It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

In December and January, everything in the Solomon Islands slows down.  School is out, most people return to their home villages, church organizations like Sunday School and women's groups close.  And many of SITAG's employees will combine their remaining vacation days with the two weeks that the office is closed.

So we held the Christmas party this weekend.  The event is always a huge team effort, and work started early in the week with shopping.

Thursday afternoon, several of us gathered to harvest, peel, and scrape cassava.  Katherine found one with a "nose" and quickly used the knife to make a face on her cassava man.

Aaron squeezed forty coconuts worth of nice thick coconut cream.  No added water.  I love his servant's heart.

Katherine asked to be able to stay up late with her SITAG aunties to finish the cassava pudding and get it on the fire.  So one of the trays was "Katherine's special pudding from the Russell Islands".

While Katherine stayed up late and left a note on the chalkboard asking to sleep in late, Olivia got up at 3:00 to join the SITAG aunties with the second fire and all of the food prep.

By mid morning, the food was all off the fire, and we were all driving over to the beautiful SWIM campus, trying hard not to pull over and eat the food in the back of the vehicle as the aroma made our tummies growl.

While the ladies cut up fruit and plated all of the hot food that had been cooked at SITAG, the dads and kids played.  

Olivia enjoyed helping out with the smallest of our SITAG family.

The men are normally so focused on work and taking care of their families, watching them shed the weighty mantle of responsibility as they played games made my heart sing.

The food was abundant and delicious.  There is absolutely nothing like food cooked on hot stones.  Especially when you are sharing it with some of the most dedicated and precious people on the planet.

We lingered long around the tables, then the cleanup crew stepped in as people drifted away to let their stomachs settle.  We parceled up the leftovers and washed dishes and swept the floor.  Then everyone gathered again to sing a few Christmas carols and to say goodbye to the BTLP SI director who was moving on to another ministry position.

What a perfect way to kick off December, with some of my favorite people.