Each year, we take care to document everything that happens so that we may help share the event. View our official video from each year past and see for yourself how we've grown!
Our heart's desire was to make the manger the pinnacle of the entire Village tour. Our theme verse was "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." And we commissioned a song that described the waiting and eagerness that the Jewish people had for the arrival of their Messiah. This was our largest year yet with over 2500 people walking through our Village (Thank you, LORD!)
We incorporated storytellers throughout the Village, each one with a different and real perspective on what the coming Messiah would mean to the Jewish people and how it would affect their lives. This idea that the Messiah was coming was very relevant in the Jewish people's minds; however, they, much like us, were busy in the every day activities and failed to see that their Messiah was born to them, lowly and born in a manger. As we continued to add, the LORD continued to add as well with over 1500 people venturing out.
Deciding that we could make this event even bigger and better, we really focused on authenticity and shop keeper knowledge so that as people ventured through the Village, it would be a learning experience and one that families would want to come back to year after year. We added more animals, more activities, more shops and a longer trail for visitors to walk along. Due to some bad weather, we were only able to have the event for one night in the weekend, but God was faithful and we were blessed with over 750 visitors.
This was our first year for recreating an actual vision. We wanted to do something that was beyond a traditional "live nativity" and tried to focus more on the "live" part. We wanted to make an event that was geared towards a very family oriented and interactive. We pulled the event together in 6 short weeks with every one in the congregation working together to make the vision a reality.