“Christmas Through My Eyes”

By Eliana Mee (10 years old)

As an MK (Missionary Kid) in Colombia, South America, Christmas signifies many things

to me. It means church, fellowship, friends, gifts and special food. Christmas is a time I look
forward to.

In the church last year, my Colombian classmates and I worked for weeks to present a
special Christmas program for the church. Between scenes of the play, the choir, who had
been practicing even longer, would sing carols.

In Colombian culture, people gather together as a family to celebrate Christmas

traditions and savor special food like buñuelos, a type of fried bread, and natilla, a warm,
delicious pudding. Another important tradition is the manger scene. If you entered a
Colombian’s home, you would most likely see a nativity scene somewhere. Until midnight on
the 24th of December, there is one place in the scene that is vacant. Between the forms of
Mary and Joseph, the manger stands empty. This represents how the world waited so long, ‘till
Jesus came. To me, this also reflects the vacant place in our hearts, until Jesus comes and fills
it with light and life. “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” John 1:4

Christmas is a wonderful time to invite Him, who loves you so, to fill that vacant place
with his glory. This is why we are here: to help people living in this world realize that they need
to put up the Vacancy sign on their hearts and stop bolting the door. In church I enjoy seeing
and hearing the joy of people celebrating the birth of the Christ which they now worship. I
would like you to pray that my family as missionaries will continue to set an example of
following the Lord and that we will lead many more souls to Christ. I also ask that you will pray
for the people here, that they will realize what this Christmas means. That they will choose to
step out of the darkness into the light, and that they will come to glorify the Lord that loves
them and desires to fill their hearts with His joy.

“Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Mathew 28:19-20

TYPE TO ENTER A CAPTION.