I don't know if it's the heat or lack of Christmas traditions in Thailand, but sometimes it's hard to get into the "Christmas spirit" here. But then I have to ask myself, "Am I just looking for Christmas decorations and music, or am thinking about Jesus' birth?" There's actually not an absence of Christmas decorations or Christmas music in Thailand. There is an absence of nativity scenes and recognition of Jesus' birth as the reason for the celebration though.
Thai Christians have challenged me when it comes to the meaning of Christmas. Christmas isn't an official holiday here, so most people go to work and/or school on Christmas. Still, Christians make it a point to evangelize at Christmas. Most Thai people know about Santa Claus and the reindeer, but they don't know the real reason for celebrating Christmas. It's a great starting point for sharing the Gospel. Our church and mission team put together many evangelistic events and I want to share a few of the highlights.
We put together a Christmas fair to invite people from the community to come to the church. The most popular things were the yard sale, games for kids and free food. We've had one girl who came to the fair start coming to our English classes.
We also taught our elementary school English students to sing Christmas songs in English. They invited their parents to a special presentation. After the kids sang, we explained why we celebrate Christmas and then gave the kids Christmas gifts. And what Christmas celebration would be complete without food? We had a few other events as well. I pray that the people who came to our events experienced the true Light of Christmas.
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