These are some pics from a few more Christmas related things we’ve been doing recently.
Last weekend our church had a combined church service with the Afrikaans speaking church that meets once a month in our church building. It was a combination Kiwi/South African event and some parts of the service were in Kiwi English and some in Afrikaans. The Sunday School children from the Afrikaans congrgation did a particularly fantastic job of singing Silent night in English, Maori and Afrikaans. And the whole congregation did some songs in English and some in Afrikaans.
Carols in Afrikaans
The Bible readings were in English with Afrikaans visuals (at the last minute I ended up doing one of the readings.) Next year I think we should alternate languages for the readings.
Yours truly somehow up the front!
Afterwards we had a ‘ pot-luck’ meal, with some Afrikaans food and some Kiwi favourites. I tried two kinds of desserts: Koeksusters and Melktert and some other main course dishes that I’m not sure of the names of. One of our Kiwi congrgation threatened to make lettuce and Vegemite sandwiches but I’m glad that she settled on pavlova in the end!!!
Last night we finally were able to wait until it got dark, and go for a little drive around town to look at the Christmas lights. There are really only a few house decorated, and not whole streets like we had a few years ago. We did not go to the house that won the local newspaper’s competion because it is a bit of a way out of town, but of the ones we saw I prefer that more subtlely decorated houses anyway. Some had just TOO many diffferent things flashing.
We liked how this one turned out with the people in front.
Today I spent the morning helping out with preparations for the Community Christmas Dinner. We don’t have homeless folk as such in our little town, but we have plenty of poor or elderly or ill people who would perhaps be sitting at home with nothing special happening on Christmas Day and no one visiting, and possibly not much to eat. So there are expected to be about 140 plus people to be fed down at the church. I think the cook is catering for up to 180, because she never knows until the day how many are going to turn up. I was doing table arranging today, and tomorrow both PB and I will most likely be serving food, after doing a bit of last minute stuff with the tables – like putting the lolly (sweet/candy) baskets out.
Bring on Christmas Dinner!!!
Annie & PB Go Geocaching 