Our previous guard was really excited when I told him of the idea. He said he would invite all 10 of the neighborhood fada groups to come! I said, let's keep it simple for now. We settled on inviting 4 of the groups and I hope we can find a time to invite the others at a later date.
I knew of someone with a reputation for cooking well. And she gave me a great price for supplying rice, meat, sauce, and beesap for our guests. I asked for food for 80 people, and she brought it directly to my home an hour before the party began. We had plates and spoons for 130 people, and 120 small water bags.
There is a family next door that loans chairs for neighborhood parties. I rented 50 chairs for the day. It was really cute seeing their small kids help carry the chairs across the street to my home. One kid could only carry one at a time but he was so eager to help! He often meets us at our gate when we come home to help open the gate and then close it back. These kids are special!
I passed out invitations for the party to each of our neighbors. My good friend who owns a boutique in our neighborhood posted the announcement on the main wallof the boutique! On the day of, several people stopped us in the street to ask if today was this day, and to say they would come.
Well, the hour came. I had music. I had food. I had chairs. But where are the people? In this culture it is customary to come a bit late. By 820 pm the first groups of people were starting to file in. By 835 nearly every chair was filled, and we started at 845. I presented our family, greeted everyone. I said how wonderful it is to gather together for a Christmas party. I shared that Christmas is a time I think of to give gifts to each other. I shared that I consider each of my neighbors a gift because of their friendship. And then I told the story of the birth of Jesus, God's gift to mankind, so that we may have a relationship with Him. Everyone applauded at the story! I shared that it is my hope to talk more about God with each of you, but tonight, let us share together in this meal.
We asked 3 ladies to help serve the food to everyone. Denise and I shared the last plate. We used all 130 plates. We gave out all the beesap and water bags. We used up all the food, but it seemed to be sufficient. Some of the adults who had food left on their plate shared with the kids, which is cultural here. Praise God for multiplying the food!
About 30-40 people stayed after the meal to watch the Jesus film in their language. Many men asked me to take a photo with them. Everyone took time when they were leaving to thank us for inviting them and to tell us they had a good time.
We hope this will be an annual tradition. It seemed to be a huge success. Now I hope to form a group of men from this who will meet weekly and study the prophets and the teachings of Jesus together.
This was a success thanks to many of you who prayed for this occasion and give to support the work Denise and I do here. We can't thank you enough. When ministry days are hard and it is difficult to find success stories, I hope to always recall this even as a moment where God began to work through his servants to reach the people here in this West African neighborhood.
Merry Christmas!
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