December 5, 2011

By Kathy Simpson

Do you ever wonder how Christmas is celebrated in other parts of the world? While materialism has not completely taken over this annual event, Bulgarians are increasingly adopting the secular trappings of Christmas from Western nations. The change has been rapid since Bulgaria’s admission to the European Union in 2007. In December 2005, we saw haphazardly decorated evergreen trees outside two or three foreign-owned hotels. Three Bulgarian letters were displayed in neon lights, billboards, and cards. Our friends explained that the letters weren’t related to Christmas; they were the abbreviation for Happy New Year—the massive winter festivity during the communist era. By 2010, shopping centers and public places displayed Christmas trees and giant snowflakes. Many apartment windows were adorned with strings of lights, but the New Year continues to be the most vigorously celebrated holiday of the year.

We asked friends to describe Christmas experiences from their childhoods during the Soviet years. One woman explained that her parents were believers, and they secretly marked “the holy day” in their home, without any decorations. They knew a few Christmas carols, and they sang them quietly together. A man related that December 25 was just a normal day for work and school when he was a boy, but excitement would be rising for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day—huge celebrations with parties, dinners, and fireworks. All the children would be awaiting “Grandfather Frost.” The answer from Svetlana, who is from Ukraine, stunned us: “I never heard of Christmas when I was a child. There was no celebration.”

Today in Bulgaria, 13 percent of the citizens are Muslims and they don’t observe Christ’s birth at all. They disdain Christmas as a time of drunken revelry for “Christians.” Bulgarian Orthodoxy is the official religion of the country, and 85 percent of the people are nominal members of the church. Traditional celebrations include a Christmas Eve meal with twelve different foods to represent the twelve disciples. Priests bless apples and people eat them in remembrance of the “fruit of Mary.” Among most of the population, there is little spiritual depth in the celebration of Christmas.

Before we began working with the congregation in Plovdiv, there was no concept of an Advent season. They knew three Christmas carols. They sang a translation of “Silent Night” on Christmas Eve, and “Joy to the World” and a Slavic song on Christmas morning. That was the entire celebration of the Lord’s birth! Among our church people, very few have decorations in their homes. If they do have a tree, it would be a small, tabletop version, and not decorated until December 24.

And gift-giving is more symbolic, not lavish. A family once invited us to their home after church on Christmas Eve. They presented us with a tangerine (a traditional holiday treat, sold only in December and January), chocolate, and deodorant. (The final gift, by the way, was not a hint about our hygiene—it is customary to give something sweet-smelling for Christmas.)

We find it a blessing that the culture has not yet completely succumbed to the materialistic version of this holy event. Celebration of Christmas is primarily in the church, with a Communion service on Christmas Eve and a worship service at 10:00 on Christmas morning. How many American Christians will attend church on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? In this way, our Bulgarian brothers and sisters outshine our American church family in honoring our Lord at Christmas. The focus is on Emmanuel and not on presents and festivities. In this way, we learn a lesson from the people we have been sent to teach.

December 5, 2011

By Kathy Simpson

Do you ever wonder how Christmas is celebrated in other parts of the world? While materialism has not completely taken over this annual event, Bulgarians are increasingly adopting the secular trappings of Christmas from Western nations. The change has been rapid since Bulgaria’s admission to the European Union in 2007. In December 2005, we saw haphazardly decorated evergreen trees outside two or three foreign-owned hotels. Three Bulgarian letters were displayed in neon lights, billboards, and cards. Our friends explained that the letters weren’t related to Christmas; they were the abbreviation for Happy New Year—the massive winter festivity during the communist era. By 2010, shopping centers and public places displayed Christmas trees and giant snowflakes. Many apartment windows were adorned with strings of lights, but the New Year continues to be the most vigorously celebrated holiday of the year.

We asked friends to describe Christmas experiences from their childhoods during the Soviet years. One woman explained that her parents were believers, and they secretly marked “the holy day” in their home, without any decorations. They knew a few Christmas carols, and they sang them quietly together. A man related that December 25 was just a normal day for work and school when he was a boy, but excitement would be rising for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day—huge celebrations with parties, dinners, and fireworks. All the children would be awaiting “Grandfather Frost.” The answer from Svetlana, who is from Ukraine, stunned us: “I never heard of Christmas when I was a child. There was no celebration.”

Today in Bulgaria, 13 percent of the citizens are Muslims and they don’t observe Christ’s birth at all. They disdain Christmas as a time of drunken revelry for “Christians.” Bulgarian Orthodoxy is the official religion of the country, and 85 percent of the people are nominal members of the church. Traditional celebrations include a Christmas Eve meal with twelve different foods to represent the twelve disciples. Priests bless apples and people eat them in remembrance of the “fruit of Mary.” Among most of the population, there is little spiritual depth in the celebration of Christmas.

Before we began working with the congregation in Plovdiv, there was no concept of an Advent season. They knew three Christmas carols. They sang a translation of “Silent Night” on Christmas Eve, and “Joy to the World” and a Slavic song on Christmas morning. That was the entire celebration of the Lord’s birth! Among our church people, very few have decorations in their homes. If they do have a tree, it would be a small, tabletop version, and not decorated until December 24.

And gift-giving is more symbolic, not lavish. A family once invited us to their home after church on Christmas Eve. They presented us with a tangerine (a traditional holiday treat, sold only in December and January), chocolate, and deodorant. (The final gift, by the way, was not a hint about our hygiene—it is customary to give something sweet-smelling for Christmas.)

We find it a blessing that the culture has not yet completely succumbed to the materialistic version of this holy event. Celebration of Christmas is primarily in the church, with a Communion service on Christmas Eve and a worship service at 10:00 on Christmas morning. How many American Christians will attend church on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? In this way, our Bulgarian brothers and sisters outshine our American church family in honoring our Lord at Christmas. The focus is on Emmanuel and not on presents and festivities. In this way, we learn a lesson from the people we have been sent to teach.