Life as a missionary in Brazil in the 1950s was quite an experience with travel by foot, bus, train, and riverboat to carry the gospel. But for John Elliott, seeing lives transformed by the light of Jesus was worth it. He was one of those missionaries who trusted God to provide his needs. Later, Harriet became a missionary’s wife and joined him on the mission field, together working to tell the story of Jesus.

For seventy-five years, BMA Global Missions has been a testament to God’s faithfulness, weaving a story of sacrifice, transformation, and hope across generations. Reflecting on its rich history, one cannot help but feel a deep sense of nostalgia—images of missionaries embracing foreign cultures, building bridges of trust, and planting seeds of faith come to mind.

Since we were informed that the Everlasting Smiles Christmas Shoeboxes were destined to go  to Honduras last year, we felt joy because we were going to see happy faces in our communities once again, many of them in very poor places with great needs.

In the Southeast Asian country we serve in, Christmas is generally not preceded by a whole month of festive decorations, parties and gatherings. Instead, the people that decorate might put up a few decorations only the week before Christmas Day at the earliest. Exchanging gifts on Christmas is also still a very new concept, and the people that do adopt this Western tradition may just gift one or two small presents.

Christmas in the Philippines begins with the “-ber” months–September, October, November, and December. On September 1 you will see Christmas trees in the malls and hear Christmas music in grocery stores, markets, and shopping centers. We are amazed that Christmas is not the most celebrated of the holidays, but the most celebrated is New Years. New Year’s Day is celebrated bigger and louder with lots of fireworks! And of course, the roasted pig!

Here in South Africa, Christmas is celebrated in various ways depending on the cultural background of the people you are with. We have celebrated with Portuguese, Afrikaans, and Pedi families, each having their own distinct traditions, over the past decade. Each one has similarities to the way we celebrated Christmas back in Texas with an emphasis on food and family, but also had the cultural elements which made them each unique.