Christmas Eve or ‘Lords Leaping’

 

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining,

It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth.

Long lay the world, in sin and error pining,

Till He appeared and the soul felt it's worth.

 

A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks, a new and glorious morn.

 

Fall on your knees, o hear the angels voices,

O night divine, o night when Christ was born.

O night divine, o night, o night divine.

 

Truly He taught us to love one another,

His law is love and His gospel is peace.

Chains He shall break for the slave is our brother,

And in His name all oppression shall cease.

 

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

With all our hearts we praise His holy name.

 

Christ is the Lord, and we shall ever praise Him

His power and glory, evermore proclaim.

O night divine, o night, o night divine.

Have a blessed Christmas

bron

Ladies Dancing

I'm very excited. Due to a fairly last minute decision Suz and I are travelling to the village for Christmas! We'll spend three nights in Kyotera with Pastor Willy's family. I think there are around fourteen of us travelling in two vehicles tomorrow morning. It should be fun, there will be tents, many people and I've heard rumors of goat roasting.

Due to this unexpected turn of events I'm not sure if I'll be able to continue my twelve days as planned. I'm not sure if I'll have electricity (actually I'm fairly certain I won't) and I'm also not sure able signal strength for the internet. So we'll see.

At least for right now I'm going to put out two posts because it seems I missed my midnight cut-off for this one.

So, in case you don't hear from me before the 26th, Merry Christmas!

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 The Bible

Be blessed

bron

It’s now a little late to order Christmas gift cards but you should still check out the Australia HOPE International website. Giving someone hope shouldn’t be limited to Christmas.

Maids Milking

There are lots of things I associate with Christmas that really have no connection. Like shortbread biscuits in a tin. Today in the supermarket Suz and I found some and I couldn't resist getting some. Which went down a treat with a cup of tea after dinner as I reread the Christmas letter that my Grandma sent that I received today.

From the post mark it was posted in early November and has made it just in time. It was filled with news from home and finished with this verse.

Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11 The Bible

Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, born so that we could have life to the fullest. God made flesh, heaven sent to us, angels singing, shepherds bowing. And I too come and give my life to this Christ Child, this Saviour King.

Blessings

bron

Swans Swimming

I went to a missionary community Christmas party tonight that's a tradition here in Mbarara. While I didn't miss the absence of most Christmas traditions last year when I celebrated Christmas in Uganda, it was nice this year to enjoy a night of sharing food, singing carols and playing games.

So I've come home tired, very full and very happy.

Blessings

bron

Joy to the world the Lord is come

Let earth receive her king

Let every heart

Prepare Him room

And heaven and nature sing

And heaven and nature sing

And heaven and nature sing

 

Joy to the world the Saviour reigns

Let men their songs employ

While fields and floods

Rocks hills and plains

Repeat the sounding joy

Repeat the sounding joy

Repeat the sounding joy

 

He rules the world with truth and grace

And makes the nations prove

The glories of

His righteousness

And wonders of His love

And wonders of His love

And wonders of His love

Geese Laying

 

O come, O come, Emmanuel

And ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God appear

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel

All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means 'God is with us'). Isaiah 7:14 The Bible.

Matthew 1:18-25. The Bible.

Blessings

bron

Don't forget to order your Australia HOPE International Christmas gift cards from www.ahi.org.au, helping others this Christmas.

Gold Rings

I'm just a little happy at the moment because my lovely friend Suz has come back from DRC to hang with me for a couple of weeks before heading back home to Australia. Which means that I have my first house guest and she will be spending Christmas and New Year's with me, which means it should be a lot of fun. We've just spent some time in Kampala and for the first time in a while I felt like a tourist as we took a few photos together in and around the city. We're now back in Mbarara and I'm thinking that the next couple of weeks will be pretty busy as we visit our Australia HOPE International projects as well as celebrate the holidays.

It's late (putting up curtains for the lounge where Suz is sleeping took longer than I thought) but it's still Wednesday so, so far, I am keeping up to date with my daily blogging schedule (which is quite a bit harder than once a week!).

Enjoy a few of our tourist moments.

On the back of a boda in the city, having our photo taken with Santa, riding double and eating grasshoppers.

Blessings

bron

Don't forget to order your Australia HOPE International Christmas gift cards from www.ahi.org.au, helping others this Christmas.

Colly Birds

I grew up thinking they were calling birds. But wikipedia assures me that they are in fact colly birds. Which are actually blackbirds. Huh.

Amazing how your whole world can change in an instant like that. To learn something that you didn't know before. And whether it is life changing or perhaps less intrusive, like learning the real words to a song, it changes your world view.

For me Christmas is about remembering the moment or, maybe more realistically, journey, that I took to find Christ. I'd grown up in church and you would think that's a pretty good place to find Him. But perhaps He wasn't there in the things that I was wrapped up in. Like myself.

It was only when I realised that trying to make myself happy wasn't making me happy that I found Him. And that made me happy.

Now my life is wrapped up in Him. Not like a shiny Christmas present wrapped at a department store but like a warm blanket on a cold night, full of the warmth of his embrace. His love is my protection, my joy, my strength and my hope. This hope is an anchor for my soul. He holds me steady.

Blessings

bron

Don't forget to order your Australia HOPE International Christmas gift cards from www.ahi.org.au, helping others this Christmas.

