We are very happy to announce the winner of our 2017 Christmas Photo Competition. Participants were asked to send in one single picture which expresses their Christmas season in a creative way. There was a clear winner among all the submissions, as his picture really stood out in terms of creativity – Congratulations to our dear brother and Priest Vipin Tandra! His photo is the well-deserved featured image of this article which shows a local artist at work during the Christmas season.
The Winning Picture
About the choice of his picture, Vipin says that this artist caught his attention at the beginning of Christmas season in his town. While everyone else was busy decorating their homes, he found this artist who was busy painting some very tall pictures of well-known Christmas figures.
“My picture shows the efforts of artist Anand who has worked on a Christmas Crib which is about five feet tall, and this made me salute to all the people who make our special occasions even more colorful.”
To this he adds: “I can’t imagine the festive season without the posters cards, stars, and all the decorative stuff. They add colors, glitters and life to all that we do, like decorating our Christmas Tree, our Christmas Crib and much more.”
The Runner-Ups
Among the submissions were two more entries that came close to winning, and they both had a similar idea about the Christmas season. In the words of one of the contestans, “the pictures depict the living altar from where believers receive the words of our Heavenly Father. The flowers symbolize our festive hearts filled with joy, and the candle lights signify the rays of hope and warmth of oneness. This is the season when we sing out our hearts to glorify our Heavenly Father.”
Joshua Jonathan says: “The season of Christmas shelters everyone under the emotions of joy and anticipation”.
Stanley Sappadla comments on his photo: “God’s house is never empty!”
Christmas Stories
During the weeks of Advent before Christmas, our members were asked to express their personal experiences and special feelings during this season in a short text. Two of them are featured here.
According to one of our priests in Pune, every Christmas they go for Carol Singing with their young and old, boys and girls. “We usually book a bus and go for singing with great joy in Christ. We sing Carols from 9 in the evening until 6 in the morning, daily for about four days. Everyone enjoys this a lot!”
A youth member from Hyderabad shares that for her, “Christmas is all about the togetherness, fun and joy we experience. We start our preparation a month in advance: we plan Christmas skits, dances and singing. During this season, we go to church daily – for dance rehearsal and practice of our Christmas skit. This brings a feeling of togetherness among members of the congregation.”