RISKING LIFE AND LIMB

Dearest Friends,

In John's letter home, he mentioned our visit to a tiny Christian church in the town of Lhok Seumawe.  Visiting that little church was an annual event for a handful of expat families, and though I wouldn't call it our favorite Christmas activity, it was certainly one of the most meaningful.

The first time we were invited, my kids were pretty excited about it.  They'd practiced some songs they were to perform, and had been told it would include dinner, plus a gift for every kid there.  Of course, it wasn't quite what they had pictured.  We climbed aboard a little bus and made the hour's trip into town, arriving right at dusk.  The church was very small and rustic, with folding chairs rather than pews.  I'm sure the building served some other purpose during the week.  Under each seat we found a cold boxed dinner containing some local treats.  I'm guessing my picky daughter probably just rolled her eyes and stuffed it back under her chair, possibly grabbing a piece of bread, if there was one.

Once we had finished our meal it was time for the musical entertainment -- a few carols from our kids, a few from theirs, and a few we all sang together.  There was a lengthy sermon, difficult to follow even with the translator provided, and then there were the promised gifts -- a few small trinkets, rather than the shiny new toys my kids probably envisioned.  At last we climbed back onto our bus for the ride home.  The kids were probably asleep before we made it out of the parking lot, and were still rather bleary-eyed when they left for school the next morning.

So why did we drag our less-than-enthusiastic kids back for more of the same the following two years? Well, because sometimes it's good to be reminded that not all people have it as easy as we always have  -- especially where religion is concerned.  Some, like these families, like Jewish people throughout history, and like Moslems in America after 9/11, risk life and limb just to practice their particular faith amongst those who are rabidly opposed.  Though this small band of Christians was being tolerated at the time, they all knew that things could change in the blink of an eye, as it had in the past, with disastrous results.  Perhaps I was hoping that a little of their faith and certainty would rub off on me.