Christmas is here, and although we are far from family, the
weather is 70 degrees, and the celebration of Christmas is somewhat different here,
it is finally beginning to feel like Christmas. We greatly miss our family’s
Christmas traditions and the beautiful Christmas Eve candlelight service, but
we are realizing that there are many advantages to being apart from the hustle
and bustle of the western Christmas season. We have been able to really focus
on the meaning of Christmas and to begin to teach Cathen this greatest gift –
Jesus Christ – and celebrate this gift with our Cameroonian and missionary
family. This year our celebration began
with a Christmas party on Children’s Ward. Together with the Cameroonian staff,
we prepared songs, gifts, and food for the children and families admitted on
the ward. Then on Christmas Eve, we joined the other missionary
doctors in caroling through the hospital wards. Though the ideas of “peace on
earth” and “joy to the world” are all too easily lost amidst suffering and
sickness, there remains the glimmer of hope in people’s eyes, and we greatly
enjoyed singing and sharing these timeless messages of hope and joy.
As part of this season, we wanted to share with you the love
that one of our dear friends has shown the children of Cameroon. You will see
in many of the pictures below, beautiful fleece blankets. A wonderful woman, Peggy Payne ("Gigi"), who lives in Charlotte, NC, has lovingly made these blankets for the
children here at Mbingo Baptist Hospital. Gigi is not only a wonderful grandmother
to her granddaughters, Christina and Kelly - now all grown-up and married - she is a grandmother to
the children who have come to our hospital. For the last year she has spent
countless hours making blankets for these little ones. With each blanket she is
sharing love with a newborn, a sick or malnourished child, or even a mother and
father grieving the loss of their child. This Christmas, we want to say thank
you to Gigi, for her precious contribution to caring for and loving the
children at Mbingo Hospital.
“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers
and sisters of mine, you did
for me.”
Matthew 25:40
Merry Christmas to you all! May God bless you richly this
Christmas season and may you be ambassadors for Christ as you share His love
with those around you.
Much love,
Lindsay, JR, and Cathen
Gigi's "grandkids" and their blankets
The Children's Ward Christmas Party
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