December 2011

CHRISTMAS


I thank God for the experience I had this last Christmas. I was Invited by a Presbyterian congregation called Greenhills Presbyterian Church, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The whole experience reminded me of how important it is in life to be surrounded by family and friends. The invitation by Greenhills came just at the right time -Christmas time, time when one needs to be with family and friends. As a student studying in America separated by miles and miles by space and time from my wife and kids, the thought of a lonely Christmas was an avoidable. School had losed and everyone was busy planning either to go and visit or to have family over for Christmas. As for me there was nothing to plan about. Then suddenly yet again God surprised me once again, I got an email from Greenhills (lovely name), it was an invitation to go down to Cincinnati, Ohio for Christmas. Four years ago my wife had come to the States and worked as a missionary with Greenhills for about two months. They wanted me over and they had bought me a ticket to get down there. I was overjoyed to hear from the brethren from Greenhills and my planning for my trip and my Christmas began.
On 21st December I travelled to Ohio and found Bill and Karan waiting for me. They were a warm and friendly senior couple. We drove by their home and the following day I met with the other Church leaders: Betty, Alfred, and their interim Masher Webster. They were glad to have me as their guest just as I was glad to be in their midst. That is how my nine days christmas holiday began.

Meeting the Greenhills Brethren

In the coming days the brethren took my to visit a number of places; we went to the Krohn Conservatory to see a display of botany, and a display of crafts depicting  the history of  Cinncinnati then and now; we also visited the Nativity Scene, this is the scene about the birth of Christ which has been on display since 1939 and still attracts 50,000 visitors per season.

Nativity Scene

Learning about Bonsai Trees (amazingly shot trees over 50 yrs old)

Japanese  Bonsai Trees.

I also got to visit, see and read more about the history of Cincinnati at the Union Terminal Museum. While there we went to the Omnimax theater and saw the "Rocky Mountain Express" about a team of men with different expertise who went on a mission to build a railway line. The men who came from around the world brought to the fold their skills. The mission took years with a lot of discouragement along the way; many lives lost, a lot of challenges on the way, many mistakes made, but then eventually the mission became successfull. Lesson learned; any mission you embark on in life will cost you, but the benefit will last for many generations! If you have a chance to see the "Rocky Mountain Express", my encouragement is go for it!

I also visited the Cincinnati Art Museum, another wonderful place with a rich history of Cincinnati and America in general. The paintings are superb.What a beautiful place to visit. It is amazing how the patronage have contributed to support the artists and keep the history of the city of Cincinnati. It is true that pictures can portray emotions, situations and settings in such a deep way. The preservation of history is of extreme importance because history is not just time and space in the past, history is with us today, we cannot define ourselves without history, hence the importance of its preservation because without history humanity is lost.
I also got to visit three senior retirement homes among them Marymount Greenhills Retirement Center. It was a wonderful experience talking and spending sometime with the seniors. I was amazed by one lady who was 101 years old, she was very welcoming, humorous and she still drove herself around the city whenever she wanted to buy something, amazing! It is interesting to see and hear how long people live in the United States. For Zambia the life expectancy is now at 47.8 years
It was another yet  interesting experience when we went to the Niederman Farm for the free walk through the Christmas display around their farm.it took us about an hour to go through the display around the farm. The night was so cold but the beauty was so daring that I took may time to enjoy the beauty of each display, and I enjoyed every single moment. Considering that they owners of the farm had just lost a son, yet they went ahead with the Christmas display for the public was humbling to me to see how selfless some people are. My prayers and thoughts go out to the Niedermans.
Christmas day was so wonderful. I spent it with Betty and Alfred's children and grand child. It was interesting to see how a typical American family celebrates Christmas. The day was characterized with a lot of laughter, food, and exchange of gifts. I appreciated this moment just to be surrounded by friends and celebrate Christmas in such a bliss of love. Two days from Christmas was my birthday and once again the brethren of Greenhills pulled a surprise birthday party on me. This was so overwhelming. Other places we visited include: Kentucky, The aquarium (petted some sharks) in Kentucky, "The City of Sculptures"-Hamilton, Graeter's, Jungle Jim and Matthew 25 Ministries who are doing a commendable work helping out poor communities around the world by shipping out hundreds of containers worth thousands of dollars to reach to the needy through the love of God. Greenhills experience is a memorable one and I will forever be grateful to the brethren in Christ at Greenhills Presbyterian Church.

Hugs & Best Wishes!