There were some visiting Muslims from Egypt and we accosted them on the street and I sort of ushered them in and they said ‘but we are Muslims, we can’t go into the church’, and I said ‘you worship the prophet Jesus, don’t you?’, and they said ‘oh yes, of course’. So they went in and we just gave them these presents and they went away and one man was smiling saying this would never happen in Cairo. So it’s just little things but you can’t measure the extent to which those stories get replicated and shared with people.
I’d love it if 600 churches could imitate and do that next Christmas.
CT: What tips do you have for families wanting to celebrate a more conscientious Christmas this year?
MD: Well, first of all they can go to our website (www.operationnoah.org) and see a million things to do with the family with their own hands. One of the favourites is making fizzing bath bomb from bicarbonate of soda, citric acid and scents that are packed into little ice cube trays and frozen. The kids really like making them with their parents. And you can give some of those to your relatives.
For the BBC’s ‘Christmas Voices’ series, we interviewed a couple in Birmingham who were feeling the squeeze this year in terms of the credit crunch and they decided this year to make all their presents rather than buy them. They spent half as much on presents this year for Christmas but doubled the number of people they were able to give to.
They made chutneys from pears and apples from their trees. They made handicrafts with their children. They went out to charity shops and found nice things there. And it shows that you can give nice things to people without spending an absolute fortune.
CT: Sounds like getting back to basics?
MD: Yes. The other thing that’s really hard, the real test, is that it costs absolutely nothing to give people your time and attention. How many of us with sometimes quite difficult relationships with our families and friends just buy an expensive present, stick it in their ribs, and say happy Christmas and walk away thinking ‘phew, I’ve done ok now’. But there might be some big issues about the way we deal with those people that aren’t being addressed.
And over the period when the shops are closed and we aren’t running around, if you are with those people, just a simple question like ‘are you ok?’, ‘how are things?’. That’s really hard actually because you are frightened of the answers. But it doesn’t cost anything and it would be much better to build up relationships than getting stuffed with things.
CT: So you see Christmas as an opportunity to present a different side of the church?
MD: The thing is now that with the slight suspicion and wariness about faith and religion, it is really important that with every encounter we have we surprise people and give positive messages, we don’t wag fingers at them and make them feel guilty or judge them. We simply say here’s a different way of doing things and always with a smile on your face. I think that’s really important.
