What are las posadas you might be thinking? Good question! I had that same question last night after receiving an invitation from an older lady in our neighborhood to go and participate in an event on our street. She said the kids would really enjoy it as well. So we headed out towards where a group of our neighbors were gathering on the street down the block. As we approached them, one lady handed us a book full of songs and Bible stories. Prior to entering the house, we read aloud a few sentences from the book. “Is there any room in the Inn?” “My wife is pregnant and in need of a place to stay,” we quoted from the book. Ah, now I get it I thought! We were reenacting the Christmas story. After several more scripted conversation’s between the group of neighbors and those who owned the home we proceeded up stairs to the main living room where a nativity scene was set up. In front of the nativity scene we sang some traditional Costa Rican Christmas songs and read from the Scriptures. Some of the prayers invoked the virgin Mary, but they were mostly focused on the goodness of God. The tradition of las posadas is a Catholic tradition which began during colonial times. The celebration of Las posadas begins nine days prior to Christmas and consist of celebrating the Christmas story and eating small meal together. We plan to participate in las posadas tonight as well. Pray that we might continue to develop relationships with our neighbors.
Development and Justice 