Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 2010

So many people have asked about how Thanksgiving is celebrated in Mexico. In a few words - It isn't! Thanksgiving is not a holiday in Mexico. We can buy turkeys only because it is close enough to Christmas when middle class Mexicans buy and serve turkey. Sometimes we can buy cranberry sauce and other times not. Pumpkin pies are had only thanks to friends who bring cans of pumpkin when they come to visit. However things are changing. This year for the very first time, I saw a sign (in English) in the supermarket wishing people a Happy Thanksgiving.
So...what do missionaries do on Thanksgiving. We gather together to give thanks to God and we eat as traditional a Thanksgiving dinner as we can. Pictured in the first two photos are the group of missionaries that gathered at my house this year. Covenant missionaries, Wycliffe missionaries, Covenanters in Mission (missionaries serving with another sending agency but that have a Covenant church background), and assorted others carve Thanksgiving Day out of their busy ministry schedules. Thankfully the Oaxacans that we serve alongside of understand the importance of this day and don't mind if we treat an ordinary Oaxacan day as a holiday.

The kitchen table was filled with an assortment of pies--pumpkin, pecan, apple and the whipped cream to go along with them.
After dinner we gathered in the living room to sing Thanksgiving hymns. We have an assortment of old Covenant hymnals that we pulled out for the occasional. If you look close you can see how Thanksgiving is different than in most parts of the U.S. Several people are wearing shorts, we have the windows and doors wide open and the flowers are blooming in the backyard. After singing, we prayed and shared with each other about the things that we are thankful for.
Those things are the same things that you are thankful for. We thanked God for family, for children, for grandchildren (even though far away), we thanked God for health, for ministries that we are involved in, for friendships, for pets, for health, for the freedom to gather together to worship God. Those things don't change no matter where you celebrate Thanksgiving.
Finally we cleaned up. This photo is very un Mexican. The guys decided that they would wash the dishes and the women gladly let them.

I hope that all of you had a great Thanksgiving and remember to thank God every day (not just on Thanksgiving) for the many blessings that He has poured out onto us.