Tanzanian images of Christmas

          

                                                                                                                21 December, 2013
Merry Christmas!
   Most of the students have left the campus by now, so the holiday has officially begun.  However, Tim & I have to keep reminding ourselves of that because the tropical weather, and the lack of Christmas decorations make this time seem like any other day.  So, in order to get into the Christmas spirit, I volunteered to lead the December meeting of a women's Bible study that I'm involved with.  We appropriately chose to revisit the story of Christ's birth.
   It's interesting, living in this country that still looks and continues many behaviors found in Old Testament times, to study and reflect on the Christmas story.  Women in the villages still go to the well for the daily water.  Goats, cattle, and sheep are staked to the side of the roads grazing on whatever they can find to eat while women pass by carrying  over-sized bundles on their heads.  Children can be seen collecting twigs for the cooking fire, and men are making bricks or doing carpentry work outside their small dukas.
   Even the daily wear for village women is still to wrap themselves in fabric, printed with distinct patterns representing their tribe or marked with a wise saying.   Cloth is valued here and used for everything from wrapping one's body, to transporting uncooperative loads of vegetables to market, to creating privacy in a one-room home, to giving protection from malaria laden mosquitoes while sleeping, to draping a deceased body before burial. . . . . to swaddling a newborn baby.
   Many of the women in the group have lived in Tanzania for 20-30 years.  Some have been here all their life, and others are relatively new, like me.  So, together, we started the journey to Bethlehem---and took the long route there.
   We began our journey at the beginning---and I literally mean the beginning ---with John as our guide (Jn. 1:1-5).  So we knew from the start that we would be encountering God, the Word that became flesh and lived among us.
   Then Matthew took over and expounded on the genealogy of Jesus.  The women readily spotted the 4 women mentioned in this patriarchal lineage, and we realized the shock Matthew caused as we too live in a heavily male-privileged society.  The insigificane of these women in the genealogy led us to have no doubt that God was at work.
   Then Luke took over as our guide, and we women enjoyed the "knitty-gritty" inside story he shared.  We trekked over to peak in on Elizabeth and Zechariah and we saw Elizabeth's tears of relief and joy as her long-endured disgrace was removed.  Still today in Tanzania, childless, married women are a humiliation to their clan.  The infertility is always considered hers, and the shame leaves deep, emotional scars as she is abused and shunned, often times even by her husband.
  We'll never forget as we watched Mary deliver the Almighty Son of God.  She swaddled him in bands of cloth like she had seen other women do countless times before...then she placed him ever so gently in that unsanitary manger!  Honestly, we were so appalled!  But that's how it is here in Tanzania as well.  In the villages, it is the job of a mid-wife to help deliver the newborn---in the dirt-floored, mud-brick home. . .or. . .even in the middle of the banana tree filled plot---without sanitation, or instruments to prevent ripping, and without privacy.  All the focus is on the newborn, expectantly waiting to see if the child is a boy.
   Then no sooner had we caught our breath and the shepherds showed up!  They looked and acted so much like the Maasai here that we almost thought we recognized one by name!  Did you know they jumped high and let out their whooping, shrill noise when the first saw the baby?  They did! (According to the New Testament RSV--Revised Sonnenberg Version).  They were so excited that their Savior was one of them---born, not in a luxurious palace--but just like the shepherds---with the animals---one with creation.  But quickly they became uncharacteristically quiet.  I think the sight of their mighty Savior might have been too touching and tender---even for them, the brave and fearless shepherds.
   And we were still around when the Wise Men showed up.  Oh, the scent of those exotic fragrances and spices!  The Wise Men seemed quite moved by this little king.  We watched at how alert he was when they approached him.  He held their gaze and he didn't blink.   It was kind of a knowing kind of look he gave---one that went deep inside, past their eyes....almost as if he could see into their heart.
   And then came the surprise. . . .it was our turn!  We realized that we are in this story too. . .we are the Wise Women.  (A Wise Woman is any woman who knows Jesus and loves Him with all her heart.)  And like the Wise Men, we all came from different backgrounds, representing all parts of the earth.  So what gift would each of us bring?  What is most precious to us to offer to Him?
  Well, that's where our journey ended.  I told you we took the long route (and thus such a long blog entry!)  But don't think you get off without being included too!  You've also heard the story, and that adorable little one sees you as well.  So what will you offer Him, our long-awaited Messiah?
   Tim and I pray that all of us will be renewed with the same sense of curiosity and joy that the shepherds must have experienced on that ordinary night when the angels broke open the sky with their presence.  We pray that we will be wrapped in the swaddling cloths of each other's love.  And that our hearts will be moved like those of the Wise Men to go great lengths to learn more about Jesus---and then be empowered to go and tell others the Good News!
   Wishing each of you, a truly Blessed Christmas,                                                                                 
        Tim & Diane