This year our Jarai church had their Christmas celebration Saturday night, December 28th, and Sunday morning, December 29th. Both days include a meal, singing, and preaching. Our kids enjoyed wearing Khmer school uniforms for the Christmas service. It’s a highlight of their church year.
The month of December was very full with helping our church prepare for the celebration. Josh and I directed a youth Christmas pageant. We provided the script, costumes, and props and held three different rehearsals. There were two readers while the rest of the youth acted the various scenes out. This year we added the scene with the shepherds, and the sheep (elementary students) were quite a hit. The youth preformed their play both Saturday night and Sunday morning.
I wrote and taught a new tune to some verses in Jonah for the older elementary/jr. high group to sing. I worked with the piano player three different times on playing Christmas carols. I also worked two mornings with a few people who were leading the singing on singing harmony. Josh preached at the Saturday night gathering. It’s really fun to be able to work together as the body of Christ.
Christmas is a very full time of year and also a very fun time to be together and celebrate. For the Jarai Christmas celebrations take place at church – nothing happens in the homes.
Our kids survived pretty well. I was a bit nervous about going to a late service (Saturday night) and then getting up for a very long service and day Sunday morning. Thankfully, Ezra took a nap on Josh’s lap while I helped with the play and the singing. He was so tired!
