A Burmese Christmas in Ratchaburi

What does Christmas look like to the poor? How about the displaced? And in a town that barely celebrates Christmas other than with a few Christmas trees in the local supermarket?

A community of Burmese laborers has celebrated Christmas with YWAM Ratchaburi for the past 4 years.  It may never look like the Christmas that you see on television, but it’s something that they look forward to all year.

Most of the women in the community take the day off from work to prepare a meal for all attending the party. The children help to prepare simple decorations. Once the party starts, games are played, gifts are given, music and dancing are in abundance.

YWAM Ratchaburi staff aim to bring the real meaning of Christmas to their community every year, giving them the opportunity to know the true gift that Christmas is. The Heavenly Father that sent His only Son for them – so that they might know Him personally.  

This year, there was a special time for the fathers in the community. In a culture where one rarely will tell another with words that you love them, most of the fathers had never heard their own children tell them how they feel about them. Each child was given a rose for their father and were given time to tell their dad how they felt about them. The eye’s of the father’s lit up with pride. Something so simple, but yet a gift that money cannot buy.

YWAM Ratchaburi’s hope for their Burmese friends is that they would understand that the Heavenly Father loves them, even much more than they love their very own children.