Christmas Is Cross-Cultural

During our 28 years, minus a few Christmases when we were “home for Christmas” (Home Service), we enjoyed the Filipino way of celebrating the birth of our Savior. Now we enter into a new-to-us Christmas culture, that of Uganda. With more than 80% of the population calling themselves “Christian,” Christmas (and Boxing Day) is part of the national holiday calendar. In Uganda, where the evidence of material poverty is impossible to overlook, there is much less Santa (in fact we have met people who don’t know who he is, which is fine with us!) and everyone wishes you “Merry Christmas.” (Last night we took a plate of Christmas baking to a neighbor whom we’ve not met before and realized by his dress that he belongs to a non-Christian religion…but he wished us a “Happy Christmas.”) We’ve only seen two large buildings with lights strung from corner to corner, roof to ground (as opposed to the Philippines where the common and beautiful “parole/star” is found on many roofs with streams of colored lights coming from it to the ground); most buildings have no outside decorations. Inside, stores have some but fairly few visual reminders of Christmas and we’ve heard Christmas music only within the last two weeks (quite a contrast from the September 1 start of Christmas musical reminders in the Philippines). Gifts, as we understand it, are primarily between parents and children; we haven’t been part of an exchange gift at all which is also in contrast to our past experience. We've only wrapped one gift this year so far and probably that's it! Christmas trees are fairly new to the culture, so we are told, and are found only in larger stores, hotels, churches, etc. We smiled when we saw fairly simple artificial trees (which somewhat resemble Charlie Brown trees) being sold by a few vendors at major intersections in Kampala. 

Christmas is definitely “sung in” by cantatas and concerts here in the capital from both Roman Catholic and Protestant churches.  We have already see the big Watoto Church production and have taken in a Cantata and a Children’s Concert; there were several others offered which unfortunately we weren’t able to take in. Many go “upcountry” to the “village” (home town) to be with family; our day guard/gardener who rarely takes a day off is following his children in just a few hours to his village in the west. Co-missionaries tell us that the week between Christmas and New Year’s is the best time to learn our way around Kampala due to almost no traffic

On Christmas Day (tomorrow), culture call for all Christians to join their church for a Christmas service. After that, all go to their family’s gathering place for a large meal, featuring chicken as the much treasured treat. We’re grateful that a family from church has very kindly invited us to join them for the Christmas meal so we’re looking forward to that.

I am so glad Christmas is “good news for all people.” We rejoice in the reminder of Mary’s song, “His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation….He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty….” Luke 1:50, 53. Praising God that the good news of the Saviour includes Africa!