This is the first in a series of articles from New Hope authors this month on the theme Celebrating Christmas in a World of Need.
by Kathi Macias
What could the controversial issue of illegal immigration possibly have to do with Christmas? I asked myself that question several times when I first began to contemplate the idea of writing a Christmas novel.
You see, I don’t write feel-good or escape fiction, not as a rule anyway. My novels are nearly always based around some sort of social injustice and how the church can make a difference to the people caught up in the middle of that injustice. But a Christmas story should be an easy read . . . shouldn’t it?
The original Christmas story was not an easy read. An engaged couple, shunned by many who knew them for what was imagined to be an immoral union and a premature pregnancy, was forced to make a long, arduous journey just before the young woman’s baby was due.
As if that weren’t enough, by the time they reached their destination, they were unable to find a comfortable room where they could rest. Instead, they were forced to take shelter in a stable, with only the animals as their companions. When the woman’s child was born, she wrapped Him and laid Him in a manger, or feed trough.
That child, with such an inauspicious entrance into the world, would change the entire course of that world, though none but shepherds came to honor Him at the time. Wise men from the East also came to pay homage to the boy, but not until a couple of years later. The baby’s birth was lonely and humble, possibly even frightening and certainly painful for the young woman who bore Him.
But God saw it all—every moment, every tear, every cry—for He had purposed it from the beginning. A sinless baby would be born to redeem mankind on a dark, lonely night that would be celebrated for centuries to come. Is there any reason to think that the God who looked down upon that seemingly unremarkable first Christmas would not still look down on those in poor and humble circumstances, extending His love and care through the people who claim to belong to Him?
Christmas is a joyous time for many, but for those of us who know the One who is the true meaning and purpose of Christmas, it is more than that. It is indeed a celebration of His coming and the gift(s) He extended in the process. Yet it is also a time to reach out to the poor and needy among us and extend God’s love in every possible way we can.
And so A Christmas Journey Home, a novel built around illegal immigration and those who exist within its controversies, was born in my heart—and has now been transferred to a book. What an honor to partner with God in its creation!
The latest release from award-winning author Kathi Macias is A Christmas Journey Home. You may also be interested in Deliver Me From Evil, the first novel in her new, engaging “Freedom” series, which focuses on the fight against modern slavery.