Christmas and donuts.

Children in the village excited to take a picture

Children gathering as we walk through a village

We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God

 that has been given among the churches of Macedonia,

 for in a severe test of affliction,

their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.

 For they gave according to their means, as I can testify,

 and beyond their means, of their own accord,

 begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— and this, not as we expected,

 but they gave themselves first to the Lord

and then by the will of God to us.

 Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started,

 so he should complete among you this act of grace.

 But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you

—see that you excel in this act of grace also.

I say this not as a command,

but to prove by the earnestness of others that

your love also is genuine.

  For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,

 that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor,

 so that you by his poverty might become rich.

 And in this matter I give my judgment: 

this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this 

work but also to desire to do it.

 So now finish doing it as well,

 so that your readiness in desiring it

 may be matched by your completing it out of what you have.

 For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has,

 not according to what he does not have.

 For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened,

 but that as a matter of fairness

 your abundance at the present time should supply their need,

 so that their abundance may supply your need,

 that there may be fairness.

 As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over,

 and whoever gathered little had no lack.”

2 Corinthians 8: 1-15

Christmas and donuts.

Many people have asked me about Christmas in Africa. When posed with these questions, it sparks memories of joys and troubles, celebrations and hardships. Yet, one consistent thing about Christmas in Malawi is amanda(donuts, pronounced ah-mahn-dah).

Donuts are a special treat in Malawi. The typical donut sold in the village is a solid mound of dough, fried in palm oil to add a crispy exterior. It's heavy, dense, and full of grease, leaving your hands glistening with oil. We had these holiday treats a few times during our stay in Malawi.

On Christmas Eve we went to the Malawian nuns' house to deliver wool yarn to an 89-year-old nun in the convent. This nun happened to ask my professor if she had some yarn, because she wanted to knit during the holidays. It also happened that my classmate brought yarn so that I could teach her how to crochet. Coincidence? I think not. Though we didn't get to crochet in Malawi as planned, it was providential to give the yarn to the nun. This was the Lord's way of allowing us to bless the believers in Malawi during the holidays.

Yet, what I loved most about this experience is that we were equally (more like exponentially) blessed by the Malawian nuns. The 89-year-old nun invited us to fellowship with them in the convent. We gathered in a beautiful living room and were blessed as this woman told stories of life in the ministry. She shared decades of experiences in Malawi and other parts of Africa, tales of surviving cholera outbreaks and famine. As the elderly nun told stories, the other nuns in the convent prepared a Christmas treat of donuts and glass bottle sodas.

These donuts were amazing! They were freshly baked for the Christmas celebration. Compared to the donuts in the village, these donuts were light and fluffy. The outside was tossed in sugar and the inside was filled with homemade jelly. As I ate the donut, I knew I was eating a rare treat. These donuts were a sign of their generosity, and they tasted as special as the occasion they had been made for. I felt honored that the nuns would share their Christmas dessert with a few strangers from the United States. I was overwhelmed by their hospitality.

On Christmas Day we had the privilege of breaking bread with the Luxembourg nuns (who lived in a separate convent from the Malawian nuns). After weeks of PB&J and pasta or rice with vegetables, the Christmas feast tasted like a five star restaurant experience. We stuffed ourselves with double portions of green beans, meat, potatoes, chocolate pudding and Dutch cookies (only to name a few of the delicacies). When we had eaten our fill, we decided to go on a walk around the village to help digest the feast.

As we walked along the road running through Namitondo, we met many children along the way. Through each village we passed on our digestion journey, we would gather 30-40 children from the village. Each child would yell "AZUNGU!" or "BO!" to get our attention. Some would say "Give-a-me-money" or "Give-a-me-sweet" as we passed. It was strange to not hear Christmas music as we walked through the villages. It was hard to see the children, because it felt like an ordinary day and an ordinary village walk. There were no signs of Christmas in Malawi outside of the nuns' house or the hospital grounds.

My professor and I saw two little girls strolling towards us on our walk. I could see them whispering to each other and pointing at us. I could even hear a faint "Azungu" in their conversation. When the little girls reached us, one ran up to me with her hand in the air. In her hand was a village donut. She wanted to share her Christmas treat with me, an azungu who had just stuffed her face at the nuns' house. I was blown away by her generosity. I think I stood there for a while, because when I came to I heard my professor translate, "She wants to share her donut with you." I thanked her(Zikomo) for her generosity and declined the offer. Instead, I offered her a Christmas greeting, Christmasi zabwino. We smiled and laughed together. I gave her a kagunda (pound it). She gave me a glimpse of the Christmas spirit.

The generosity, warmth, and hospitality of the Malawian people were displayed through their amanda(donuts). When I reflect on these donut experiences, I am amazed by the heart of Christ in the people of Malawi. They embody the generosity of the church of Macedonia as described in 2 Corinthians 8: "[...] their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part." In both instances I was overwhelmed that these beautiful people, who have nothing, would offer me their everything, their special treat, on Christmas.

These experiences continue to stir my heart for generosity. Though I am a student and currently do not have a dollar to my name, I am inspired to evaluate my resources with a different perspective. I would love to live a life in which my giving outweighed my receiving. Living in a materialistic culture, this will be a hard change to maintain. Yet, I do not want to be shaped by my culture to have desires and "needs" for clothes, food, and other luxuries that do not reflect my faith or honor the people I met in Malawi. I'm still praying through how The Lord is calling me to spend my resources and how he desires me to steward my privilege, yet I know how I spend money has been changed because of Malawi. My heart's desire is to be a woman of faith that reflects the heart of Christ through my generosity. I would love to embody the generosity of the church of Macedonia as my friends in Malawi have witnessed to me. I want to be a Christian who spends the money I have on things that I need, to support the Kingdom of God which is eternal, and to provide for people I care about.

We are being persuaded to spend money we don't have,

 on things we don't need,

 to create impressions that won't last,

 on people we don't care about.

Tim Jackson