A little information on Christmas in Ethiopia...interesting stuff. Also just wanted to share an update about referrals. So Exciting. In the last 2 days something like 6 or 7 families have received referrals. This is very good news as there were only 3 referrals in the whole month of December.
Christmas/Genna
The Ethiopian Christmas, known locally as Ganna after a hockey-like game the shepherds played when Jesus was born, usually falls on the old Julian calendar date of January 7.
On Christmas Eve, a religious ceremony takes place in all Orthodox Christian churches throughout the Ethiopian highlands. The ceremonies are long and involve the whole congregation. Priests dance sedately, swaying side to side in time with their sistrums (silver percussion instruments), while the younger, more athletic men gather around a drummer dancing, leaping and jumping, achieving an almost trance-like state.
Ganna is really enjoyable. There is a gently festive air, especially on Christmas Eve in Addis where lots of urban types go out eating, drinking and dancing.
OK can you picture the shepherds playing hockey during the birth of Jesus...I can totally picture this as they would probably have been like teenage boys with staffs that work very well as hockey sticks. I don't know what they used as pucks but I'm thinking those sheep left some droppings that would work. Do you really think hockey got its roots from biblical times...was Jesus a hockey fan?
Blessings,
Bliss
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