Noel Clarke, CMS missionary with his wife Margo in Nairobi, answers our questions to give us his insights into what Christmas in Kenya will be like.

* What kind of prominence does the Kenyan culture give to Christmas?
 
The commercialism of Christmas is only just starting to be felt with the development of some larger shopping centres, where now you can hear the piped music, the Santas and the emphasis on buying presents. Apart from that, Christmas here is celebrated with church services and carols.
There is an exodus from Nairobi while everyone tries to get back home to the villages, which often means a 400km bus trip on an overnight bus.

The last Christmas when we were here, I preached at a small slum church. Walking through the slum there was very little to make me recognise that it was Christmas, perhaps here and there would be carols coming from a church service, or some people dressed up and obviously making their way to a church service.

When I reached the church there were a couple of streamers on the walls and the congregation greeted me enthusiastically. The Sunday School children were all dressed up for the occasion and the church elders had provided some biscuits for them. While we added a balloon and a lollipop for each of the children, the main event was retelling the Christmas story, and singing and praying together and sharing in the communion.
To stand outside with the congregation in the midst of the dirt and poverty half a world away from our children gave the tiniest glimpse of what it meant for Jesus to set aside his glory and come to be born among us on that first Christmas morning.

* What things to Kenyans do to celebrate Christmas that might be different to how we would celebrate it
in Australia?

In Australia there seems to be a tremendous emphasis on commerce - buy, buy, buy - and parties wherethere will be not the faintest mention of Jesus and where the thought that you might sing carols, read the Bible and pray at a Christmas party would be greeted with amazement.
In Kenya, there is starting to be a push to give presents and the supermarkets are encouraging their customers to buy items to be placed in a container in the store, which will be distributed to the poor.

Most people try to get home (“up country”) to see their family members outside Nairobi, where seeing each other is more important than present-giving, although the visitors from Nairobi will be expected to bring food and other items to meet the needs of their country relatives.

* What will you and your family do on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day?

This Christmas, we are delighted to have our daughter Sarah with us which is a great privilege.

On Christmas Day we’ll be going to a small branch church where I’ll be preaching and sharing the communion with a congregation of perhaps 30 in a tent that is erected in the front yard of someone’s house. It’s on the edge of the Kibera slum.

After the service we’ll share together over a cup of chai (Kenyan tea) and a piece of bread. They will probably be dressed up more than usual and we may have a few more than usual.

After the service we’ve been invited to share Christmas lunch with the Radkovics, the other CMS family in Nairobi and there will probably also be two medical elective students who have been working in the slum clinics.

On Boxing Day we have Simon Okoyo and his brother Osborne (who will be involved with their church services right on the opposite side of town on Christmas Day) coming over for a late Christmas lunch, together with our neighbour Othello, from Liberia.

From 28th December to 1st January, 2008 we will be going up to Limuru for the Annual Brackenhurst Conference, which will be a great opportunity to have fellowship with other Christians and to study the Word of God with a speaker from UK.

We are on the organising committee together with the Radkovics and several other folk. We hope that is not disrupted by the reaction to the election results coming out.

* Will you be doing any ministry-related activities for Christmas?

see above

* What kind of contact will you have with your family/friends in Australia over Christmas?

We may receive a few emails, and over the next few weeks, in fact up until February, there will be a trickle of cards and annual letters coming in.

It is possible that our children and grandchildren in Australia will be able to get a phone call through.

* What are the positives and negatives of being away from home in a foreign culture for Christmas?

Positives: there is much less distraction from the real meaning of Christmas, with much less commercial nonsense.

There is a real joy in worshipping together across all sorts of boundaries.

Negatives: we are a long way away from family.

A final thought

I feel a concern for two of my Sudanese students who recently returned to their families in Southern Sudan after being here for 8 months of study " but on the bus trip to Kampala they lost their bags, containing the goodies that they were taking back to their families, as well as their own clothes and personal effects.

And from here there is nothing that I can do to help them at this time except pray.