It's Begining To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Yes, even here near the equator, it is begining to look like Christmas. Because the Ticos do not celebrate Halloween, the stores here start putting up their Christmas decorations in September after their National Independence day. We actually put up our donated Christmas tree (thanks Blackstock family- we'll be praying for you every time we light it up as you go to El Salvador to serve the Lord!) before Thanksgiving. A first in the Nelson house, I assure you. Now we have our very own Charlie Brown Christmas tree and it couldn't be lovelier.

Now Costa Rica does not have snow, but they do have rain!!!!! They even have a special type of rain in their "winter" (invierno) season. It is called "pelo de gato" which means "hair of the cat". When it first starts falling you feel like it is tiny little snow flakes, except it is 60 degrees instead of 30 degrees. We do get down into the 50s most every night, and so it does feel a little more like Christmas outside with the weather being a little cooler and definitely wet.

Costa Ricans love their Christmas music! We had the privilege of learning some songs in language school. Many of them are about the first Christmas. Funny enough most of those songs are about Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, and the donkey...yes, I said and the donkey! Apparently a Christmas song is not complete without the little burro in the lyrics. There are also many songs with words that even the ticos could not really give the definition of (just think ra pa pum pum from drummer boy or fa la la la la). My favorite was a song that talked about asking the virgin Mary to come and help the people because the angels were taking all the chocolate for themselves. Yes, very creative to say the least!

The best part for me though was the piñatas. I always thought that piñatas were for children, but not so here! They had one for the female students, one for the males, and one for the teachers. It was funny to watch the teachers (who organized the whole event) trick us gringos with moving the piñatas. As the gringo would be blindfolded and try to hit the piñata, the teacher with the rope would move it up and down, and another teacher would sometimes pull it completely out of the way leaving the gringo swinging fruitlessly in the air. This was all very amusing, but the best part was when the teachers did the same thing to their own people hitting their piñata. Even better was the baseball dive all of them took after the piñata broke and candy went everywhere! They were all spread out on the floor just scooping in the candy with both arms. ¡Que divertido!

Last, but not least, is the upcoming Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. It is because of this annual offering we are able to be here and to be a part of the mission work God has given us. We realize the economy is struggling globally right now. We even feel it here as food and utility prices are much higher here than in the US and it tends to make this time of year a little more difficult. We pray that despite the economic struggles that Americans are facing, giving this year will be able to sustain the more than 5500 missionaries currently on the field with the IMB. We know that God is in control, and we thank each of you for your continued faithful support of this vital work God is doing around the world.
This next week is the week of prayer for international missions. We encourage everyone to please take the time each day to pray for missionaries around the world. Christmas is difficult for all of us as we are away from our family and friends, adjusting to a new culture, and missing many of the simple comforts from home during the Holiday Season. Despite all this we are so blessed to be able to share what this season is really all about with the people we are serving. Thank you so much for your prayer support and continued support to Lottie Moon. We would not be here without it.