A round loaf of bread called kolach sits on a Ukrainian Christmas table. The lit candle at its center represents Jesus, the Light of the World.
In Guatemala, a large bonfire outside a home burns brightly with leaves, sticks and a figurine of the devil, symbolizing the Virgin Mary’s victory over him.
Christmas traditions can look drastically different from one country to the next. And if you attended the sixth Christmas Around the World at WorldSong Missions Place in Cook Springs in mid-December, you experienced a taste of this.
The Alabama Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) camp, which emphasizes missions and ministry, created an entire Christmas experience representing the three Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions partnership countries: Guatemala, Ukraine and Haiti. WMU brought back the popular event to culminate its yearlong celebration of the camp’s 20th anniversary.
And while WMU leaders have received lots of positive feedback, executive director Candace McIntosh is quick to note the success comes because of partnership. WMU partnered with the SBOM, associational missions leadership, Campers on Mission and volunteers from Alabama Baptist churches across the state to pull off the event, which has been in the planning stages for almost a year and a half, she said, noting a volunteer count of around 200 people.
“This was a major ordeal,” McIntosh noted. “Volunteers started stringing lights in September.”
It also meant bringing in retired or active Southern Baptist representatives to lead sessions on each country.
Allen and Laurelle Stoudenmire, who served in Guatemala from 2006 to 2008, shared fried bread and hot chocolate similar to what is served in the Central American country.
The Stoudenmires, members of Thomasville Baptist Church, told stories of how they shared the Christmas message in Guatemalan schools and villages.
Carol Bercion, the in-country missions team coordinator for Alabama Baptists going to Guatemala, also shared experiences with some of the groups.
Donna Akers and her 17-year-old daughter, Kaylee, led the session on Christmas in Ukraine.
The Akers family has served in the former Soviet republic since 1999 and is currently on stateside assignment in Florence.
Akers shared some special traditions from the mainly Orthodox and Catholic country, while Kaylee led a question-and-answer time.
Susan Bartholomew, Baldwin Baptist Association WMU director who was in charge of the Haiti feature, commissioned 13 volunteers from the association to help “transform the area into Haiti,” forming several sections to create a five-senses experience.
A clean water “well,” live chickens, a goat, a market, a chapel and a cooking hut all set up inside one of the camp’s cabins created the “smell” of the Caribbean country, Bartholomew said.
Two live donkeys outside the cabin welcomed visitors as they entered. Mango juice and fried pork skins, a traditional Haitian Christmas treat, were served. There was even a large fire going in the fireplace to keep the area “feeling” like Haiti.
Don Reece, a member of First Baptist Church, Boaz, who served 35 years in Nigeria and has taken several trips to Haiti, was in the disaster relief section of the cabin. He shared about what Alabama Baptists did in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.
After “visiting” the countries, a meal was served in the camp cafeteria, aka the American Embassy.
After the meal, Christmas Around the World project coordinator Hope Stevens invited visitors to explore the other parts of the event, including a self-guided journey to the chapel where more than 100 nativities from Nigeria to Nepal were displayed.
There also was an outdoor Christmas “market” simulating those found around the world and “The Areas of Darkness,” a walk-through experience of a mosque with pictures, audio and text reflecting Islamic beliefs and practices. The experience was meant to inform visitors about the places where the gospel has not yet spread.
This year, Christmas Around the World hosted two family days when church groups, adults and families had a mostly self-guided tour through Haiti, Ukraine and Guatemala. There were also four senior adult days with sit-down informative sessions for Ukraine and Guatemala.
More than 1,200 people attended the event this year, some for the first time like Randall Fells, of Gadsden.
Fells’ wife, Sabrina, led Girls in Action for 21 years at Macedonia Baptist Church, Coates Bend. Christmas Around the World was her chance to show him why she kept leading the girls back to WorldSong year after year.
“[Christmas Around the World] is very educational,” he said.
“I learned about places I’ll never get to go to. It’s opened my eyes to see how blessed we really are.”
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