Noël, Jésus est né!

 

Big Idea: Diane loves a beautiful Christmas Carol in French that she learned while working in Africa.

This advent Diane would like to reflect on Christmas songs that meant something special to her at different stages of life.

A West African Christmas

Christmas at 75 degrees.

Christmas in West Africa showed me Christmas is celebrated beyond culture, beyond geography. It is about remembering that Jesus was sent to this world.

I worked during a 10 year time span as a nurse and Bible instructor in Guinea, West Africa at the Telekoro Bible Institute. I lived on a campus with several other teaching staff and about 50 students enrolled in pastoral education.

I loved the children! Our pastors in training were often married with young children who were delightful. “Mademoiselle! Mademoiselle!” They’d chant, as I came to their place.

Christmas under the palm trees

Christmas was celebrated in Guinea on Christmas Eve, and Christmas morning in church, which was actually a rather chilly time of year. It was the start of dry season.

The afternoon was spent with a big African meal with classroom tables put end to end under the palm trees lining our campus.

In the evening we sang Christmas songs in their national language to dancing in a circle; the African gourd keeping the beat.

Noël, Jésus est né!

My favorite song from France, sang as hymn, was a great children’s melody. It reminded me of American kids singing “Away in a manger.”

Here are the words by Jaques Blocher with a rough English translation.

 

Here is a link to an online choir singing this beautiful song.

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Reflect:

Have you an experience of Christmas in another country, culture or place of very different from what you have previously known? How might that cause you to reflect on the real meaning of Christmas?