The Right Kind of Upside Down. Let's Make the Countdowns Count!

Whether it’s paper chains, advent calendars, shopping frenzies or sugar-charged children doing the counting, I’m guessing Christmas countdowns are full throttle in most of the world!

This is my first Christmas in South Africa, and I have to admit, I’ve had a little trouble getting into the holly-jolly holiday spirit, much less the holiness of the big day we're counting down to.

Everything feels upside down… the summer weather, the distance between my family and I, the potential that Lifa will leave on December 23^rd.  I bought us a Christmas tree because I kept forgetting Christmas is coming!

The whole idea of Christmas is pretty upside down anyway… A Savior brought into the world through the womb of an ordinary, young and single lady. A Messiah who still needed a mama to raise him. The Son of Man spending his first night in a barn.

So I guess upside down isn’t so bad.

But I want it to be the RIGHT kind of upside down.

There is a very different kind of upside down happening in South Africa today. I believe God is saying we have an opportunity to be His hands –and even pass out the crayons- for a fantastic project to turn the wrong kind of  upside down, upside down and make it right. Did you get that?

Christmas in South Africa is not a sanctified celebration of the birth of Jesus. In the people group I work amongst and call family, pastors are excited Christmas falls on a Sunday this year. On other years, no churches meet on Christmas and there are no Christmas Eve services... because no one comes.

Christmas in South Africa is simply the time of year for children to receive clothes for the next school year and to spend Christmas bonuses on alcohol.

The country is plagued with abuse, human trafficking and crime during this drunken, no-rules-apply month. But you and I have an opportunity to turn things the right kind of upside down and make an eternal impact.

Together, we can turn a meaningless month of chaos into a time to know and to celebrate the most intentional gift from our Creator.

I am putting together 125 coloring books that tell the Christmas story in English and the local language, SiSwati. We will celebrate the gift of that perfect Messiah baby by giving a gift of Truth written simply, and in a language that families can read together. There’s still a lot of work to do, but I’m already passing them out as soon as I can make them.

You are reading this because you have invested in some way into my life and my story. I would like to invite you now to invest in the lives of the orphaned or vulnerable children in South Africa and the way their story will change when they know the real story. 

Each book costs approximately $2 to make including paper, printing, assembling and crayons. Would you consider buying a book for a child in Africa this Christmas?

I believe with all of me that God is asking me to do this, and I believe the blessings will multiply throughout our lives and the nations if we do it together.

If you are interested, check the right-hand column of this blog and click on my PayPal link. For more information or to receive a .pdf copy of the document, email me at kacychaffin@gmail.com!