Christmas Reading

Last year we hosted a Christmas Reading in January for the ladies in the village and we were excited to do it again this year! Many of my Arab friends had expressed that they were looking forward to this event again!

Just like last year, we had to wait until their mourning time was finished until we could have a celebration. Last year several of my friends from the village came to my house, but I have gotten acquainted with many more since then.

I decided to invite everyone I could think of including their children, their sisters, and their mothers. I've been to many readings in the village and I've seen how they can pack into a place. Even still, I was nervous that either too many people would come or that nobody would come. It's not real easy to get a clear answer from people if they're coming or not. Usually they just say "Inshallah," which means "If God wills it."

There's SO MUCH preparation that goes into this event! I was thankful to have Tim's parents here to help!

As I talked about all that we needed to do Gloria made lists! We went grocery shopping and filled up a cart full of juice, cakes, chips, and fruit. Then we went to a bakery and ordered trays of food to hand out.

Once everything was gathered we had a few friends over to help put the snack bags and the gift bags together.

We also made dough star ornaments for the ladies and the children to paint and take home.

Seriously, we worked hard the week before this event! I guess I forgot to take a picture of the 50 children's gifts that we wrapped!

Tim borrowed a microphone and speaker from his friend so that everyone would be able to hear the reading.

I had been practicing reading a couple chapters of the Christmas story from the Arabic Bible. Joseph and Faith had learned Luke 2:1-20 in English. After lots of practice we were ready!!













Here's a video of the kids practicing the Christmas story one last time before the party started.


The Christmas Story by Joseph & Faith from Tim and Jeni Saltzman on Vimeo.

The paint was on the table ready to paint the star ornaments!

It was great to see the ladies and children painting!

It wasn't long before our house was full! There were some friends who came last year and many more that didn't come last year. It was such a blessing to have so many friends come to my house!

After people painted and had some snacks, they started asking me: "When are you going to read?!?"
So, I sat down to read. I know that the Lord was helping me because it seemed so chaotic...it wasn't quiet at all with kids running around. The speaker made it possible for people to hear what I was reading.

After I read, Joseph and Faith told the story in English. Everyone, including the kids, loved hearing them! Joseph and Faith did really well even with so many people watching them!

One of our most entertaining guests was the old lady on the end of this row. She didn't have any teeth and she couldn't see very well, but that didn't stop her from having fun!! A few times we made the typical Arab celebration noise that's a sharp trill. It's hard to describe, but it sure is fun!
















Here's a video I found of the noise she made. It's called "ululation."

After the reading we gave gifts to the children and to the ladies. It's such a joy to know that each lady took a copy of God's word home with her that evening!! This made all of the work worth it completely!