He Came

A very blessed Christmas to everyone. These are some photos of the Nativity decorations we saw this year, which were very few. The real reason for Christmas, the coming of the Savior, brings great joy to us. He came. God became man to save us.






When I look at all the blessings the Savior has given me, all the joys, all the comforts He brings, my heart rejoices. He came. Then I remember all my feeble efforts at fighting sin, how easily hurtful words slide off my tongue, how easily vengeful thoughts fill my heart, and I know that He came to save me from the consequences of all these sins. And again my heart rejoices. He came. He came. What a privilege to know His name, to serve Him, to tell others about His love and grace.





But, sometimes, even knowing of His love and having received so much of His grace, I let too many peripherals get into the way of serving Him and telling others about His love. Just as Santa tries to take the glory away from Jesus, too many worldly things occupy my day and I don't have enough "time" to tell others, to serve Him and to praise His name. People see all the worldly things that occupy my time, but may not hear me speak of His great love. He came.

He came to save me. The center, the focus, is Jesus, the Savior. He came to be my Redeemer. He came to be my Light. Even after seeing all my sins, my weaknesses, my lack of love -- He came. What greater gift could I ever receive? He came to be my Friend. He came to be my Savior. He came!

Christmas Portraits, Santiago 2009

These are some typical photos of how the city is decorated.









Fruit stands with apples, raisins and gum drops are very common. We also see plenty of roast pork, usually sold along the side of the road, where you can buy it buy the pound for your family get togethers.






























This is what Christmas looks like here, where the night time temperature is still 79F at 8PM. Since it stays warm, outside decorations are very popular.












The decoration theme this year seems to have been: ribbon and butterflies. We have also seen more Santa's this year than ever before.

Dangerous Job

This past week I saw something interesting - and frightening at the same time. We saw some painters working on a six story building. The painters worked in pairs. One man stays up on the roof and makes sure the ladder is secure and also is in charge of raising and lowering the five gallon bucket of paint for the man below.






The other man climbs down the ladder. With one arm he hangs on to the ladder, and all the painting is done with the other hand. As you can see, there is no safety equipment - not even a security rope for the painter. He just climbs up and down the rope ladder right out in the open.





Update:

A few weeks ago I told you about Juan and the robbers that tried to take his motorbike. The bullet wounds have healed up nicely. But, apparently, the bullet did some damage to one of the nerves that control the muscles in the wrist. Juan can close his fist but is unable to lift his fingers and wrist in any kind of upward motion. He is wearing a cast for the time being and may have to get some therapy. Please keep him in your prayers. Juan had been hoping to go into the medical profession. If he does not regain the motion in his hand, he may have to choose a different life's work.