It's Christmas Time in Kenya

It's Dec 17th and I'm writing this one live, so prepare for a little rambling.

It's a week before Christmas eve and I'm sweating off a lot of pounds. Even more since I just read the Christmas Music Festival at our church is postpone because of snow and ice. I'll take a little of that right now.

Here in Kenya does not seem like Christmas at all to me for several reasons:
1) the heat and sun - I'm use to the winter weather in the great northwest and I'm missing it right now.
2) No constant Christmas music playing everyplace. In fact I've heard maybe 2 songs so far.
3) No constant commercials letting me know what I should be buying for Christmas. I don't miss this.
4) Not Advent services.
5) No Christmas decorations. There are a few, but most of them you would be hard pressed to tell if they are for Christmas or the person just liked them in general and they have been up for a couple years.
6) We are about to have our 4th Sunday of Advent and there has be scant mention of the Christmas Story in any of the sermons or the bible readings. This one bothers me the most. These have been Catholic Masses, but I'm pretty sure we'd be getting a lot more about the birth of Jesus in the US. I like the Christmas story and the season and do miss it quite a bit.

Speaking of Christmas versus, here is one for you:

Matthew 1:23 (New International Version)

23"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"^[a]—which means, "God with us."

That's my wedding verse, given 31 years ago today. Yeap, today is Joyce's and my 31st wedding anniversary. I gave her a sunrise motorcycle ride on the island of MFangano, she gave me a bag of mangoes. More to that story but not here or now.

A reminder - Friday is the last day our internet access is available until Jan 5th, so this is probably the last blog and picture post for a while, sorry. But ICIPE, like Intel, closes down for year end and so goes our access. And we leave tomorrow for a 4 day trip to Nairobi to visit the Dellamaters and their Journey to Kenya project. (www.firstlovekenya.org). We met them 2 years ago on the plane flying into Nairobi and are very interested to see what they have accomplished in that time.

Well my time is up for today, my Christmas best to all and to all a blessed New Year. (Consider this your Christmas card and letter from the Maiers for 2008)

Paul and Family.



Pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/MaiersInAfrica