French Hens

Walking around my new neighbourhood of Boma (having moved from Kyamugorani two weeks ago) I'm reminded of walking home from the bus after school in my last three years of high school when I was living with my Grandparents in Adelaide. Dotted around are Jacaranda trees, and just like in Australia, they are a beautiful shade of purple just in time for Christmas.

It's been funny talking with some of my new Northern Hemisphere friends about their Christmas expectations. As an Aussie there are quite a few environmental factors that I can identify with here in Uganda, whereas, my friends are missing the cold.

I do miss the beach a little at this time of year though. Going swimming with friends every day after work. A half hearted attempt to surf. Gelati and pizza sitting in the park. Summer holidays. And this makes me think that I have been so blessed to have had those experiences. To have those memories. To have those friends. Because I know that despite sometimes feeling so far away, I have friends and family who love me. And there are people this Christmas who don’t know anyone who loves them.

And I am blessed to know the amazing love of God-become-flesh. A love that He wants to share with everyone.

And wants us to share with everyone.

Maybe I can be the making of a joyful memory for someone here this Christmas.

Maybe I can share the joy I have in knowing Christ, and someone will also experience the freedom and joy that I have.

Maybe you can too.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 The Bible

Blessings

bron

Don't forget to order your Australia HOPE International Christmas gift cards from www.ahi.org.au, helping others this Christmas.

Turtle Doves

Just had a Christmas memory flashback. The John Martins Christmas Pageant.

I'm not sure it was a tradition but I know at least one year we stopped off at Bertie's for pancakes after it was all over. Thinking back I'm sure my parents were just trying to avoid the traffic jam out of the city, but I for one am thankful, after all, more than twenty years on, I still remember those pancakes with icecream.

I remember riding on Nipper and Nimble, the rocking horses that were ridden by Christmas fairy princesses in the pageant, in the Magic Cave (you know - where Santa lives after hopping off the sleigh at the end of the parade). I remember lining up to get my photo taken with Santa and put in my order for what I wanted for Christmas. I remember how beautifully it was all decorated and how it seemed like Christmas could be in winter despite the high thirty degree weather.

I guess it's not surprising that thinking back most of my Christmas memories aren't really centred around the central theme of Christmas, Christ. Food, family, parties, presents. These feature highly.

I'm thankful for these memories. They remind me of good times, of spending time with family, of hanging out with friends.

But I'm also thankful, in fact, much more thankful, that Jesus Christ came for me. That He loves me. And that I get to spend every day with Him.

This is why I love Christmas.

Blessings

bron

Don't forget to order your Australia HOPE International Christmas gift cards from www.ahi.org.au, helping others this Christmas.

Twelve Days or ‘Partridge in a Pear Tree’

There are eleven days till Christmas, so my idea of doing a blog each day for the twelve days of Christmas (and yes I know that these actually start with Christmas as the first day but bear with me please) will have to end a day later than Christmas.

And why, you might ask, do I feel the need to do this? Because I can!

This morning it has rained and it's dull and grey. I'm sitting inside in the semi-dark listening to Christmas songs on my computer which is about to be drained of all battery power…

Had an epiphany.

I remembered that I bought a spare battery for occasions such as this where the power is out and I need/want to use my computer for longer than my battery will allow. Unfortunately I have just realised that either I had previously used this battery and hadn't charged it before putting the other one in or the battery doesn’t hold it's charge so well when it's just sitting around. Oh well.

So I'm sitting here in the semi-dark, now not listening to Christmas songs so as to maximise the battery life I have left, all twenty eight minutes of it, feeling like there is a certain amount of pressure and wondering if it's worth it, after all, if I just delete these words, none of you will ever know that I was thinking of doing this.

So, I guess this should have something to do with Christmas then.

A day that we celebrate the birth of Jesus, Emmanuel, God-with-us.

My place is not decorated and probably won't be. No tinsel, no tree.

So I will have to remember some other way.

Or just remind myself every day that my Saviour came.

Blessings

bron

Don't forget to order your Christmas gift cards from www.ahi.org.au, helping others this Christmas

Barry my Christmas antelope and presents for me and my friend whose mum sent us presents so that we would have them in time to open for Christmas.

Blessed

I type this as I sit on my small balcony at my new place listening to some tunes. It's raining but I'm sheltered and apart from being able to see into the next door neighbours back windows, I feel like I'm in my own little world. I've slept here for two nights now and managed to 'cook' couscous for dinner last night. I was so thankful for the small jar I inherited from another Aussie who is leaving Uganda this week. So with my kettle, bed, plastic stool and various other bits and pieces I've set myself up a little home, including a small vegie garden.

It's been such a blessing to have lived for so long with Willy and Anne and the kids, all last year and the three months I've been back this year. I have learnt so much through living with this amazing family. About culture, about hospitality, about being flexible, about life, about love. I have learnt how to wash my own clothes, to peel matoke, to cook pork, to light a charcoal stove. Hopefully, with all that I have taken away, I have managed to also give something.

Our Australia HOPE International partners, including Pastor Willy, are incredibly generous people and I am so thankful to be a small part of this organisation. Hopefully for some time to come.

It's almost Christmas, so if you are wondering how you can be a blessing to someone this year, we are selling gift cards that buy essential items and small business opportunities for someone living in poverty here in Africa. A mattress for a family that has none, chickens for a small business, a bike to make transport for a village pastor easier. We also have beads and other items for sale, made by refugee women and others living in poverty.

If you are interested in buying any of these or just want to make a donation to HOPE go to the website www.ahi.org.au or ring +61 8 8188 0398.

Blessings

bron