Walk Through Bethlehem

We took the girls to a local church that puts on "A Walk Through Bethlehem". It was a pretty amazing feat this church undertook, touring more that 1,500 people a day through the event. It started outside the city gates and our touring group was a family of Jews from the tribe of Benjamin. Caleb was our patriarch and guide and we were definitely treated like Jews. John got yelled at and even shoved around a bit by the roman guards for being "a stinking goat herding Jew!"

The synagogue where the Jewish leaders argued and debated and where the scribes worked endlessly.

Caleb trying to get more information from a woman at the well about a rumor that the Messiah had been born. The woman laughed and jeered that the babies mother was supposedly a virgin.

A Jewish family of potters who heard that the mother who gave birth to a son had to find shelter in a stable since the town was packed full for the census.

The carpenters gave us all cedar chips to place under our nose to help with the smell when we visited the shepherds. Ellie used hers often:)

After much searching in the city and talking to many merchants we found the child who was born in a cave and laid in a manger. His parents had named him Jesus.

We encountered some magi who had been following a strange star and were looking for the child who would become King of the Jews.

Caleb then took us to the hill of Golgatha where Jesus would later die on the cross.

Here Caleb explained the most significant event in history. That Jesus conquered death and sin reigns now and forevermore at the right hand of God. He explained the gospel beautifully and prayed with our touring group.

Feeding a real live camel!

It was a wonderful experience for us all.