Regifting... Part One

The media can be blamed, or credited, for inventing and providing the general public with many things, among them, new ‘buzzwords’. One such word first popped up on a TV comedy show a few of years ago; re-gifting! It means rewrapping a present one didn't want and consequently, rewrapping it and re-gifting it to someone else, making certain of course, that one doesn’t mistakenly re-gift it to the original “giver”. The USA television program suggested that the genesis of the word stems from the ubiquities Christmas fruitcake. Their claim was in fact, only three fruitcakes were ever baked in the USA. The perception that fruitcakes exist in far greater numbers stems from the fact that they are never unwrapped from their colorful cellophane and devoured; they are simply re-gifted..

Even though the word re-gifting is relatively new, the concept and practice is not. Re-gifting began with God, Mary and Joseph, on the first Christmas Eve. One won’t find the word re-gifting in Webster’s dictionary yet. However, both the Old and New Testament provide a definition of re-gifting and are replete with examples and exhortations. On that first Christmas Eve God gifted Himself to us in the form of His Son, gifting Himself as it were, "He hath given all things into the hands” of His creatures. His was a gift designed specifically for you and me, and to all.

Do you remember when you first heard the name Jesus? Perhaps for you, like me, one of the most powerful remembrances was the family Christmas Eve table. It was my SA officer grandparents reading the Christmas story at the table… and some years later my SA officer parents doing the same, on Christmas Eve.

Twenty years ago I celebrated re-gifting at a rather unusual Christmas Eve table. It was in Moscow, Russia, and it served as a powerful reminder of what the consequences of reconciliation and re-gifting can be.

I was privileged to serve as a pioneer SA officer in Russia, immediately following Perestroika- they were busy, heady and often difficult times. One of my favorite monthly activities was leading the Sunday evening devotions at the USA Embassy, a gated community in the center of Moscow with high walls protecting it. A group of some 35-40 expats, Americans living in, or visiting Moscow, would meet to worship. Visitors were always found in our small assembly and one Sunday there were five USA military officers visiting our evening service. All five belonged to the Association of Christian Military Fellowship and had been active for several weeks in seeking to sign up Russian regiments that they might visit. They were given opportunity to share the Gospel with large groups of military personnel, an unheard of witness opportunity in the history of the Soviet military.

Following the service at the Embassy we enjoyed coffee and cake together. The five USA military officers had learned that one of my SA related activities was lecturing weekly at the Russian MilitaryAcademy (Intro to Social Services) They were eager to further their reach into the Russian military and thought I could be helpful in their gaining direct access to the Academy, the Russian equivalent of West Point and Sandhurst.

We arranged to have dinner that week, on December 24. We met at a typical Russian restaurant, a decade prior to any westernization and improvement in the quality of Russkie Stolovayas (restaurants). We heard the Muscovites' exuberance well before venturing inside; the build up of wind swept snow and ice prevented the large front door from closing completely. We entered the rowdy premises, smoke-filled enough to sting one’s eyes. Vodka and champagne was flowing freely; the voices of the Russians boisterous as they sang and toasted each other.

As we entered, dressed in USA military officer uniforms and two of us in Salvation Army uniforms, we must have been a very strange sight; the cold war had not yet thawed completely! The celebrant's rowdiness became a hushed murmur and their glances suspicious - we entered with our caps in hand and presented our overcoats to a startled doorman.

We were escorted to our table and greeted with snickers of 'Hello Yankees' and 'Nazdtrovia', the Russians' courage boosted by vodka , as glasses were lifted and 'clinked'!

Our menus were distributed, drink orders taken and we bowed in prayer…. it was our Christ mass table, thousands of miles from our families, celebrating their Christmas Eve stateside.

Our thoughts and conversation naturally turned to “family”. One of the USA military officers shared that he was born and raised in Chicago, and went on to say that he became a Christian as a young boy. A Salvation Army officer had come to his home on Christmas Eve delivering a parcel of food and toys to him and his siblings. His father, he explained, “had abandoned the family and they were living on welfare. After passing out the Christmas gifts the Salvation Army man asked my mother”, he said, “if he might be allowed to read the Christmas story- we sat at our kitchen table as he read… and then he asked me and my sisters if we’d like to have Jesus living in our hearts- we knelt there in our tiny kitchen, and he prayed with us- and Jesus has been my Lord ever since”.

End part One


Sven Ljungholm
Former Officer
USA, Sweden, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova
Birkenhead Corps UK