No Santa in Kenya

Kristen here...

Dan and I celebrated our first Christmas as a married couple here in Kenya.  It was unlike any Christmas I have ever celebrated, but it was special, sweet and a wonderful time just to be together. Christmas in Kenya is different than back home. When you strip commercialism away from the holiday things really do change. The hub-bub of the stores playing endless Christmas music, the crowds of people, the Salvation Army Santas that ring bells in front of grocery stores are nowhere to be found here.  There are no Christmas cards or candy canes. There are no holiday commercials playing in the background on our non-existent television. Sure, we made Christmas cookies and decorated a small tree we brought from home, but all of the extra hustle and bustle just didn't exist this season.  There are no shopping malls and I am not even sure that Kenyans know about Santa. Most certainly don't have the money to buy presents.  After asking around it seems that most Kenyans celebrate the day by treating themselves to a bottle of soda and taking the day off from work.  It suddenly became really hard to find a Coke in our small town.

Ribbons and balloons hung in the doorways at the hospital. That is about the extent of the decorations here for Christmas.  Very Kenyan.

A view of main street in Kapsowar. All of the roof covered structures on the sides of the road are little shops.

It is so interesting to think about Christmas in the absence of Hallmark and all of the extras that come with the season back home. As I was walking down the main street of Kapsowar looking at all of the little shops, "restaurants" and "hotels" I kept thinking, "Lord, is this what you were born into?  Is this what it was sort of like in Bethlehem?"  We are slowly getting used to our downtown, but it is a far cry from home.  The dirt road is crowded with people, beat up cars and animals all jockeying for a place on the path.  Trash litters where sidewalk should be and goats are the main street sweepers as they walk along grazing on whatever someone has left behind.  The shops are more of run-down little shacks.  Each one has a name, but it doesn't necessarily pertain to what is inside.  Once you walk through the small doorway of the wooden walled, tin roofed shanty it takes a while for your eyes to adjust to the darkness inside.  There are no lights.  The floors are dirt and everything inside is dusty.  Humble might be an understatement when describing our main street.  There are a few hotels that dot the road of Kapsowar.  I have never ventured into one and cannot imagine what the accommodations would be like.  Certainly no running water or electricity.  Every once in a while you can see an outhouse of sorts out back through the broken fence with a tattered sheet over the entrance where a door should be.

"Elegence Hotel" one of the fine establishments of Kapsowar. 

I wonder, is this what the inn was like that Mary and Joseph were trying to stay at?  Was this the best option in town?  In staying at such a public place would lice or bedbugs be a concern?  In considering this over the past weeks I sort of wonder if this is a closer picture to the reality of that day than our modern day Hilton or Holiday Inn Express.  I am sure that the inn in Bethlehem didn't have room service or even accommodations with private bathrooms.  However, after watching the mangy animals roam the streets sorely in need of a vet I can imagine that an inn like the ones we have here in Kapsowar would have been a better option than a stable filled with stench and bugs and garbage.  Yet, God denied His son even one of these inns to make a point.  Humble beginnings. There was no special treatment for this baby born to an audience of shepherds. Even He was humbled to be among the least of these.