The Real Christmas Story

What is Christmas? For those of us who are Christ followers, weโ€™d quickly answer that Christmas is a celebration of Jesusโ€™ birth. But for the majority of people in Japan, the more likely answer is that Christmas is Santa Clausโ€™ birthday.

Marc and Yumiko Leis, who serve with NavMissions in Japan, know that most Japanese have never heard the true Christmas story. โ€œItโ€™s only a day they might get presents,โ€ Marc says. โ€œItโ€™s hugely commercial here, with no Christ in Christmas.โ€

Imagine Marcโ€™s joy when he was asked to share the true story of Christmas with 150 ninth graders at a local junior high. Marc teaches English at the school, so he is well-known by the school population.

โ€œI used Christmas cards that many of our supporters have sent over the years to explain how Americans send Christmas cards rather than New Yearโ€™s cards like they do here in Japan,โ€ Marc says. โ€œLooking at the images, the students had no idea why there was a family with a baby in a barn, why there were shepherds, angels, a star, wise men, or presents. I used drawings Yumiko made to introduce the characters, and then storybook pictures to tell the Christmas story.โ€

Marc explained that Christmas is a celebration of God sending Jesus to live among men. โ€œThey could understand for the first time that God gave His Son, Jesus, as a present to all men. They could understand the wise men bringing Him presents, and from these two events, why we have the custom of giving presents at Christmas.โ€

As he finished, Marc held up a Japanese New Testament and a manga (comic book) version of Jesusโ€™ life, saying these books could tell them more about Jesus. Many students came up afterward to look at the manga.

โ€œThe Christmas season is a great time to introduce Jesus to Japanese whoโ€™ve never heard of Him and to engage them to find out more,โ€ Marc says. Marc and Yumiko are asking people to pray for โ€œGodโ€™s Spirit to draw the Japanese people closer to Himself so that they would have a desire to find out more about Jesus.โ€

Between Thursday, December 14, and Christmas Day, Marc and Yumiko will host 10 events with children, teenagers, motherโ€™s groups, neighbors, and other friends. Theyโ€™ll show videos, bake cookies, play games, and continue sharing the real Christmas story.

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