The Families of CBC Go to Brazil for Christmas!

Sunday, November 29, 2015 

            We are going on an imaginary trip to Brazil in South America so we learn about how a different country celebrates Christmas.  Do you have a nativity set at home, like we do at church on the communion table?  These are very popular in homes and churches in Brazil.  The children put the angels, magi, and shepherds far away from the manger and move them a little closer each day, as if they are on a journey like these visitors were in the birth and infancy of Jesus.  In Brazil, there is also another visitor who travels in secret and tries to steal the baby Jesus!

            Many of the children and families are very poor in Brazil.  However, people still have fun going on picnics (because it is warm at Christmastime there), watching fireworks, dancing, and going to church at midnight on Christmas Eve.  During the service, people who can afford it give white gifts, such as potatoes and rice, so that the poorer children and their families can have a good Christmas meal.  For dinner the Brazilian families like to eat turkey and ham, just like you may do at home.

            Santa Claus in Brazil is called “Papa Noel” or “Good Old Man.”  Some families can afford a Christmas tree, like you may have, and they put white decorations on it.  The children who have a tree put their shoes under it and Papa Noel climbs through a window and puts a gift in them.  Other children put a sock by that window, and the Good Old Man puts a gift in it for them.  Some people also have a “secret friend” and in the days before Christmas they leave little gifts or holiday greetings without their names on it for their secret friend.  It is not until Christmas Day that they find out who their secret friend has been. 

            To the parents: How can you celebrate Christmas in Brazil by incorporating one of their traditions into your Christmas holiday: Putting the visitors of the baby Jesus a distance away and having your child(ren) move them a little closer to the manger every day?  Or hanging a white ornament on your tree in honor of the children and their families in Brazil?  There are other ideas in the above imaginary trip to Brazil.  Also, perhaps you could bring an extra gift for the Food Pantry next Sunday so that the hungry in our area, too, can have a delicious Christmas dinner.  Each child may enjoy contributing a food item as well.