Are you humming a tune now? Feeling a bit of Christmas cheer? But why Christmas songs in July? Well, here in the Southern Hemisphere we have a bit of a tradition called "Mid-Winter Christmas" since summer in December usually lacks that cosy, pine-scented atmosphere usually associated with the Christmas season. And at Arise Church, we're always looking for ways to get people connected as part of God's family, so we figured what better way than to meet up for a "Mid-Winter Christmas Dinner" feast! So on Saturday 9 July groups of people met up in different homes all over the city for a real family feel. And since we specialise in "family feel" we hosted a group at our place.
Tony ended up being on the bus with 5 of the folks. He recognized one of the guys but didn't realise he was on his way to our house... then Grace called to see if her friend was on the bus with him and after looking around the bus, he put it together that the Korean girls in the next few rows were also coming to our house, so they had their introductions there, then bonded in the supermarket aisles and $2 shop... by the time they walked up the Ironside Road hill they were already the best of friends... good thing it had stopped raining.
It seemed socks were a popular gift for the exchange - all three Korean girls brought them to give away - super funny so the 4 recipients are on couch showing off their wares!
A classic "Long arm" shot - Tony managed to capture the entire group of 15 people just by using his long arms... we were already pretty cosy and comfortable with each other by then but we're all showing off our gifts.
We did a re-enactment of the Christmas story using paper puppets that got everyone moving around the room for their parts - keeping the true spirit of Christmas alive! Some of our friends in Taiwan will recognise these puppets... they are proving very useful!
There was enough food for everyone and then some... we did the gift exchange game, the Christmas story with paper puppets, and played games until 9.15 (which is late by Clark standards). Hungry Hippos was just the 'hold over' game while we put the kids to bed, then it turned into a 2 set Yatzee marathon... then we drove everybody home! Phew!!! It really was a fun evening and I think we may even have a couple life group members out of it too!!! But besides all that - it was fun to stop in the middle of the year to acknowledge that Jesus brings joy to our everyday - not just December.
yay! it seems i can post a comment or two now! we used to do christmas in july at a mountain resort i worked in. what fun! looks like you guys are doing well there, xoxo anna
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