Christmas in Baset

Christmas is not a public holiday in Cambodia, so with Christmas falling on a Sunday, this was the first time that we’ve been able to celebtrate Christmas in Baset on Christmas Day.

We left home after 6 AM to transport most of the Christmas dinner food to be prepared in Baset.  Those who know how to make Cambodian curry and the special fish soup had much to do throughout the morning.

I took my good friends from Australia, Alex and Garry,and new comer, Renee, visiting in the meantime.

In Cambodia, celebrations are important and are supposed to be very public.  So Christmas is a time when the Christians can enjoy doing just that.  They didn’t have speakers blaring music towards the neighbours but with electricity newly connected in Baset village, they were able to use a sound system for the Christmas carols and the neighbours heard enough to know it was a real-deal celebration.

Piset did a great job of telling the Christmas story and of course that was followed by a group discussion.  In oral cultures, the most effective way for people to learn is through stories and then the opportunity to process the implications of the story verbally.  It always gives me great joy to see new people break the “sound barrier” and participate in a discussion about Jesus even if they are hearing about him for the first time.

I was also excited about having Pov, Praich and Bunthuen there, all of whom have been showing real interest in the gospel.  They were just a few of the 20+ not-yet believers made up of relatives and friends of the disciples in Baset.

Lunch was not like anything my visitors had ever had for Christmas dinner but they enjoyed it nonetheless.  We were back in Phnom Penh by the evening and then had a second Christmas celebration at a restaurant that had a Christmas buffet, complete with roast turkey and a few of the must-have Australian Christmas foods.