Episode 10, 'He Left Home for Christmas" Featuring: Cherilyn of Dominican Republic

Charles George Missions Presents: Day10 – Christmas Podcast – “He Left Home for Christmas

”Hello and welcome to Day 10, of CGMissions Christmas Podcast. Today’s podcast is entitled “He Left Home on Christmas Day.” These podcasts which started on December 1 and will go through December 25, are brought to encourage you as we celebrate the birth of Jesus. Today, we are going to share an email from a missionary in the Dominican Republic. Her name is Cherilyn. We will learn from Cherilyn that we can rejoice in Christmas even when we may not be able to see and be with family.

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Transcript

Charles George Missions Presents: Day10 – Christmas Podcast – “He Left Home for Christmas

”Hello and welcome to Day 10, of CGMissions Christmas Podcast. Today’s podcast is entitled “He Left Home on Christmas Day.” These podcasts which started on December 1 and will go through December 25, are brought to encourage you as we celebrate the birth of Jesus. Today, we are going to share an email from a missionary in the Dominican Republic. Her name is Cherilyn. We will learn from Cherilyn that we can rejoice in Christmas even when we may not be able to see and be with family

Let’s start with a scripture. Today, our scripture comes from Hebrews 4:15. “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” I will explain later in today’s presentation why I chose this scripture.” For now, let’s go to Cherilyn’s Christmas email which reads:

 “My favorite Christmas song is "I'll be home for Christmas."  It makes me a little sad, but I still love it. In my twenty years on the mission field, I have been home maybe four times during the Christmas season.”

Thank you Cherilyn for submitting your email to us for this podcast
.I was moved by this message from Cherilyn because Christmas is the one time of year we want to share with family. If not Christmas, then Thanksgiving which although Cherilyn did not say it, she probably did not spend many Thanksgivings with family in the United States either. What Cherilyn has experienced over the past twenty years, many of us are experiencing for the first time. Why? Of course, because of the pandemic. For those who may be listening to this podcast years from now (this is Christmas 2020, by the way), the world is battling a viral infection called COVID-19 which to date has taken the lives of more than 1.5 million people and infected almost 69 million people worldwide. But, when I consider Cherilyn’s email, there is one good thing that comes from this – we get to understand a little bit of what our missionaries around the world have sacrificed to serve Jesus on the foreign field. As previously stated, many of us are, for the first time, spending this holiday season away from family because of the pandemic. I was not with any family (except my husband) nor with friends on Thanksgiving except through the video technology of Zoom. Many of us will be separated from family this Christmas for the very first time. This Christmas, many will be in hospitals fighting for their lives and will not be with family. We should be praying fervently for our missionaries around the world who are also fighting for the lives of others during this crisis.But through it all, we will remember this, that Jesus knows what we are going through. We must remember what Hebrews 4:15, says, that Jesus is our High Priest, our intercessor with the Father, and Jesus understands what we feel, how we hurt, he understands our joys, our sorrows, our pain, our loneliness, our temptations, because He came to this earth wrapped in flesh, but He never sinned with all He went through. And think about this. Jesus left his home to bring us the first Christmas and the first Christmas gifts. And guess what? He did not get to go back home for 33 years after His assignment was finished. Those of us who only have to get through this one Christmas (because there is a vaccination for COVID) should remember what Jesus went through, should think of our missionaries who don’t get to go home Christmas after Christmas.I hope I have not sounded too harsh because that is not my intent. I want you to see the hope that Jesus brought us. Because of Jesus, we can be and will be victorious over anything and everything over being away from family this Christmas. Jesus came to us on Christmas Day with all power in his hands (Matthew 28:18-19. And He didn’t keep it to himself, He brought that same power to us on Christmas Day, power over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19).Power to endure one Christmas away from family because as the Christmas song, “O Little Town of Bethlehem” reminds us Jesus came to cover “the hopes and fears of all the years” on the night he was born. He came to cover my hopes and fears, your hopes and fears, and the hopes and fears of many that we see going through so much. We will end this podcast with the song, “O, Little Town of Bethlehem.”

Closing
Thank you for being with us today on CGM Christmas Podcast. Join us again tomorrow when we will again share scriptures celebrating Jesus’ birth, hear an uplifting Christmas memory from another contributor, and listen to songs from our album “CGM We Love Christmas.” This is Stephanie Wright. May God’s love, peace, and protection be with you until next time and remember, “Don’t let anything steal your Christmas.”
We leave you with the song, “O Little Town of Bethlehem.”