December 21, 2012     From Africa blogger "Bakhita"      Previous articles

              Christmas in Africa - a day of unity and peace
 

We all look forward to Christmas! Wherever you go, shops and streets are all decorated with lights and Christmas trees and with color and glitter. For most African families, those in mud huts are reworking their huts by plastering the walls with more cow dung and white chalk from the river. Others are buying the decorating paper, and the children are putting up the decorations and the balloons. Tailors are busy making new outfits for children.

On the day itself, you will see families streaming to church- even the men who rarely go to church, will take their role as head of the families seriously and take their families to church. There will be the aroma of homemade food - chicken stew or roast beef/goat meat - and families and friends will get together and enjoy the feast.  

When the media brings stories on Africa on our screens, they only show the miserable or sorry state of Africa , depicting doom and misery and hopelessness. What I would like to see, just this once, is beautiful smiling faces of African children, of African men and women, all united in jubilation and in prayer, thanking God for giving the world His only begotten child and son. Because on this day, there is no poverty; there is no war; there are no tears!  

The male child is a considered an important child in the African setting because this is the child that will carry the name of the father hence showing perpetuity. Hence, for God to have given His ONLY child and a son at that, goes further to strengthen the case and beyond a shadow of doubt that that God loves us.  

On this day, what is common to everyone around the world and what unites us- no matter our color or culture, rich or poor, we all get together in prayer and in celebrating the birth of Christ. If we can do this for a day, why can we not make it a daily occurrence…. Lets celebrate Jesus Christ everyday, Let Him Reign! Amen  

Merry Christmas to everyone around the world!