Merry Christmas! We wanted to post a few pictures of what the holidays have been like for us here in Zambia! We hope that you all have had a wonderful time celebrating with family and enjoying a bit of a break from work/school. We miss you all very much, but we look forward to seeing you perhaps next Christmas! On December 21, Jason and I had the opportunity to help with a youth Christmas party in Musenga (the village next to Amano). Jason prepared a few games and a short devotion to go along with the youth leaders' activities. There were some younger village kids who sat in the distance to watch what was happening. We had the chance to try and talk with a few of them after the party. Below are some pictures of the party.

(water balloon fight in cardboard tanks)

(Jason giving a devotion on the obedience of Mary and Joseph in the Christmas story)

(the young children who watched the party from a giant ant hill in the distance)

Christmas Eve was mostly a baking day to get things ready for Christmas day. Now I'm starting to know how all those moms feel with sore feet and backs after cooking all day. :-) We went to the candle light service at church which started at 6:30. We had planned to eat together (the 6 of us) after the service. Since we're in Africa, the service went a lot longer than they said, so we didn't get to eat until after 9, but it was still a nice evening. Below is a picture of the choir singing at the service.


We celebrated Christmas day with 4 other people: Dave and Tine, who are missionaries with Liebenzell Germany; Judith, who is also with Liebenzell Germany working as a midwife about 10 hours from here; and Hilary, the headteacher at Amano working with CMML. We decided to have a progessive dinner between three of our houses. It was quite nice and we enjoyed all the yummy food and learning about each others' family traditions. Appetizers were served at Dave and Tine's (above) mobile.

The main meal was served at Hilary's house (above). We all helped with parts of the main meal and enjoyed a delicious duck. From left to right: Tine, Kelly, and Judith We are relaxing at Hilary's waiting for the main meal. Dessert was served at our apartment.

Here is a picture of our missionary family. This is in our apartment. Left to right: Kelly, Jason, Hilary, Judith, Tine, and Dave. We ended the evening with some sparklers on the veranda.

Merry Christmas from Zambia!