second house, we were once again greeted with a meal. We asked the Pastor why there was more food and he simply stated, " Well of course, there will be food at every house. This is only the second one of the night out of five we are supposed to visit." Janna and I looked at each other in terror.

By the end of the night we never wanted to eat again. When ended up learning that when a caroling group from church gets together, it is planned what houses they will visit and what food will be prepared for them. It's basically a progressive dinner. But don't be fooled, you can't just not eat at a house because then you are offending the person who prepared the meal. Not to mention, it's completely normal to stay out till at least 2am. The people who commit to this are truly dedicated. They all have day jobs and get off late at night, but still chose to spend the remainder of their night caroling. And it's not just caroling that they spend their time. The church takes full advantage of the Christmas season and uses it to spread the Gospel. Before caroling, street evangelism takes place. Pastor Vincent said, " This is the only time of the year that we can share the Gospel in the streets without any problems." Janna and I started to discuss how amazing it is to see the fire that these people have for the Lord and spreading the Good News. I have never heard anyone complain of being tired from the night before. They are dedicated to sharing their Jesus and more of us need to do the same. America needs to get with it and go out in the communities to preach God's Word. We live in a country that allows us to have freedom of religion yet not very many of us use that to our advantage. There are people living in countries that can be killed for spreading God's Word yet they still choose to do it.

Christmas Day was just as fun for us... Janna and I woke up early to make hot chocolate for the guards in our apartment complex as a Christmas treat. The hot chocolate was accompanied with oatmeal peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. While handing out the goodies, we also handed out the gospel of John in Hindi. It was our way of spreading some Christmas cheer while evangelizing at the same time. When we came back inside, we made eggs and toast and opened up our stockings (a.k.a. Janna's socks) and our presents. We did this all while being dressed up. Janna put on her Snow White costume and I dressed up as Santa. Then the party began. If you haven't dressed up for Christmas, you really should. It just makes things that much more fun! Later that night we went to a friend's house for Christmas dinner and played some games, not to mention watched Home Alone :). Even though this was my first time away from home on Christmas, Janna made it feel like home to me. I can honestly say that my Christmas was amazing and I loved every minute of it. After all, it doesn't matter where you are or who your with on Christmas because it's about remembering Jesus. Nothing else really matters because Christmas wouldn't even exist if it wasn't for Jesus.

Oh and I forgot to tell you that Muan dressed up as Santa for the Burmese Refugee/ Slum School. The kids LOVED it! I've never seen happier kids. The night before, Janna and I wrapped at least 100 presents. It was a long night, but every minute of it was worth it when we seen the kid's faces. They even got hot chocolate and a Samosa(an Indian treat). It was so much fun and I'm beyond grateful that I could experience that. I'm just grateful for the opportunity to be in India! I would have never thought that I would be here three months after graduating high school and experiencing what I'm experiencing. God is so good and he is teaching me sooooo much! Thank you all for your prayers and support! Miss and love you all! I'll be home before you know it, time is flying by!!