December 26, 2007 Christmas

Christmas was great. In many ways, I prefer to be here in Puerto Viejo for Christmas rather than being at home in the States. it is such a great opportunity to open up the house and spend time with people, getting to know them better, building deeper relationships, etc... This Christmas was interesting because of the differences in the two gatherings we attended. We hosted a Christmas get together on Christmas Eve that was mostly attended by close friends and people from house church. Most of the people were Christians and we had a great time together in large part because of that bond that we share. Christmas day, we were invited to the house of some friends from town. We also had a great time with them, but it was completely different. Most of the people at the party were Italians that live in the area and are not Christians. We enjoyed a great meal, made some new friends as pot smoke drifted through the house and beer flowed freely. What a difference between the two gatherings. I pray that we will continue to deepen our friendships with some of the people at the second gathering so that maybe next year, they will coming to a Jesus centered Christmas party