Christmas With Family

Christmas celebration with family was great as this was first time with them in 22 years. I arrived at home on the 23rd and found that my folks were concerned I was not going to make it for Christmas day! Interestingly, they remembered I told them I would arrive on the 23rd, but for some reasons their level of anxiety had already risen when I arrived. It was not just to celebrate with them that topped their agenda, it seems. They expected me to bring for them new clothes and other Christmas amenities. Indeed, I had packed a duffel bag of used clothes and brought it with me. What mattered to me really was for them to have something to wear—old or new did not concern me much. Marching for Christmas celebration started at around 3 pm local time on December 24th, 2008. Here in Sudan, the weather is so hot. I failed to brave it so I retired to just standing under a tree to watch people singing and marching. They were singing with a rhythm that was family from my childhood. In Dinka, it goes: wo be rur ne cath duurku, wo be rur ne cath abe piny run. Dor ku wa ee kool ebenydit ee cen ben. Aa kaar be meenh ebeny dhiil ben. English translation: We will march praying. We will march the whole night till dawn. Let’s praise the lord, this the day He came. I want the son of God to come. This use to be a hit song! People kept singing till morning of Christmas day. But this time things appeared different. Everyone gathered at the church compound to waiting for the birth of the Messiah—the midnight baby. They all came with their mosquito nets as malaria is till the top killer in the region. In fact, I was so careless on this trip and I am about to pay for it. I had called home, while still in the States, to ask whether the floods that were there when I visited the area were still a problem in the village. I told the water had receded and that it was completely dry as the dry season started. I foolishly equated that as a recess for the mosquitoes! So, I left the US for Sudan unprepared. I arrived home the conditions where just as worst they were in September when I first visited. Mosquitoes’ pandemic disturbed church’s atmosphere of praying as the congregation waited for the son of God to be born at midnight. There is widespread level of insecurity as well. In a normal circumstance, or at least from what I remember of how Christmas celebration where done years prior to 1987, people would marching whole night as the song indicated. But, these are not normal circumstances—there is pandemic of mosquitoes coupled with greater insecurity. So I ended up sleeping at home and hoped that the blessing from the baby Jesus would trickledown to us who were sleeping away from the church. The morning came and the service was about to start. I hurriedly went to the church for prayers. The prayer leader led us to prayers and singing began. It was something I never imagined; certainly not what I saw 22 years ago. You see elders jumping up and down full with joy and spirit. Honestly, the environment was no longer soothing—I was caught off guard. Even the preaching got very interesting. The preacher was preaching and someone in the congregation got offended. Normally, you would take sermon that touch you in any way, good or bad, to be God’s message to you. Again, that is normally as I remember from 22 years ago. But, now is now and things must work, I suppose, the way they do now. That’s how much Christmas celebration went. Now, I am back in our office in Juba and will be traveling to Nairobi Kenya for our program’s launch workshop. It looks like I am going to have very interesting materials to work with for my blog in the next few months. Until then, I wish everyone Happy New Year 2009. Salaam alakum (peace be with you)!!