Olive Branch Christmas Party

Tim and I were greatly encouraged by the opportunity to host the Olive Branch Christmas Party on Friday night. When we asked our apartment manager Mary if we could do it, we didn’t think that she would give us permission (no food or any events are permitted in the courtyard). But not only did she think it was a good idea, she told us that the apartment owner would love the idea!

So on Friday afternoon, I helped Mary string up lights on the olive tree in the courtyard. To my delight, our Burmese neighbors came outside to help. Soon we were laughing about the different ways that our 3 different cultures (Burmese, Mexican-American, TCK) celebrate Christmas! It made me marvel about how we have such opportunities to mingle closely with people from all over the world here in LA County.

At 7:00 PM the festivities began. After mingling around hot cider and yummy desserts, we started a rousing game of pass the parcel. We had a chance to sing Silent Night in English and Spanish. I had also printed the words in what I thought was Chinese , but I was very graciously informed by our Chinese neighbor Helen that it was, in fact, Korean!

The best part of the evening was gathering the 10 children together for our improptu play. Tim had managed to bring over props from church (including a donkey for Mary, a crown for King Herod, a manger with a baby, and halos for all the angels!). Some of these kids had never heard the story of Jesus’ birth before, and yet here they were acting it out! They had a great time!

My heart was thrilled to have such an open invitation to share the gospel. As Tim told the story, he did not hesitate to share the purpose for Jesus’ birth, including His death and resurrection. Afterward, our Burmese neighbor Tua told us in broken English, “I like story, Jesus!” (spreading his arms like a cross and motioning to nails in his wrists). “I see Jesus (again making a cross) in cinema. But no Jesus (pointing to the manger). First time!” Wow, Tua had never heard the story of Jesus’ birth before! I wanted to cry and laugh at the same time. Our Asian neighbors are a field ripe for the harvest, and praise the Lord for this opportunity! Our apartment manager Mary has already told us that we should do it again next year.

Here we are standing with Tua, May, and Let. They came from Burma a little over 1 year ago.