Tours every 15 minutes from 6-8 p.m. on Dec. 5-7

 

SOUTH POINT — If you have ever wondered what it was like to be in Bethlehem for the first Christmas, now is the chance to find out.

The First Baptist Church in South Point is having its first Journey to Bethlehem program from 6-8 p.m. Dec. 5, 6 and 7.

Tours will take place every 15 minutes and will last about 30 minutes.

“There will be seven stations on the tour,” Betty Sloan, director of the journey, said. People will first sign in with the census taker as if they were really coming into Bethlehem. Next they will be taken to see King Herod, demanding why they are there. Mary and Joseph trying to find a place to stay is the next part of the tour, followed by going through the marketplace.

The tour will continue outside where shepherds will lead visitors to the activity building where the stable will be set up with Mary and Joseph. People will also be able to talk to the Three Wise Men.

“All of the tour guides and people involved with the journey will be in costumes,” Cheryl Davis, journey organizer, said. “Everyone here has put a lot of work into this. We want people to experience what it was like walking through the streets of Bethlehem.”

Everyone is invited to attend at no cost.

“People will get to see and interact with many active positions from Bethlehem,” Daniel Beaver, pastor of South Point First Baptist Church, said. “They will get to experience a live Nativity with their families. It is very wholesome.”

South Point First Baptist Church is hoping to make this a yearly occasion.

“A lot of times we get all wrapped up in the holiday,” Beaver said. “But this will take us back to the first century. What we are hoping to get out of it is that people know what the true meaning of Christmas is about.”