The book is called "Faith in the Service: Inspirational Stories from LDS Servicemen and Servicewomen".
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"Good Tidings...To All People"
by Major Mark L. Allison,
U.S. Army Chaplain
Serving in Afghanistan, January 2004-April 2005
"And the angel said...I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people" (Luke 2:10; emphasis added). On Christmas Eve, 2004, this angelic pronouncement of two thousand years ago was fulfilled among several hundred Afghan shepherds and villagers in the remote township of Jekdalek, Afghanistan, who on that day heard for the first time the story of Christmas and the "good tidings of great joy."
For several months we American soldiers had visited this village and adopted it as a recipient of humanitarian aid from the families of America to the families of Afghanistan. Due to its remote location in the terrorist-occupied mountains bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan, we traveled by large army Chinook helicopters, which had sufficient room for many pallets of humanitarian aid and dozens of American soldiers to distribute them.
A few days prior to Christmas Eve (December 21, 2004), a team of us made a special visit to the village with the purpose of speaking with the village elders and the local Muslim mullah. Our object was to obtain their permission to return on Christmas Eve to share a Christmas program with their village; the program would include telling the story of Jesus' birth, distributing gifts to their children, and eating food to celebrate the occasion. To prevent an unfortunate international incident, we carefully explained to the village elders and mullah that our intention was not to convert anyone, nor did we wish to cause any offense. We told them December was a special time of year for us, and we desired to share with them part of our culture as they for many months had shared theirs with us. They listened respectfully as I related the story of Christmas as written in the Gospel of Luke. When I finished, I asked them if they had any questions or problems with anything they had just heard. Through our interpreter they unanimously said, "No problem." And then to our surprise the village mullah said through the interpreter: "Christmas is good."
Returning to our base, we prepared hundreds of gift bags for the children made the necessary arrangements for enough food to feed the village, and recruited interested soldiers to participate. As planned, on Friday (the Islamic Sabbath), Christmas Eve, December 24, 2004, some 230 American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines landed via four large army Chinook helicopters at this Muslim village nestled among the rugged mountains and, as promised, we brought food for a Christmas meal and hundreds of gift bagts for the children filled with toys, school supplies, and clothing.
Through my interpreter and the use of a handheld megaphone, I requested that all the children of the village (approximately 300) assemble up front to hear the story of Christmas. As the children sat on the dirt in this open-air assembly area, the adults also gathered. It was an interesting sight to behold, with nearly 700 Muslim children and adults directly in front of me and 230 Christian American servicemen standing behind and next to me. Through my interpreter, I addressed the village as follows:
"My name is Mark; I am the 'Christian mullah' for the American soldiers. Our homeland is America, far beyond these mountains, across the desert and over the sea. During the past several months we have learned of your beliefs and experienced your culture and we have become friends. We are grateful to your village elders and the mullah, who have allowed us to come here today to share with you one of our traditions at this time of the year called Christmas. Today we are going to tell you a special story about the birth of a very special child; we will sing songs, distribute gifts to the children, and then eat food together."
I then pulled from my pocket and placed on my head a bright red Santa cap with its fluffy white ball, which immediately grabbed the attention and prompted giggles among the children. They had never before seen a Santa hat. With their anticipatory eyes and ears focused on me, I began telling them the Christmas story, much as I had done as a father for so many years on Christmas Eve with my daughters when they were little girls.
At the conclusion of the story, I offered a Christmas blessing upon their village. We then, as a choir of American soldiers--Latter-day Saints, Catholics, and Protestants, accompanied by our Sunday worship service organist on a battery-operated keyboard--sang the first verse of seven Christmas carols: "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," "Joy to the World," "O Come All Ye Faithful," "Silent Night," "Jingle Bells," "Far, Far Away on Judea's Plain," and finally, "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."
At the conclusion of this Christmas program and before Santa's gift distribution to the children, our Afghan hosts wanted to reciprocate by sharing a selection of music and a display of dancing from their tradition. I thought to myself, "Who would have ever thought on this Islamic Sabbath and Christian Christmas Eve that Americans and Afghans, Christians and Muslims would together celebrate in fulfillment of the angelic proclamation of good tidings of great joy regarding the birth of Jesus Christ."
To begin the gift distribution, my commander, Scott Robinson, presented the senior village elder with a gift. This was followed by a Christmas gift from me as the Christian chaplain to the Muslim mullah, which included a hand-held radio I knew he needed for his mosque and school in order to hear news from the outside world. To our surprise, they gave us gifts in return. What an experience! Christians and Muslims exchanging Christmas gifts. Who would have ever imagined it! With all 230 soldiers deputized as Santa's special elves, gifts were then distributed to all the children, each saying to Santa in broken English as they filed by, "Merry Christmas."
There in that remote and deso0late, impoverished and humble Afghan village, where the pupulation is entirely Islamic, the true Christmas spirit was both shared and felt by everyone. Although the villagers were all Muslim, there were no anti-Christmas hecklers or protestors of the use of the name of Jesus Christ, no legal briefs filed, no court injunctions rendered to stop this public Christmas program, no "PC police" to disrup the respectful expression and sharing of diverse religious and cultural traditions.
It was a memory-making experience none of us will likely forget: on this Christmas Eve in 2004 in a remote Afghan village, in fulfillment of the angelic proclamation that "good tidings of great joy...shall be to all people," Christians and Muslim brothers and sisters heard the story of Christmas--and together celebrated peace on earth and goodwill toward all men.
