Article December 25, 2000 Issue

The celebration of promises fulfilled

Wherever you are, you can join in.

By Bea Roegge

During the  Christmas season, the news is full of inspiring stories about the kindness and generosity that people express toward those who are in need. But the Christ—the spiritual idea Jesus presented to humanity—isn't really like Santa Claus, making a brief appearance and then leaving for another year. One of the things I love about the Christ is that it is with all of us, no matter where we live, all of the time.

Not too long ago, an American friend of mine who has spent the last several years in a remote part of Malawi asked me pointedly if and how I prayed for Africa. I responded that I did pray for that continent, and often for individual nations, as particular problems appeared in the news. In these prayers I remembered that Christ was there, revealing the love that God has for us, guiding those nations and all people in their search for spiritual truth. My friend was glad that I prayed that way, because, he said, too many people wanted to take Christ to Africa instead of recognizing and respecting the fact that Christ is already there.

I was glad that I'd passed his test. Earlier in my life I would not have. When I was a child, the pastor of our church, who had just completed a term as a missionary in Africa, spent a weekend in our home. I was thrilled by his experiences, and for several years afterward, I wanted to go to that continent and convert Africans to Christianity. I never followed through on that desire, and I was left with a haunting fear that there were people who did not know of God's great promises of salvation.

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