This was a question posed to me by one of our amazing Khmer staff this week. He wanted to know if we should buy a Christmas tree for our childrens' day centre. Of course the British in me wanted to say 'yes of course' but then I thought again. My Khmer staff member and I had a chat about Christmas and when I remarked that Christmas trees are not mentioned in the Bible he looked a little confused!
So we went online and looked at the history of Christmas trees and how the tradition developed. We also talked about the birth of Jesus as written in the Bible. And we had a good discussion about what Christmas is really all about and traditions that people have and don't have.
Its not that traditions are bad in themselves as they can actually be quite helpful for people. But I realised that in order for our children to get excited about Christmas they needed to understand that it shouldn't be seen as a 'white people's celebration' with the emphasis on Father Christmas, santa hats, decorations and Christmas trees.
What Christmas really is about is the gift of Jesus with the hope, love and joy that He brings in the midst of suffering.
Remembering that Jesus was born into a poor family, in a room where animals made their home and then as a young child Jesus and His earthly parents became refugees in order to escape the genocide you realise that the children we work with can really identify with Jesus.
And that is what we need to be sharing with our children in Cambodia this Christmas. (But yes we do have a Christmas tree in my house:)
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