This year I spent Christmas with my adoptive Hmong family
and did as they do for the holiday season. Most Thais don’t celebrate Christmas
because they are Buddhist, but a large number of the Hmong population is
Christian. Unlike Western tradition where we have a Christmas service at church,
independent of our individual family gatherings on the 25th, people
here celebrate Christmas with the church and don’t tend to have the individual
family gathering. Because the Western date for Christmas (Dec. 25th)
overlaps with Hmong New Year celebrations, church members get together and decide
what day Christmas will be celebrated. This year Christmas happened on the 20th.
Kids and Husband Next to Her, and Her Niece on the Far Right
On the morning of the 20th, I was picked up
around 10 a.m. and taken to my Hmong family’s home. There we began the
preparations for the celebration that would take place later that evening. In
Hmong culture it is a custom that every family should cook an entire chicken
with rice in a soup to take to the celebration for dinner. 72+ eggs were also
boiled to give out to as they symbolize the beginning of everything. Goody bags
filled with kanom (candy), fruit (apples or oranges), and juice boxes were also
made and handed out at the party. After everyone arrived and ate chicken soup,
we all went inside the church where welcoming disco lights of green and red
danced around the room. The service started with a few song performances by various
church members, followed by the children’s Christmas play. You know, the one
that happens at every Christmas service. Except this one was quite different.
Normally back home Christmas plays center around the nativity scene, where
here, they almost skipped right through that. The play highlighted the
creation; how Adam and Eve sinned against God and brought the fall upon us.
Then they moved to birth and crucifixion of Jesus; focusing on the redemption
of our sins. The play then ended with the second coming of Jesus. They
concluded by explaining that Christmas was celebrated for the reasons
surrounding why Jesus was born; to redeem our sins and come back for the
faithful some day. After the play, a few dance performances followed, and then
father’s day was celebrated.
The Women in the Church Performing a Song
In Thailand, father’s day is celebrated on the King’s b-day,
December 5th, for he is considered a father figure to Thailand.
Likewise, Christians in Thailand celebrate father’s day on Christmas, because
it is a representation of Christ’s birthday, and He is seen as our ultimate King
and father. So the dad’s in the crowd took a seat on the stage, and while
someone strummed on the guitar, the children made their way to the front where
the fathers prayed for them one by one. Following this procession, the raffle
madness began and concluded the night. Leaving everyone with a gift to take
home.
Table Holding the Gifts Brought for the Raffle and Eggs to be Passed Out
Just like that, Christmas came and left without snow,
Christmas trees or houses covered in Christmas lights.
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