Yes, it totally does not feel like Christmas from my perspective. Here we are, in a Buddhist nation, it's 30 C / 86 F, and the Christmas songs I hear are all in Khmai (the language of Cambodia). I also have a weird rash that will not go away, and the last few days I've had a headache, as well as a bad stomach. Yes, it definitely does not feel like Christmas, from my perspective.
Santa Claus is quite popular here in Phnom Penh; Jesus..................not so much. In a country where the philosophy of Siddhartha Gautama has permeated it's very culture, there is not much room for another teacher, who is looked upon as 'the white man's god'. It is our job, as servants of that God, to show the evidence of what a life lived with Him ia all about. It is far from Christianity, or what the Churches in the West portray. It is a life lived for a Love that far eclipses any other concievable life of service that is scrutinized by the world today.
The Holiday Season we experience in North America is far removed from the one Jenny & I are experiencing this year. But, what is the alternative. To remain at home with 99.9% of the other Christians, safe in our comfort and security?
Close to death, Francis of Assisi said to his followers, "I have done what was mine to do; may Christ teach you what you are to do." At the end of the day each of us are accountable to what God has called us to do, not, to what others think we should be doing. Jenny & I's lot in life, for this season, is the people of Cambodia. They, are who we are accountable to right now. Our lives belong to them, until God says otherwise.
Enjoy the season of Christmas, and take none of it for granted.