Christmas in Zambia

Last week, I was having a chat with a friend of mine about Christmas and how we felt that it was becoming more and more Western. Apparently, my friend’s five year old daughter was following our conversation. She simply said, “Jesus is white!” We were both stunned at this insight and looked at each other not knowing how to respond. I broke the silence and engaged the girl in conversation. She said she has seen Jesus on television and on pictures and he is white. “How about God, what color is He?” I inquired. “He is also white like Jesus”, she responded.
I couldn’t blame the little girl for the white images of Jesus or God that she had after all I grew up with similar images myself. Later that week, I decided to do a random survey of adults and what color they thought Jesus was. Most thought he was white, a few got philosophical or theological and said he had no color and no one ever said he was black.
During this Christmas season, I am shocked at how Christmas has turned out to be a “White Christmas” with everything Western. Shops are filled with Christmas gifts and decorations of white santa, snowflakes, Christmas trees—the kinds you find in North Dakota, red and green lights and even a nativity scene. All these products are made and imported from China where they do not celebrate the holiday at all.
I think slowly, Christmas has lost its meaning in Zambia. Back in the day, we celebrated Christmas by having uncles, cousins, friends and anyone to come and eat and drink. Our parents played the tunes of Smokey Haangala or Paul Ngozi and we danced to them. Yes, we knew about the “White” Jesus but we never really focused so much on him or had all kinds of white pictures in our living rooms.
Today, Christians have completely been transformed where we fill our homes with all kinds of decorations we do not understand. If Jesus is white maybe we have embraced a wrong religion for ourselves. We need to keep searching for the ideal black religion or better return to the good old African religion.
When I was talking to one person on the same subject they said, “Well, God used the white people to bring this religion to us because we were lost. That is why we follow their religion.” I asked him if it had ever occurred to him that perhaps our religion wasn’t that bad at all. Or why was it not the black people who were enlightened so as to spread the good news to the white folks with a black Jesus uh? I am sure the white folks would love that. Then they would have to decorate a mango tree for a Christmas tree, fun isn’t it?—with all the yellow, green and red mangoes acting as lights.
Now I am not anti-Christian myself. I am a God fearing, God loving Zambian. My only concern is that Christianity is still “too foreign” and we do not fully understand it. That is why we continue to fight in its name. That is why politicians take advantage of us in its name. That is why we remain poor in its name. And I think that is why we embrace it too—because we are poor and believe that someday God will change things for us. Maybe we need to change things for ourselves. Like my grandmother said when she visited Minnesota, “God built America first with all its road, bridges, airports and skyscrapers but when He got to Zambia He had no more money.” Now that can only be a “white god” who can do that right? Because a black one will do the exact opposite.
Where is our God this Christmas? Have our images about Him or His Son been transformed completely to think of Him as someone hanging in the sky above Western countries? Do we think of Jesus as a white man with long blonde hair, a goatee, and wearing a white rob? Whatever, your image of God or Jesus is , I hope this brings peace to you during this season. I hope it is time to celebrate with your family and friends. I hope it is time to reflect and appreciate how far you have come. And I hope it is time to look forward to more great things in the year to come. Make, yourself happy this Christmas. Happy Christmas, Happy Kwanza and a winning 2011.