Marianne & Margaret

Wishing You a Blessed Christmas.

While praying today, I was meditating on the Gospel passage:

"The darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining." (1 John 2:8)

As I reflected on these words, the joy of Christmas felt all the more profound.

Santa Cruz is on school vacation from early December to early February.

As it is the rainy season, many people take their holidays during this period.

When it rains, the roads turn into something resembling muddy paddy field paths, creating a kind of unintended isolation.

That is why many people seem to leave for the city during the rainy season.

I too have wrapped up my work and have come to Cochabamba to study Spanish.

December seems to have passed by incredibly quickly.

I went on a walking pilgrimage to Cotoca with the parishioners, and visited the zoo together with the children from the prayer group.

Seeing the children so joyful and happy was a time of deep gratitude for me as well.

After wrapping up the senior citizens' class with a picture frame-making activity, December came to a lovely close.

I also spent a brief time of healing and rest with the unpaid volunteers who worked so hard throughout the year for the special senior meal service.

We distributed Christmas gifts to children from difficult family backgrounds to share the joy of Christmas with them.

We held a photo exhibition for the parishioners in Okinawa, made angel mobiles to celebrate the birth of the Baby Jesus, and decorated the Christmas tree — and just like that, a joyful and grateful December vanished in the blink of an eye!

Thank you so much for your prayers and support for missionaries who always live with a sense of inadequacy.

May the new year be one in which you grow ever more to resemble the love of God, and I pray for your health and peace.

— Choi Yeon-jeong, Cecilia —