My First Christmas Letter

“Arise, shine, for your LIGHT has come.” Isaiah 60:1

“Then your light will break forth like the DAWN.” Isaiah 58:8

“The RISING SUN will come to us from heaven.” Luke 1:78

It never occurred to me that Christmas was like a sunrise. We are waiting in darkness, bumping into things and losing our balance – hopelessly lost in the blackness. Then the faintest tinge of pink splashes on the horizon. Things go from black to grey. Soon spears of orange and red chase away the lingering night. Then it peeks over the hill, that smiling Son – crying in a cave 2000 years ago. Heaven’s Prince sent from heaven to Bethlehem here to live, die, and rise for us.

Well, this is my first Christmas letter (maybe it’s a sign of manhood…), and it’s coming to you from Beijing, China. This is my first Christmas away from home. It’s kind of tough to swallow, but the good news is that I gained a family here – our FOC (Friends of China) family is incredible. Thirteen people with hearts for ministry and whose varying gifts and personalities blend beautifully. Also our Chinese friends are a web of smiles and love. Making friends in China is kind of like making friends when you’re five. “You have a bike. So do I. Let’s be friends.” Usually when I leave the basketball courts I have a few new contacts in my phone. Then to be able to tell these friends about the Son rising for maggots like us … that is the stuff of life. We just had a Christmas party on Saturday night; there were roughly 400 friends, kids, and parents there who heard the real meaning of Christmas. It was a pretty awesome thing to see the magnitude of meaning of our mission. Our God is an awesome God.

After living in China for four months I now use the word “maybe” more often, am a more accurate and liberal spitter, speak a bit slower, bike more than Lance Armstrong, eat more soy sauce than Ho Chi Minh, and am considering becoming a camel jockey. But I’m still the same ‘ol tall, horse-loving, picture-snapping, big-nosed Micah (actually here my name is Mi Jia – which drips with meaning: “excellent rice”). Even though my Chinese still sounds like a constipated walrus I’ve found that a smile needs no translation. From teaching my 440 students the fundamentals of oral English such as “See you later Alligator,” and “Holy cow” to weaving in and out of grannies on my bike to sweating in my communist-heated apartment I am reminded that we don’t know His menu, but we can trust the Cook, He’ll feed us what we need … always.

Although we may be an ocean away, His love knows no east or west. Merry Son-rise…

Your brother in our Baby King,

- m -