Christmas is only two weeks away!
How are you celebrating the most wonderful time of year? Have you decorated your Christmas tree yet? Are you already planning an elaborate Christmas dinner? Will you attend your church’s Christmas Eve service?
Every family celebrates Christmas differently — and every culture around the world celebrates a little differently, too!
Here are some interesting ways other countries celebrate the holidays:
Burundi
For Burundians, Christmas is the perfect time to spend with family and celebrate the birth of our Savior!
Christmas in Burundi is all about spending time with family and friends. Music and dancing are popular forms of celebration, and many people also attend church.
But instead of decorating a Christmas tree during the holidays, Burundians decorate their homes with palm branches and banana leaves. They also like to dress in the colors of their country’s flag – red, green, and white.
Families in Burundi often hold a special meal on Christmas, too. Popular dishes include chicken with rice, freshly baked bread, and stews flavored with spices. Fresh vegetables and pomegranates are also common side dishes. Yum!
Peru
Panettone is a popular Purvian dessert that contains candied fruits and almonds
If you thought Christmas was a big deal in the U.S., you haven’t seen Peru during the holidays!
We usually celebrate Christmas in the winter, but since Peru is in the southern hemisphere, their holiday season falls right at the beginning of summer. Even though they won’t have a white Christmas, they celebrate the season to the fullest.
Leading up to Christmas, many Peruvians go to events called chocolatadas, where they visit with family and friends while enjoying hot chocolate and a dessert called panettone, which is similar to fruitcake.
And to celebrate the season of giving, chocolatadas also give local organizations and businesses an opportunity to distribute hot chocolate, panettone, and gifts to people living in poverty.
As Christmas draws closer, most Peruvian homes will also put up large nacimientos, or nativity scenes. But you’ll notice most of them will be missing something important. That’s because baby Jesus isn’t placed into the manger until Christmas Day!
Finally, many Peruvians celebrate with a large meal on Christmas Eve. After dinner, families usually count the minutes to midnight and exchange presents.
Lithuania
Lithuanians usually spend much of Christmas Eve preparing to have Kucios!
Unlike Peru, Lithuania is very cold around the holidays and typically observes a snowy (and icy!) Christmas. The main celebration happens in the form of a meal called Kūčios, which translates to “Christmas Eve”!
Lots of work goes into preparing for Kūčios. First, families must clean the whole house and then wash and put on clean clothing. Most people also fast leading up to the meal.
To decorate, Lithuanians spread straw on their dining tables and cover it with a white tablecloth. Candles and small branches are then placed on top of it. The straw serves as a reminder of Jesus in the manger.
The meal begins when the first stars can be seen in the night sky. It consists of 12 dishes — one for each of Jesus’ disciples. Popular foods include fish, sweet pastries called kūčiukai, dried fruit soup, vegetable salad, and much more. Most Kūčios don’t contain any meat.
After the meal, presents are exchanged. Then, children go to bed while adults may attend a midnight church service.
Haiti
Children in Haiti love Christmas because they get to stay up late and open presents!
In Haiti, December marks the beginning of the holiday season. Around this time, people start looking for Christmas trees. Families decorate their trees with brightly colored ornaments and put nativity scenes below them. The whole display sometimes takes up most of the living room!
Christmas celebrations in Haiti typically start on Christmas Eve and continue right into the early hours of Christmas morning. As a tradition, children often clean their shoes, fill them with straw, and leave them outside their homes. They hope Santa will come and replace the straw with gifts!
Then, many families attend a Christmas Eve service or go caroling. Afterward, they return home to eat a celebratory meal called reveillon, which means “to wake up” in French. And no wonder — the meal usually starts after midnight on Christmas morning and lasts until dawn!
No matter where you live, the holiday season is a wonderful time to spend with family and friends. It should be a season of joy and cheer — but unfortunately, that’s not always the case. As you probably know, the holidays can take a big toll on your bank account, and the same is true for families all around the world. With how prices have skyrocketed this year, celebrating Christmas is even more challenging and might not be a priority.
That means countless children living in poverty might not get to enjoy these traditions this year. They won’t get to enjoy a special meal or exchange gifts with friends and family. For people struggling to survive, Christmas is just another day.
Become a sponsor and change a child’s life this Christmas season!
Due to rising prices, families worldwide can hardly afford to feed their children on a normal day. For some, the holiday season even means additional hardship because of freezing temperatures and food shortages.
But you can give a child the gift of a lifetime this Christmas. When you become a child sponsor, you’ll provide a boy or girl living in poverty with essentials like nutritious food, clean water, medical care, and educational opportunities to help them break the cycle of poverty.
You’ll also give them the chance to hear about the best gift of all — the love of Jesus!
This holiday season, you could change a child’s life forever. To learn more about how you can become a sponsor, click the button below.