Chatting Christmas with the Territorial Leaders

Salvationist and Kids Alive! teamed up to ask children from across the territory to chat about Christmas with Territorial Leaders Commissioners Jenine and Paul Main.

Do you prefer giving presents or receiving presents?

Daisy Giving presents.

Micah Giving presents.

Nicole Receiving presents.

Theo Receiving presents.

Jenine Giving presents. Be honest, Paul...

Paul Receiving presents! And giving them as well.

What’s your favourite Christmas carol?

Micah Mine is ‘O Christmas Tree’.

Jenine ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’ is mine. I like it because it says ‘the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight’, which means that Jesus is the answer to all our hopes and all the fears that we have. He meets those needs, those hopes, and takes away the fears.

Paul ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’, particularly the last verse. It says: ‘What can I give him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb. If I were a wise man, I would do my part. What can I give him? Give my heart.’ And I think that just sums it all up. Jesus came to love us, to save us, and our response is to give our lives to him. I love it!

Do you have a family Christmas tradition?

Jenine One tradition is opening all the presents after lunch. Do you wait till after lunch for all your presents?

Micah No, I do it before breakfast!

Paul When our children lived with us at home, on Christmas Eve we always went to see a Christmas movie at the cinema. That’s a nice tradition. Also, because we live in London, we do a lights tour: we walk all the Christmas lights in the city of London. That’s a nice tradition that we’ve started.

Jenine I also like listening to carols on Christmas Eve on the television. Or if I can, I like to go to a Christmas Eve service in a church or in the Army wherever I’m near.

Do you use an Advent candle?

Jenine No, we don’t use an Advent candle, but we do like candles and we do have those in the house over December and January. I like a chocolate Advent calendar! Do you?

Micah Yes!

Paul Nobody buys me one, Micah, so I might have to get one this year!

Do you have any plans for Christmas?

Jenine We’ve got a lot of carol services that we’re going to, and a few Christmas dinners before Christmas Day. Then on Christmas Eve, we’re going to drive to our daughter’s house. We’ve got four grandchildren and we’re all going to be together! We’re really looking forward to that because they’re very little children. They enjoy all the presents and all the lovely things about Father Christmas!

Who is your favourite person in the Nativity story?

Daisy I like Mary and Joseph, because they had a newborn baby who was King of the world.

Jenine The shepherds are some of my favourite people in the story because they were just ordinary people and God chose them to go and see Jesus first.

Paul The innkeeper. There wasn’t any room in the inn, but he made room in the stable.

If you were a character in the Nativity, who would you be?

Paul I would be an angel or a wise man. A wise man, because of the presents they bring to Jesus, or an angel because I like singing and I think the angels in the sky proclaiming Jesus must have been a brilliant sound. I’d like to join that chorus!

Jenine I think I’d like to be a shepherd because they were chosen to go and see Jesus and to tell everybody else. But in reality, if I was a shepherd, it would be very cold out on the hillside and I don’t like being cold!

If you could only keep one thing about Christmas Day, what would that be?

Paul Being with family.

Jenine Being with our family.

Harris Family.

Hannah Sharing Christmas dinner with all my family.

Sprouts or no sprouts?

Nicole No!

Theo No.

Paul I love sprouts!

Jenine I like sprouts too! Do you like sprouts?

Harris No.

Paul I also like turnips.

Hannah They are enemies.

What’s the best Christmas present you ever received?

Daisy I really like Squishmallows, which I got for Christmas last year. I got a few books as well.

Harris A Lego set.

Hannah I like playing the guitar and the other year my guitar case broke and for Christmas I got a brilliant padded one and it was brilliant.

Jenine I enjoy playing musical instruments. One Christmas I got a wooden treble recorder. On another Christmas, I got a guitar. So both of those would be my favourite presents!

Paul Mine was a chopper bike. It was really cool when I got that. When I was older, probably the best present was being with family.

Which is better, Christmas or Easter?

Daisy Christmas.

Theo Christmas, because you get presents.

Micah Easter, because of the chocolate!

Nicole Christmas, because that’s when Jesus was born and there’s lots of Christmas cards.

Jenine Christmas, because without Christmas we wouldn’t have Easter. I also like all the lights and everything that go with Christmas. It’s beautiful.

Paul Both. Because of the chocolate! But also because Jesus died for us and that was important, so that we could know God.

What do you think God wants to say to the world this Christmas?

Nicole Keep your Christmas spirit alive.

Theo Never give up.

Jenine Peace to the world.

Paul There’s hope in the darkness. And there’s lots of darkness at the moment, with the stuff that’s going on in the world. There’s always hope, and thankfully, we know that hope is found in Jesus.

Salvationist and Kids Alive! would like to say a big thank you to Daisy, Hannah, Harris, Micah, Nicole and Theo for their fantastic questions and answers!