Christmas – a happy jumble

For fun, we asked some Lighthouse members for memories of Christmas in their home cultures. So much is different.

We celebrate different days and there are even differences in calendars. Some believers do not celebrate Christmas at all since the date of Jesus' birth is unknown and the Bible contains no instructions about Christmas.

This variety reminds us that what unites Christian believers is not observing religious fast days and feast days. The disciples of Jesus are not marked out by clothes, ceremonies, circumcision or any other rules.

What binds us together is a new shared relationship with God as our Father. That relationship was forged by the Christ suffering on the Cross and the Holy Spirit has cemented it into the lives of those who follow the Lord Jesus.

There is no one Christian culture any more than than there is a “right” way to celebrate Christmas. Where the Gospel of Christ has touched a society there will be changes but the culture will not be wiped out or overwritten with a “superior” culture.

Jesus came to set us free from death and sin. He did not come to make us all the same.

  Kenyan Christmas

In Kenya, Christmas is the busiest period of the year. Believers and non-believers alike celebrate in different versions. As for Christians it is a very memorable time.

Christians start preparing for for this great moment as early as October saving some money for the occasion and, in the pastoral communities, poultry, sheep and goats are identified as early as September and reared specifically to be slaughtered on this occasion.

For those who have relatives in the cities and elsewhere in the country, this is a moment to get together as families. Most of the people take long holidays to be with their families or – if they can’t – go on the last week before the Christmas.

Christmas carols start as early as the first week of December in radio and TV stations. We sing carols in churches and prayer groups as a reminder that the occasion is drawing near. Generally most people are very generous and cheerful in the period running to Christmas. Most churches perform night vigil commonly known as KESHA in Kiswahili to pray, worship and for thanks-giving.

On Christmas eve, Christians gather in churches for Christmas carols. The church youth groups will present concerts on the birth of Christ whereas different church groups will recite poems and biblical verses. At 12 midnight the pastor and the church deacons will pray briefly as they release the youth groups which will go round all the villages (boma) singing and dancing to announce the birth of Christ. They collect gifts for the new born presented to them in all forms including reared animals, farm harvest or money. Normally, as the group goes round, they are joined by others and so the number grows big such that they sometime divide and take different routes. This was a vital spectacular and most memorable part of being a Christian youth. The groups will go round the ‘bomas’ till dawn when they will part.

Christmas day service was quite brief consisting of mainly Christmas carols and preaching. After the service, family celebrations begins which normally will proceed to the new year.

  Christmas in the Ukraine

Preparations for Christmas begin two weeks before. The women start baking biscuits and cakes and the men prepare home made hams and smoked sausages.

Christmas Eve is the night for the “Holy Supper” which has at least twelve courses but no meat at all. No animal fat is used for baking or frying and sunflower oil is used instead. Some traditional dishes include a mixture of cooked wheat, poppy seeds, honey and walnuts, a soup with wild mushrooms and noodles, a ravioli-like dish with potatoes, mushrooms, salted cabbage and poppy seed, with many more besides.

Before the meal the whole family will kneel for prayer asking for Jesus to be with them in the celebrations and the coming year.

After supper the visiting of nearby relatives begins. Those who live further away will be visited on Christmas day.

On Christmas day before breakfast is an early celebration with the church. The food on this day is a celebration feast when the special hams and sausages are eaten as well as other meat dishes like cabbage leaves stuffed with a mixture including pork. Vodka will be taken with the food and presents will be exchanged and special decorations put up. In the evening children will band together to sing Christmas songs outside neighbours homes. 

This is not one quick carol but a whole evening of song and celebration. And this is a day for renewing friendships and visiting relatives.

  A Bajan Christmas 

Celebrating Christmas in Barbados seems very like an English Christmas but there are a few additions.

Before the day

Christmas concerts and recitals are well on the way ... School performances and nativity plays have been staged ... Houses are decorated inside and out ... The presents are bought and new clothes too ... Cards have been sent to families abroad ... Packages arrive laden with toys ... New furniture is ordered to arrive soon ...

Lots of baking – Coconut bread (sweet bread), sponge cakes, Christmas cakes, with rum to keep it moist!

Jug-Jug: A special mixture of peas, onions, Seasoned with herbs and added ham ... Home made sorrel, ginger beer, ‘Mauby’ ... And the rum punch is ready ... Of course a turkey or chicken is prepared for the day and a ham.

What a feast!

On the day

All the family gathers in one place. Many attend the 5:00 am first church service of the day, leaving to a brilliant sunrise. Greetings are exchanged. Other church services continue throughout the morning. Around 9:00 am, people gather at Queens Park to listen to the Police band play carols and seasonal music. A choir joins the band in a celebration of Christmas.

A fashion parade of sorts occurs and the best dressed couples are snapped for the newspapers. Home to presents, fun and feasting!

Boxing Day is picnic on the beach. Still a feast!

  Christmas in Ghana

In Ghana, Christmas is one of the most important and joyous festivals; lasting for many days throughout the country. It’s a time for friends and relatives to visit each other regardless of religious beliefs. Cars, buses and lorries are brightly decorated with Christmas themes. And many people rush back to their home towns by Christmas Eve in order to visit their ancestral homes. This is because Christmas Eve is the time that the celebrations really start.

The churches start preparing many months before December 25th. The preparations are so intense that one feels the whole country is preparing for the actual birth of Jesus. Church services, fireworks and parties kick off the Christmas festival then comes the big day.

On Christmas Day the churches are packed with people wearing new clothes. The Christmas story is retold in the many different ethnic languages and with the carols inserted in. One of the main highlights however is the nativity play often starring the children from the Sunday school.

Throughout the celebration everyone is greeted with the special Akan greeting ‘Afrihyipa’ (Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year). In response one would reply ‘Afe nko betu yen’ (May we live to see another year).

After the service, gifts and Christmas cards are exchanged and sometimes a feast is held at the church.

Christmas dinners are always special and a lot is put into the preparation. Just like it’s traditional for the British to eat turkey, the Ghanaians eat chicken. Other foods such as rice, goat and lamb are eaten.

The celebrations carry on well into the first week in January. For the people of Ghana, Christmas isn’t just one special day; it is a season where they remember the birth of Jesus.

  Christmas in Nigeria

Christmas begins on Christmas eve in Nigeria. Family and friends gather together for thanks giving. Early preparation of the food starts, ingredients needed are put together and then the cooking begins.

 I can remember waking up to the smell of Jollof rice, fried rice, meat, chicken, fish, and goat meat stew, cakes, biscuits.......

As early as 9.00 am family and friends come together firstly to celebrate the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in the churches and our various homes, for about 3 to 4 hours of singing, dancing and worshipping the Lord.

After the service we all head home and then food is distributed to neighbours and friends by the children while the women are busy preparing for the family feast and the men are gathered in the living room catching up with the year’s events. Dinner is then served at 5.00pm with the whole family sat at the dining. After eating much to your fill gifts are then exchanged, games are played, jokes are made about past times and finally we say the evening prayers, sing and say “Goodnight”.

Thanks to www.theodora.com for the flag images.

UPDATE - More on Christmas traditions from this year’s Newsletter:

The Nativity Uncovered

Christmas Traditions