On December 22nd I had my 6 English students and one of my Tibetan friends over to decorate sugar cookies and to hear about the True story of Christmas. It was a really special time. The funniest part was that most of the ladies did not want to put the icing on the cookies. Most Tibetan people would rather eat salty things than sweet things so they didn't want to add any more sugar to the cookies. Some of them would literally put one dot of icing on the cookie and say they were finished. We laughed SO hard together about that. Finally I told them that they didn't have to add any icing if they didn't want so that made them happy. Some of them decided to do half with no icing and half with icing for their children (most of the younger generation likes sweets!). It was fun and culturally very interesting. After they finished decorating the cookies (which didn't take very long..haha), I was able to share the ENTIRE story of Christmas with them and share with them about Jesus' live, death and sacrifice for all of our sins. They were really interested in the story and it was neat to see the things that really stood out to them as compared to what usually sticks out to us as Americans. There are parts to the story that they can relate to so much more than we can such as Mary having to travel so far on horseback while being pregnant (their villages are very far from Kathmandu and they don't have any cars or tractors or motorcycles in their villages). They could also really picture clearly the stable where Jesus was born and what that situation would have been like and many other things like that. They were also really interested in the stories I shared of Jesus' life and death. They could not believe that an innocent man was put to death and that He died willingly. They really enjoyed hearing the story. I pray that God uses it in their lives and gives me many opportunities to share more with them. After I shared with them they wanted to give us some gifts for Christmas. It was very sweet and thoughtful of them. In their culture they give 'katas' for special events. 'Katas' are the white and yellow scarves that you can see in the pictures below. They put them around our necks to show respect and that they are happy for us. Tibetan people give 'katas' for all kinds of events such as weddings, birthdays, festivals, and they are also used in worship. They also brought us juice and crackers and cookies and they wrap the 'katas' around these items as well. I am so thankful for such a wonderful day!
The cookies and icing
Some of the cookies that they decorated
One of my students decorating her cookies
Placing the kata around the juice and snacks they brought for us
Giving us the katas.
Tibetans touch their foreheads together as a sign of respect and friendship (kind of like a hug in our culture).
Keane and Gracie woke up from their nap as the ladies were giving us the katas. Of course the ladies had brought some for them as well. Gracie was happy to get them but Keane was still waking up and wasn't as excited about it all.
Our family with all of our katas on.
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