I left my comfy job as an ICU nurse in America to spend 6 months in South Africa working as a volunteer nurse in a longterm HIV/AIDS care center. I have no idea what God has planned for me but this is me sharing my stories and adventures along the way.







Thursday, December 9, 2010

I'm dreaming..of a Red Christmas....








There's a line in a song from the 80's called "Do they know it's Christmas?" asking if the children in Africa really know about Christmas.  Well yes they sure do.  And like us it's a time when you get treats only from Father Christmas instead of Santa.                                                                                                       Tuesday I got  to be a part of a Christmas party for the kids in Red Hill township.   Some of my favorite children I might add.  I thought I was just going to go and play but I found my Living Hope friends putting me to work!  It was worth every minute of it.  
 I got to help pass out the Christmas treats to the preschool kids and if you could have see their faces as we gave each of them 3 different gift bags.  Words don't do it justice.  They were so grateful for simple gifts.  One bag contained candy (1lollipop, 5 small pieces of toffee, 2 pieces of taffy like candy, one chocolate, one packet of some candy I don't know and one small pack of Nik Naks(our version of cheetos). The second bag had a wash cloth, a visor, a toothbrush and toothpaste and I think some soap and the third bag was either a Barbie themed toy for girls and a super hero for the boys.  Sounds simple huh?  I thought to myself what an American kid would say if they got that as a gift.These kids acted as if you gave them a Playstation or a Wii.  It was very sweet but sad at the same time.

I liked Christmas as a kid but was sad at times because I knew the stress it put on my mom to have to buy us presents.  I loved Christmas as I got older because I had plenty of money to buy presents for my friends and family.  I dreaded Christmas the last few years as I realized how much it's gotten away from what it's supposed to be about.  I've been guilty of that many times.  This year I realize my greatest gift is the promise of eternal life.  You can't get it on Ebay, you can't get it at the mall, you can't even buy it at Walmart!  But I can tell you where to get it................................

Merry Christmas to you and may God bless you every day of the year and especially on Christmas.  Jesus truly is "the reason for the season".  
"She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins" Matthew 1:21.

Tracy

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