Today is November 24, and in Peru that means that people are putting up their Christmas trees and lights today and tomorrow.
In Peru, you see, the tradition is to put up the Christmas tree and lights exactly one month before Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Christmas Eve is actually a bigger holiday in Peru than Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve, families gather together and have a large dinner and open gifts at midnight. Turkey and "paneton" - which is Peruvian fruitcake - are two of the staples of any Peruvian Christmas Eve feast.
Peruvian fruitcake ("paneton"), by the way, is very popular and is happily received by everyone as a great Christmas gift. This is the exact opposite of the way it is in the USA, where fruitcake is generally received quite unenthusiastically as a gift, and then frequently is re-gifted or used as a doorstop.
In Peru, you can find pens of live turkeys on street corners in the days leading up to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. You go up to the pen, pick out a bird, it gets slaughtered, and - voila! - there's your Christmas Eve dinner! The street corner pens are like a Death Row for turkeys at Christmastime in Peru.
What are the local Christmas traditions wherever in the world that you are doing church or ministry?
How can you embrace them and celebrate them as a means to lead others to know the real meaning of Christmas?
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