January Christmas Party

Christmas was extended in our house because I wanted to have a Christmas party for the ladies in the village. But, we couldn't have a Christmas party until their mourning time was finished. We had to wait until the middle of January! So, I kept my tree up and put my plans aside until after the New Year.

It was a crazy party to plan because Arabs think and plan very differently than I do. I wasn't honestly sure what was going to happen...if anyone was going to come or not. They were nervous to come to my house because they didn't know what to expect at a Christian's house.

I tried to do things that my Arab friends would be familiar with so that it wouldn't be so weird for them. I was thankful to have my "sisters" come help me with this party. I couldn't have done it without their help!

I made some star ornaments for my friends to paint. At first they weren't sure what to think of this idea. But it didn't take long for them to start painting!

Here are some of the finished star ornaments. Later, when I read the Christmas story, they learned about the wise-men who followed  the star to find Jesus.

After painting the ornaments we sat down to eat dinner together. We ordered chicken and rice from a local restaurant. Then we put plastic down on the floor so that we could sit and eat together. It's normal to eat with your hands here. They're used to eating like this, so it was comfortable for them!

I love this picture! It shows the food and all of the hands eating the food. It isn't ok for us to share pictures of ladies' faces.

After dinner we sat down together for a reading. This is what they do at their celebrations. So it was comfortable for them to sit and listen to me read from the Bible in Arabic. I had been practicing reading this passage for a week, but I was still a little bit nervous!

Several of the ladies took pictures of me reading! They loved hearing me read in Arabic.

After the reading we had tea and coffee.

Pictures from the party showed up on Instagram, which is very popular here. Here's one of the pictures that a friend posted.

Here's another picture that this friend posted of her son eating the chicken and rice. Her description of the picture talks about how it's just like they're used to eating when they have celebrations!
















The next day we had another small party in the afternoon for another friend and her sisters who couldn't come to the big party. We did most of the same things and we had a lot of fun at this party too!

They loved painting the ornaments just like the ladies at the other party!

Next we sat together and prepared for the reading.

My friend took these pictures of me.

After the reading we had cake instead of rice & chicken.

This friend posted many  pictures on Instagram. I loved this picture of Melissa with the tray of tea cups! Her comment about Melissa is that she is so kind & beautiful!