December 18, 2025 | By Rebecca Olsen
The heart of Christmas is the Gospel: Jesus came for us as a baby, grew into a man doing ministry, died for our sins, and rose again. While the Gospel is for everyone everywhere and it doesn’t change, the way we celebrate Christmas around the world does change.
People celebrate differently according to where they live, their culture, and their background. Keep reading to discover Christmas traditions in 10 places around the world.
Since Christians are a minority in Central Asian countries, Christmas is not widely celebrated. Evangelical Christians here primarily celebrate Christmas with their churches and families. The holiday has a spiritual focus and is centered on remembering the birth of Jesus Christ.
Christmas services are usually held in the evening or at night on December 24th or
25th. Some may celebrate on January 7, which is Russian Orthodox Christmas.
The program typically includes reading biblical passages about the Nativity, singing Christmas hymns. a Christmas sermon, and prayers for peace, the country, and families. Some churches hold children’s plays, Nativity performances, and musical concerts as well.
After the service, believers gather at home for a modest festive dinner. Instead of the traditional exchange of gifts, there is usually spiritual encouragement, Bible reading, and family prayer. In some families, children receive small presents.
Like in Central Asia, Christians are a minority in most of East Asia and Christmas is not a public holiday. The only exception to this is South Korea, where it’s a national holiday.
Evangelical believers will still gather for Christmas services, in secret if they have to, and may exchange small gifts as families. In mainland China, it’s customary to give elaborately wrapped apples on Christmas Eve because of Mandarin wordplay for “apple” and “peace.” Christmas is seen as a romantic holiday in Japan, so gift exchanges are often between couples.
In South Korea, they’ll eat traditional foods like stir-fried or grilled beef (bulgogi) and fermented cabbage (kimchi). Japan eats a combination of Western food like fried chicken and a traditional sweet sponge cake topped with strawberries and whipped cream (kurisumasu keki).
Christmas celebrations vary across the different regions of Europe. For example, in Western European countries like Spain and France, Christmas starts the first weekend of December. Families and cities put up Christmas decorations and depending on the country, Christmas markets may open. They’ll celebrate Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and continue the Christmas season until 3 Kings Day in January.
Christmastime celebrations start early in the nordic country of Sweden too. They observe St. Lucia on December 13th and children dress up as the saint and people attend church services. In contrast, some parts of Christmas start “late” in the Nordic country of Denmark, where they wait to decorate the tree until December 23rd.
Traditions differ throughout the Balkans as well, depending on whether you’re Orthodox, Catholic, or Evangelical. The Orthodox focus their Christmas celebrations around January 7th, while Catholics and Evangelicals celebrate December 24th-25th. They’ll eat traditional food with their families, often either a pork or fish dish and special desserts like a nut roll (potica) or Christmas cakes (sape). On the day they celebrate, they’ll attend church.
Even though Israel is the birthplace of Jesus and Christianity, less than 2% of the population is Christian, and only about 0.7% are evangelical. Christmas is not a public holiday in most of the country, although some heavily Christian areas like Bethlehem may differ.
This disparity in celebration levels is seen throughout the Christmas season. Some parts of Israel will look no different or only have Hanukkah decorations, while others will have huge Christmas trees.
Christians in this country will attend church on their Christmas: December 25th, January 7th, or January 18th, depending on their religious and cultural traditions. Some of the largest Christmas services are Catholic, such as midnight mass on December 24th in Bethlehem.
A secular Christmas market and concert takes place on December 24th at the Jerusalem YMCA. However, most gift-giving will only take place in Christian households.
Catholicism is the most popular branch of Christianity in Latin America. In Ecuador, Evangelical Christians may participate in some Catholic traditions, such as the public parade of Nativity characters called “El pase del niño.”
Everyone celebrates Christmastime with traditional foods such as fried dough pastries (Buñuelos) and candy bags full of cookies, lollypops, and other sweets. Schools and families typically distribute the candy bags to children and teens, although they’ll also share them with impoverished indigenous people.
An evangelical church that ANM supports visits these indigenous communities every Christmas. They distribute clothes, toys, and candy bags, and share the Gospel.
There are two main Christmas options in the Middle East and North Africa: December 25th (Catholic and Protestant) or January 7 (Orthodox and Coptic). People who’ve converted from another religion to Christianity may celebrate Christmas on New Year’s Day to protect themselves from persecution.
Believers in this part of the world will often attend church at midnight on Christmas Eve. Orthodox and Coptic believers will have fasted for Advent, so after church they’ll go home to break the fast. Catholics and Protestants don’t fast, but will still celebrate after church.
Depending on the country, these celebrations may be public or private. For example, in Iraq Christian communities will read the Christmas story aloud on Christmas Eve before using candles to light a thorn bonfire. If the thorns burn completely, they’re supposed to have a prosperous new year. Meanwhile in Mauritania, believers will have a special meal at home, often roast chicken, which is expensive.
While most Southeast Asian countries aren’t Christian, they do enjoy a secular, commercialised form of Christmas. Shopping, decorating with trees and lights, and eating celebratory foods are popular activities that anyone can participate in.
Sometimes these celebrations merge with Christian traditions as well. For example, in Bali, Indonesia, Muslims and Christians share homemade food with neighbors and friends for Christmas (Negjot).
The Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country that starts celebrating Christmas earlier than anywhere else — in September! Carolers will start appearing at homes and families will start decorating. Closer to Christmas, Catholics will attend a nine-day series of dawn masses. Christians from all backgrounds will attend church on Christmas Eve with a family feast at midnight.
Like the countries surrounding it, South Asia is not a Christian region. However, Christian communities still celebrate Christmas, especially as a secular, commercialized Christmas grows in popularity.
You’ll see lit oil lamps representing Jesus as Light of the World in India and Nepal. Large, diverse cities in Pakistan and Bangladesh decorate with colorful lights and Christmas trees.
In most South Asian countries, Christians attend church at midnight on Christmas Eve before going home to feast and exchange gifts with family. In Kerala, India, people have an additional Christmas Eve tradition: burning an effigy of Santa (called Pappanji) to represent new beginnings.
Christmas is a time for faith, family, and food across sub-Saharan Africa. Christmas Day starts with an early morning church service and continues with feasting. Sometimes families eat alone, but Christmas meals often include neighbors and entire communities.
In Tanzania, it takes all year to prepare the Christmas feast. Families there often buy a cow or goat in January to feed all year, then eat on Christmas Eve.
Nativity games, scenes, and plays are popular celebrations and decorations. Many churches involve children in the Nativity games and plays so that they’re included in this important holiday.
Most of these church services and celebrations take place December 24th-25th, but Ethiopia is predominately Orthodox, which follows the Julian calendar. Their Christmas is January 7th.
ANM staff at the U.S. headquarters come from all over the world, although when we’re all together, we tend to celebrate an American Christmas. We decorate the office with Christmas trees, eat homemade Christmas cookies, sing Christmas hymns, and read Bible verses related to Jesus’s birth. Sometimes we sing or pray in someone’s heart language, such as Tagalog (the Philippines) or Spanish (Mexico).
A big part of Christmas at ANM is the Missions Gift Catalog. When you look through the physical or digital catalog, you discover gifts that provide practical and spiritual help to people all over the world.
You can give a $20 Bible to someone who needs one, contribute to a well that shares the Living Water of Jesus, or find another gift aligned with your heart this Christmas.
Thank you for learning about Christmas traditions in 10 places around the world and celebrating with us.
