Canadian Thanksgiving

 

It's interesting to see the blend of people on the Africa Mercy who are from 40+ different nationalities, and yet still have much in common.  I do enjoy that often people will group together and celebrate events from home.  There are more than 100 Americans aboard the ship, and they will celebrate their Thanksgiving in November.  Also, I know that the Dutch celebrate King's Day (I think in March), and I have heard that they even decorate the ship orange.  Some people have grouped together to take photos if they are from the same country.

For some reason, perhaps because I am on the other side of the world, it was much more important for me to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving than I would have thought.  However, almost no one had heard of Canada having our own Thanksgiving celebration.  It surprised me that very few people know about Canadian traditions and holidays.  I have not seen pumpkins around anywhere, and miss some of the familiar comforts from home, such as pumpkin snacks, pie, and spiced lattes (shout out to all my PSL friends out there)!

One of the Canadian ladies here on the M/V Africa Mercy has planned Thanksgiving for a few years now, so emails were sent out and we planned our time.  It ended up being more of a "Canada Day" than Thanksgiving, but it was still nice.  All of the Canadian stickers and pencils from my friends back home have come in handy! (:  It is something nice to share around.  We drank coffee, ate donuts (what is more Canadian than reminders of Tim Horton's?), did some Canadian trivia, and dressed in red and white.  I have felt more patriotic on board the ship than I do at home, probably because it is that familiarity that binds us together.  Interestingly enough, however, most of the people I spend my time with are actually not Canadian.

As wonderful as Canadian Thanksgiving is, being Canadian is a reality that should point any Christian to the citizenship we have that is longer lasting and more important than we obtain from any country here on earth:

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. ~ Philippians 3:20-21

Beautiful centrepieces and the Canadian snacks/beverages. Photo credit to Sharon.

Carol, who organized the event displaying Tim Horton's coffee (: Photo credit to Sharon.

Playing some trivia to see how much we all know about Canada. Photo credit to Sharon.

Visiting and enjoying snacks. Photo credit to Sharon.

Donuts made by some of the Canadian crew! I have to say, they're much better homemade than from Tim Horton's. Photo credit to Sharon.

We had some non-Canadians join in the festivities. Photo credit to Sharon.

Red and white on display. Photo credit to Sharon.

The Africa Mercy Canadians...including adopted Canadians (: Photo credit to Saul.

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!  Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

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