Hey y’all! We hope you all are enjoying time with family, opening presents, eating more than ya ought to, and most of all, celebrating Jesus! Christmas really is a wonderful time. This being our first Christmas in Colombia, things are a bit different for us, but we are so excited that God has allowed us to come this far and we trust he does some great things for his Glory!

Here is a little video we put together tonight, just for you!

Just to give you an idea of Christmas in Colombia, here are a few observations we’ve made…

~ Christmas (both the “Jesus” and the “Santa” side) seems to be an even bigger deal here than in the States

~ This city, Bucaramanga, is known as the City Of Parks, and nearly all of the hundreds of parks are completely decked out with pretty lights and nativity scenes

~ Nativity scenes are seen all over: in Buisness places, homes, government, etc. in fact, people pride themselves on how nice their nativity is set up.

~ Although you start seeing nativity sets in November, Jesus isn’t placed in the scene until the 24th

~ Almost as big as Christmas, a couple weeks ago they had a national holiday celebrating the Immaculate Conception (the party starts the night before and goes all day!)

~ Big fireworks aren’t legal here, but somehow people all around the city have lots of them and love to set them off until the wee hours of the morning. They don’t go down quietly, that’s for sure!

– In the first week of January they celebrate the Day of the Magi (“wise men”) and will also give gifts, mostly to extended family and friends

~ All the celebrations, though religious in nature, are big family get-togethers in which everybody practically marinates in beer, and loud music. A very “festive” time for sure.

I say all this to bring attention to something that beings me to tears… Colombia is so close to knowing Jesus–They even throw huge parties around him; BUT, their trust isn’t in Jesus for salvation, it is in their works, their church, their goodness, their family, their tradition… And if one does not abandon all else and trust on Jesus alone, they will not make it to God! (John 14:6). In other words, many don’t know the very one they celebrate. Do you? Will you pray with me that we can introduce Jesus to these precious folks who are so close?

We love y’all and would love to hear from you. How can we be praying for you? May God bless greatly as you magnify Jesus. Don’t forget– it’s all about Him!

* PS – we’ve been given a cat and a bunny. Please pray for us. Lol…