Merry Christmas from South Sudan! I arrived back safe and sound in Parot on Monday evening with my teammates the Ward family, Andrew B. and Andrew's fiancée Laura, who has come to visit for a few weeks.
Our team Christmas celebrations are centred at the Wards' house (shown in the picture on the left).
The Wards' homemade Christmas decor is quite delightful, I think, and I thought I'd share it with you (with their permission :-) ).
What strikes me first when I go into the house are the paper snowflakes--a little blast of winter freshness amidst the warm weather!
The snowflakes dangle from strings strung between the roof beams.
The Wards' tree is made of sticks arranged like a teepee, with green twine strung around the sticks to provide some "treeish" colour and a support for decorations.
The Wards have a traditional Kikuyu crèche which was given to them by friends in Kenya, as well as a paper one that the kids made from a kit.
If we get chilly from the snow in the living room, we can warm ourselves at the fireplace in the dining room. :-) This is a new addition to the Wards' Christmas decor, courtesy of our teammate Natalie. What a fun surprise for the Wards when they walked into their house on Monday evening. (Natalie and her family left on Tuesday, going out on R & R to Nairobi on the same plane that we came in on.)
Natalie created the fireplace on the Wards' blackboard, which is painted on the back of their wardrobe. (The wardrobe serves as a divider between the office and the dining room.)
The fireplace, mantle and fire are made of paper. The bricks and the fire are all hand-coloured. Natalie must have spent hours and hours on this. What a creative labour of love for those of us spending Christmas here!
With help, we have heard, from our teammate Laurie, Natalie sewed eight little stockings by hand, and hung them in order from oldest to youngest.
Plus, Natalie had Laura bring candy canes from the States, and she left other treats to put in the stockings as well. These included tiny home-made ginger snap cookies which were really delicious.
Our team Christmas celebrations are centred at the Wards' house (shown in the picture on the left).
The Wards' homemade Christmas decor is quite delightful, I think, and I thought I'd share it with you (with their permission :-) ).
What strikes me first when I go into the house are the paper snowflakes--a little blast of winter freshness amidst the warm weather!
The snowflakes dangle from strings strung between the roof beams.
The Wards' tree is made of sticks arranged like a teepee, with green twine strung around the sticks to provide some "treeish" colour and a support for decorations.
The Wards have a traditional Kikuyu crèche which was given to them by friends in Kenya, as well as a paper one that the kids made from a kit.
If we get chilly from the snow in the living room, we can warm ourselves at the fireplace in the dining room. :-) This is a new addition to the Wards' Christmas decor, courtesy of our teammate Natalie. What a fun surprise for the Wards when they walked into their house on Monday evening. (Natalie and her family left on Tuesday, going out on R & R to Nairobi on the same plane that we came in on.)
Natalie created the fireplace on the Wards' blackboard, which is painted on the back of their wardrobe. (The wardrobe serves as a divider between the office and the dining room.)
The fireplace, mantle and fire are made of paper. The bricks and the fire are all hand-coloured. Natalie must have spent hours and hours on this. What a creative labour of love for those of us spending Christmas here!
With help, we have heard, from our teammate Laurie, Natalie sewed eight little stockings by hand, and hung them in order from oldest to youngest.
Plus, Natalie had Laura bring candy canes from the States, and she left other treats to put in the stockings as well. These included tiny home-made ginger snap cookies which were really delicious.
The Wards' homemade Christmas decor is quite delightful, I think, and I thought I'd share it with you (with their permission :-) ). John Alexander
ReplyDeleteOh I just love all the creativity!!!!!! Love the tree and the snowflakes and the fireplace is just amazing!!!! How special!!! This is part of what I miss about Africa -- that great need to be creative and for something relatively simple to then become extremely special. Happy New Year from Indiana! We are so thankful for your ministry and pray for God's blessing on you all in the new year!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Heather! Your encouragement and prayers are greatly appreciated!
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