Tropical Christmas

This is part of a message delivered this week to the Ladies Missionary Circle of Community Baptist Church of Reidsville, North Carolina.

Today we are going to talk a little about Christmas in Brazil.  It may not be exactly what you think!  Brazil is a large and very diverse country.  It is actually as big as the United States in size.  Before we begin our trip around the country, let's start with a verse.

Over my thirty some years in Brazil, I have had to learn to be content in whatsoever "state" I was.  During the holidays this has not always been easy.  Finding my "happy place" on Christmas Day has been a journey.  I'll share a little of that as we go along.  Here are a few questions for you to consider as I share about Christmas in Brazil.

Our first stop on our journey around Brazil is the huge city of Fortaleza.  It is located on the coast and is truly a beach town where even the Christmas trees in displays in city parks are often made of hammocks and the hills for sledding are made of sand.

Our ten years as a family were filled with joy even during the holidays with an abundance of fellow Americans and holiday activities at the missionary academy as well as malls each with its own Santa Claus.

Our next stop is the town of Sobradinho some twenty hours by car from Fortaleza.  It is located in the state of Bahia which is as large as many small European countries!    Here my boys grew up with many missionary "aunts" and "uncles" to help share the holidays and with a small church family.  Here we found ourselves in a merry holiday place with decorations brought down from America. Even though buying gifts was a challenge living in a small interior town and finding all the just right ingredients for our Christmas dinner, times were mostly merry and bright.  From time to time we even had family from the States in for the holidays.

Then by Christmas of 2017 my boys were all gone from the nest and many of our nearby missionaries had retired.  In 2018 my Brazilian friend, that girl in the blue dress, Andressa went with to the USA for Christmas along with her husband.  What a blast we had doing all things American with even a little snow.

Then the fun was done and I was back in Sobradinho with my cat, my dogs and my husband to a very quiet house for the holidays.  In 2018 my silly little redheaded friend invited us to go see her home in the far south of Brazil for Christmas.  She guaranteed we would have a good time stating that Christmas in the south was something to be seen and enjoyed in person.  And off we went!

We took a whirl wind tour of small towns all around the southern most state of Brazil - Rio Grande do Sul.  We saw the town of Gramado that is decorated for Christmas all year long with a Christmas parade every night during the month of December.

We visited the German town of Westfalia where we met the mayor and were invited to their traditional outdoor Christmas concert with music in German.

Since then we have traveled frequently on Christmas or close to the season of festivities opting to skip the gifts between us and do something memorable such as our trip last December to Holambra.  It was started by Dutch immigrants and looks just like a picture postcard from Holland with fields of tulips and even a windmill.  

And just last Christmas we traveled hours and hours by car to be with Andressa and her family who were living in Luis Eduardo Magalhães, a booming soybean town.  The city hosted a beautiful Christmas village with a real ice skating rink.

And for the last stop on our Christmas tour of Brazil we come to the Sertão, the semi-arid Northeast where it doesn't look or feel much like Christmas at first glance.  It can be tough to want to celebrate the season in a place where it's hot and dry and dusty.

Oddly enough Christmas beauty can be found if you are willing to look a little harder than usual.

This boy's homemade toy reminds of the joy of a simple gift as heard of in the old Shaker song:

'Tis the gift to be simple,

'Tis the gift to be free,

'Tis the gift to come down

Where I ought to be.

Somehow Christmas contentment can be found even in the Sertão where I currently find myself.  These two brother and sister are receiving small Christmas gifts we try to give each child on our weekly rus that joy andntoute.  We don't give too much, just something to show our love.

Christmas in Brazil is a little different from the USA.  The foods are different, gift-giving is done in a different way, parties are unique, and much depends on the region.  Philippians 4 reminds us that our JOY and CONTENTMENT come from God, but that we can encourage their growth in our lives through:

Rejoicing, verse 4

Sharing, verse 5

Not worrying, but praying, verse 6

Finding peace in Christ, verse 7

And then we can be content in all places through the strenght which Christ give us, verse 13.

Here are a few things I do to stay unstressed during the holidays while away from my loved ones.

I think I've found my happy place.  I haven't put up my big Christmas tree since my boys all left the house, but I have found joy in a new simpler way.  I hope for you a holiday full of comfort, contentment and joy in whatever place you find yourself this year.