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Journey to Bethlehem

A church in our area holds an interactive play each year during the Christmas season: Journey to Bethlehem. We’ve gone four times over the past several years; last night was our fourth annual visit. It’s become a bit of a family tradition that both our boys look forward to.

We get to the church “campus” around 6:00 in the evening, stand outside in the long line waiting to get into the fellowship hall for hotdogs and snacks, and then wait some more for our turn to enter the event. Once our group is called up, (everyone is divided into groups of a dozen or so), we hook up with a guide who explains the premise of the event.

The cast and set throughout the church depict the ancient people and town of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. There is a rumor going around about the birth of a new king and savior, and our guide takes us through the Jerusalem marketplace where we can hear some of the rumors. We can also buy little stuff, (small snacks and trinkets), here with the “shekels” given to each visitor for participation.
Marketplace

Then the tour goes on to King Herod’s court where we witness the king’s distress over the rumors.
Herod's Court

The path to each scene is through the corridors of various church buildings — it’s a pretty big campus — hung with curtains to look like the stone walls of ancient streets and paths.
Bethlehem Street

The story takes travelers out of Jerusalem, and on to Bethlehem. On the road, we find the magi camped outside the small town.
Three Magi

After hearing the wisemen, we go through a few scenes in Bethlehem, all directing us, eventually, outside to the fields to look for the shepards…
Bethlehem Shepards

where we witness angels in the sky.
Bethlehem Angels

After another couple of scenes, tracking down the rumors of the new baby, we eventually end up in the stables where Joseph, Mary, and the baby everyone is talking about are found.
Baby Jesus

(Each year, it looks like they have a real baby, but how they manage to keep it peaceful and sleeping through every group’s visit, I just don’t know.)

After this last scene, the group exits the church, and we go home.

Most of the cast, (all volunteers from the church congregation, from what I’m told), do pretty well with their parts. And all the staff outside the actual scenes, (mostly before each tour), also do a really good job. Overall, it’s a pretty cool event. It’s run smoothly and professionally, and we’ve never had a bad time. The only unfun part is the sometimes very long wait in the line outside to get inside. But the discomfort there is purely due to the December weather — was 55-65 degrees the day before our visit, but 35-45 degrees the day of.

Bullgrit

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