We'd like to use this December update to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! 

If you didn't get a chance to see our Thanksgiving adventure, make sure you take a look at it on the web:

http://www.fawi.net/Baltimore/Haiti26/Turkey.html

It is very difficult for us to believe Christmas is right around the corner when we are still putting on sunblock on a regular basis!  Not only is the temperature throwing us off, but most everything that prepares us for the Christmas season in the U.S. does not exist in the Haitian countryside.  It has been challenging, and yet refreshing.  Challenging because there are no trees or lights or decorations, no Christmas music in the air, no Christmas parties, no cookie exchange or gingerbread house making, no winter, no eggnog, no shopping, no family, no wreath making, no wrapping, no Nutcracker, no Christmas Carols or Christmas Vacation.  Refreshing, because there are none of the above.  While we love and miss the traditions of home, it is a blessing to be away from the chaos and commercialization of this sacred holiday.  Instead of immersing and drowning ourselves in all the events of the season, we have this rare opportunity to focus solely on why and who we are celebrating.

Christmas is also challenging, and yet refreshing, this year because we are forced to face the harsh inequalities and imperfections of the world we live in.  The Christmas season back home is usually the most upbeat, friendly and sharing time of year, when people are in good spirits and the holidays themselves tend to drown out the unhappy realities of the rest of the year.  We contribute more to charities and perhaps volunteer in the community or church.  There is a strong spirit that everything is wonderful during Christmas.  We even hesitate to talk about negative things in our lives or in the world during this time because we donâ ôt want to spoil or dampen the Christmas spirit.  And while it is wonderful for that a short time people genuinely want to share and spread Christmas joy, it is refreshing for us to be in a place where we cannot pretend that things are perfect.  We get a chance to see the kind of world that Jesus was born into, and what his birth really meant.  He brought a message of hope, peace and sacrificial love to a broken worldâ |and he calls each of us to do the same today. 

Because there are no traditional gifts to buy and exchange, we have been able to reflect on how gift giving does appear in Haiti.  The Haitians have taught us a lot about what it means to give as a sacrifice versus out of our excess. It is very Haitian to say there is always room, when in fact there are more people than beds, or to say there is always enough food to go around. For example, Jana made some banana bread one day and took it to a couple of our good friends. Others started to show up when we arrived and the bread was immediately passed around to everyone. Another example was our Thanksgiving "feast". No one complained at all about the amount of turkey. People here are so used to being without that just a little bit is sufficient. We also have people do things for us that we know are sacrifices for them. One example is when we were visiting some of our friend"s relatives, they went out and bought us coca-colas and ice to make us feel welcome in their home. It is hard to accept when you know at what sacrifice it comes, but to not accept would then be insulting. It is a very humbling experience. Another surprise gift that Jana received this past month is while being introduced to a new family, the wife immediately wanted to paint her fingernails and toenails, shimmering hot pink and purple! We"ve attached some pictures of this experience. We are very thankful to have the chance to learn an entirely new way to give and receive gifts this advent season here in Haiti. 

May you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year filled with joy, peace and the love of family and friends.  (Eat lots of fudge for us!)  May we also remember the sufferings of those around us and reflect on how we either alleviate or aggravate their problems. 

Lots of love