Dear friends,
Christmas customs around the world are very diverse! For Aruamus, living in the tropical rainforest of Papua New Guinea, commercialized Christmas does not happen!
There are no stores in which to over-buy lots of “seasonal stuff” or gifts for people; in fact there are no stores at all. When you need food, you go to your garden and dig it up, or you go hunting or fishing for your meat. On the other hand, Aruamus give to each other all the time; they have an underlying cultural value of reciprocity; in their minds a good person is a generous person; so giving to each other all year long is a habit.
At Christmas, there is no yule-tide hype and no Santa-legend. No one puts colored lights on houses, because no one even has electricity. No one sends Christmas cards; there is no Post Office out in the jungle. There is no snow or dreaming of a white Christmas. In fact December is just the beginning of the rainy season, so trails tend to be pretty muddy. Sitting around a fire place drinking egg nog does not happen; however Aruamus ALL cook over open fires every day — so they do sit around their fires!
For the Aruamus who have become Christians, Christmas is a time to remember Jesus. They remember his birth, his life, his sacrifice for them, his gift of life to them.
The churches from several of their denominations hold Christmas Conventions where they travel from outlying villages to the village hosting the convention. They spend 3 or 4 days joyfully worshipping, doing Christmas dramas, fellowshipping and encouraging each other in their walk with the Lord.
This year, for the first time ever, the Aruamu churches from a more liturgical stream, are using their very own Aruamu language Lectionary to celebrate all the Sundays of Advent, and to use as they worship on Christmas eve and Christmas day. (You’ll recall that our translation team has worked to complete all the verses in the Lectionary over the last couple of years,and published Year B in September. Year B will be used throughout 2015, but starts December 2014, with the Christmas Advent season.)
How we thank God for his inexpressible gift — Jesus! (2 Cor 9:15) What a blessing it is to have a part in bringing God’s Word to life for language groups of the world
which have not had it before. What a blessing it is that the true meaning of Christmas — the celebration of Jesus’ coming — can be expressed in so many diverse ways around the world!
Thank you SO much for praying for us and for partnering with us in Bible translation ministry. May God bless you this Christmas.
With love,
Marsha and Nathan Miles
