Christmas is not a big commercial holiday in Cambodia. Some markets sell Santa hats, and stores or restaurants with foreign clientele might put a fake tree or some snowflakes in their front window. But for most Cambodians, Christmas is just another day.
For Christian Cambodians, it's all about Jesus. There are other holidays when they might give each other gifts or visit relatives, but Christmas isn't focused on family, since many Christians come from Buddhist families. Instead, they celebrate at church with performances, guest speakers, Christmas carols (many original to Cambodia), and a shared meal.
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| Neighborhood kids waiting for the program to begin |
I read a recent article saying that since many Cambodian churches don't have a pastor (but just study the Bible in small groups), pastors are very busy in December and January traveling around to churches all over the country. Whatever day they're available is "Christmas day" for that church - nobody's too picky about December 25! I can't blame them, since Jesus was probably born in the spring or summer. Cambodians stick with the Bible and don't assign much importance to the many convoluted Christmas traditions we have in the West, like shiny balls hanging from pine trees and coal in stockings and gorging ourselves on peppermint fudge and watching "The Grinch." As much as I love these traditions (well, maybe not the coal), many of them are deeply rooted in a European/American culture and climate, and make just a tad bit less sense in Cambodia.
My friend Chenda, the one who first invited me to Solomon Church (see my last post), has been bugging me to come to the Christmas service ever since they started pouring concrete for the outdoor stage at one end of the church courtyard. Of course, I was happy to oblige - I could tell it was going to be quite a production, and I wouldn't want to miss it. The Sunday afternoon before Christmas, everyone took their places in the blue plastic chairs facing the stage.
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| New Chenda and the two friends who invited her |
The girl in the front, next to me, came and sat by me to practice her English. Her name is Chenda too, as it turns out. She arrived in Phnom Penh about six months ago to attend university, and decided a couple months later to become a Christian. So it was her first-ever Christmas celebration.
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| The Sunday School-aged kids sang a Christmas song...so cute! |
All the members of the guitar class and soccer team worked together to prepare special Christmas dramas. The Nativity in particular had a lot of Khmer cultural touches in the costumes, music, and even narration style: the narrators sounded just like the ones on the radio, with high-pitched, breathy voices for all the girls.
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| A Nativity pantomime to music and recorded narration |
I couldn't quite figure out some characters. The ones in blue brought fruit to Mary and Joseph before baby Jesus was born. I thought the guys on the right were Wise Men, but those came in next, so I'm not sure who they represented. But I really like their polka dots. I also liked when the little kids reappeared as the stable animals, still wearing stripes and Santa hats.
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| Joseph taking care of Mary by wiping sweat from her face with her krama (scarf). This elicited a lot of "awwww." |
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| The whole Nativity cast |
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| Who needs a tree in the middle? Everyone know's it's all about the tinsel and decorations anyway. |
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| A special guest preacher |
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| A mime/drama about God's love drawing us in relentlessly - it almost made me cry |
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| The guitar students accompanied themselves singing a Christmas song |
Last, we all enjoyed dinner: Cambodian curry and fried noodles. I've heard curry is a traditional Christmas meal at churches here, and it's often eaten on special occasions. It's one of my favorite Khmer foods.
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| Feasting! |
Chenda was beaming at the end. "Weren't you so proud of them?" I didn't have to fake the enthusiasm in my reply. I was pretty amazed at how well all the kids had done. "Last Christmas there were seven of us gathered at my church, and now look what God's done for us!" We were overflowing throughout the whole courtyard - not just longtime church members and the new neighborhood kids, but also many kids' parents and friends. All the eating and talking and laughing made a joyous noise indeed.
Solomon Church had much cause to celebrate: God with us, over two thousand years ago and all throughout this year.
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