At our Church we facilitate a community Christmas Day dinner for poor or lonely people. We have done it for 22 consecutive years. The first year we had 37 guests and a few "helpers". This year I reckon there may have been in excess of 260, may be 270 people there all told. It was very exhausting some how this year, VERY full on and busy, and my weekend was made worse by having a Sunday service to prepare and present on Boxing day. But I have made it and all the feedback suggests that people, helpers and guests, were very happy with their experience. Here are some Christmas dinner stories...
False Alarm..
For quite a few years Marlow St. Pies have been cooking the 25 legs of mutton in their big ovens. Traditionally too the fire fighters have gone out to pick it up and deliver it to the dinner. We went out there on Friday with the legs all bagged and in trays and while there got talking to a worker. He told us this story of a previous Christmas. He said he was at home carving the meat for Christmas dinner expecting friends to arrive. They arrived and informed him that there was a fire at his workplace and that there were three fire trucks in attendance, so it must be a big fire! He had drunk a few beers so he hopped on his push bike and peddled furiously down the road, thinking all the time that his workplace could be gutted and he would lose his job. He got there to find not a fire, but a group of firemen bringing roasts of mutton out to a utility vehicle to deliver to our Christmas dinner.
"A few mates around for lunch"
Early Christmas morning I called in at the fire station to arrange for when and how they could help us. The guys jokingly said, "How are you going to spend Christmas Dave?" "Nothing special." I replied, "I have just got a few mates coming around for lunch. Should be good." I was joking in a sense, but that I hope is the atmosphere we exude as we host our guests for lunch.
"The best Christmas gift ever."
We began our Christmas dinner and Kerry a man I have known for a while, called me over and said, "You have given me the best Christmas present ever!" "How come?" I asked. "My brother is here today. It is many, many years since we had Christmas together, and many years since we spent time together... it's the best Christmas gift ever!"
"They cant understand me!"
We divide people up into tables and have hosts at each table looking after the people and getting the meals for them. We had a group of four Chinese people come and the lady to act as a host came to me and said, "This is useless! They cant understand me!" I paused desperately searching my brain for a solution. Then the penny dropped. We have recently had delightfulChinese university student join our congregation and she had come along to help at Christmas dinner. Her name is Ding. I raced over, called her name and beckoned her to me. I took her over to the table and she greeted them warmly in Chinese. They beamed all over and the group sunk into delightful chatter and all through the dinner I could hear laughter from their table. When I handed around the Christmas gifts I came to the table and said "Merry Christmas." Ding interpreted and then with her bright eyes and delightful smile suggested I should learn the Chinese way to say "Merry Christmas". She said it a couple of times, I repeated it a few times till Ding gave me the thumbs up, and the folk laughed, nodded and smiled.
Firefighter helpers...
Two crews of fire fighters came on the day to help us serve the meal. They were great just fitting in and sharing the workload, taking initiative with a lot of smiles and laughter. I also appreciated other retired fire fighters joining in the team of helpers.
Budding performer...
We had a lady, Linda Munro, come who played the piano and sang throughout the time. At the meal was a Maori family and one little girl went over to the piano and spent most of her time sharing with Linda, watching her play the piano and singing.
Thanks...
The helpers we had were delightful. They worked very hard. But still they came to me afterward, often hugging me and thanking me for the opportunity they had of being there. One lady said, "Thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of it, can I do it again next year?" If you poor reader, were one of our helpers I want to say, "Thank you so much for the work you put in. We worked you hard, I hope you enjoyed it." I am also deeply indebted to my wife, daughter and son-in-law, who worked tirelessly to make the meal a success. At one stage I looked at them and others, red faced, sweating and working their tails off, and felt very humble that so many people supported my directions for community engagement.
"Thank you for what you did for us."
This story does not relate to the Christmas dinner but happened at the Christmas dinner. A week or so ago I led a funeral for the sister of "Coon". He is an Ambulance officer and I am his chaplain. Apart from straight after the funeral I had not managed to touch base with him. As the busy part of the Christmas Dinner got under way I suddenly saw Coon easing his way through the crowded room heading in my direction. He was on duty that day. He came up to me and simply engulfed me in a hug, "Thank you so much for what you did for us. Have a great Christmas! - I have got to go now, we just got a call... but thanks so much." That was all he said, but it was so genuine and warm that it took my breathe away.
Conclusion...
My job can be very exhausting, but at times I would not trade it for anything else!
Photos:
# View of the dinner with our singer/pianist and the beautiful little Maori girl.
# Part of the eating crowd in the Church building. (My camera setting got bumped and they ended up black and white photos.)
# My friend Jeff. On Sunday afternoons I normally run with an Australian friend who lives in Dunedin. She is visiting family in Australia. Jeff, an Australian visiting me for Christmas, trained at theological college with me in the 1970s and we have remained good friends since. I exercised with him by taking him up my mountain.
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