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BELLVILLE — More than two billion people from one hundred-sixty nations consider Christmas to be an important date on the calendar. In fact, sixty-five percent of Americans, according to one study, said Christmas should be more about Jesus. The study also revealed that while those two-thirds may want more Christ in Christmas, most could not adequately give the details of Jesus’ birth story.
This season, some people are making sure the real reason for the season is not forgotten.
For three days, the Clear Fork Alliance Church hosted a twenty-minute guided tour re-enacting life in Bethlehem during the time of Christ’s birth. Attendees got to live the Christmas story, experience the sights and sounds of Bethlehem, sample food, see soldiers arrest beggars in the streets, hear angels sing, smell the animals near the manger, and follow the star to the manger.
“This is one of the outreaches we have in our community to remind them to keep Christ in Christmas,” says Cindy Merrin, one of the event coordinators. “He is the reason for the season. Close to twelve hundred people attended our event which was over a three-day period. We have had visitors come from Cleveland and Columbus. Last year people came from Kentucky and North Carolina to see.”
Merrin spent Sunday afternoon guiding tour groups through ten scenes from the Bible. The church has made the event a tradition, putting on the event every year since 2000. The idea came from an outdoor tour at a church in Fremont, Ohio.
“They totally transformed our gym and made it a whole new world. It is really cool to watch the little kids go through the gym and their eyes open up because they are like, they have heard these stories, but this is what it looks like. They just get so excited about it.”
Kaitlyn Marett
Visitors can register with the census taker, receive a free bag of gold coins, and spend them at Bethlehem’s various shops. Fifteen vendors make up the Bethlehem village square, including booths with a blacksmith, carpenter, jeweler, leather maker, llamas and sheep.
Cindy Ruckman of McFarland’s Llama Farm donated her llama, two sheep and two chickens for the event.
Kaitlyn Marett said her favorite part of the event is what comes next, when guests are free to roam through the replica village of Bethlehem. “They totally transform our gym and make it a whole new world,” she said. “It is really cool to watch the little kids go through it and their eyes open up because they have heard these stories, but this is what it looks like. They just get so excited about it.”
Lead pastor Matt Merendino manned the olive and grape stand alongside his wife, Missy. He said the event benefits the community as well as the church. “I love doing Bethlehem. It brings the whole church together,” he said. “It’s fun to be together and to serve together. I think people remember they like each other and they like hanging out with each other.”
While “Experience Bethlehem” occurred December 8th thru the 10th, people can still experience the Christmas story in North Central Ohio. “Come Let Us Adore Him,” is a free tour of the life of Jesus at BibleWalk between December 23rd thru December 30th 10 AM-4 PM. The museum is closed on December 24th and 25th.
BibleWalk in Mansfield is Ohio’s only wax museum. It has a sixty-minute journey into the life, death, resurrection, ascension and ends with Christ seated on His Throne at “The Great White Throne Judgement.” This tour also features twenty-five separate narrated scenes of Jesus Christ’s life from the Bible, and also one of Madame Tussaud’s famous Last Supper re-creations.
The Christmas tours at these churches are the antithesis of the tours at the Ohio State Reformatory, which is just down the street from BibleWalk. While OSR glorifies death, these church tours proclaim life and carry a more memorable message: resurrection from the dead.
The Bottom Line:
The Bible says in Luke Chapter Two, “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.”
View the slideshow below of local guided tours recounting the birth of Christ.
BibleWalk has a sixty-minute journey into the life, death, resurrection, & ascension of Christ. 
Visitors experience what Bethlehem was like at time of Christ. (Photo courtesy of Frontlines Ohio) 
“Experience Bethlehem” recounts the birth of Christ. The fulfillment of prophecy is depicted in this scene. (Photo courtesy of Frontlines Ohio) 
Visitors experience what Bethlehem was like at time of Christ. Llamas and sheep add to the intrigue. (Photo courtesy of Frontlines Ohio) 
“Experience Bethlehem” recounts the birth of Christ. Angels talking to shepherds are depicted in this scene. (Photo courtesy of Frontlines Ohio) 
Visitors experience what Bethlehem was like at time of Christ. A dreidel shop adds to the intrigue. (Photo courtesy of Frontlines Ohio) 
“Experience Bethlehem” recounts the birth of Christ. King Herod is depicted in this scene. (Photo courtesy of Frontlines Ohio) 
BibleWalk has a sixty-minute journey into the life, death, resurrection, & ascension of Christ. 
Visitors experience what Bethlehem was like at time of Christ. Pastor Matt Merendino and his wife add their vineyard products to the intrigue. (Photo courtesy of Frontlines Ohio) 
“Experience Bethlehem” recounts the birth of Christ. A Roman soldier is depicted in this scene. (Photo courtesy of Frontlines Ohio) “Experience Bethlehem” recounts the birth of Christ. Joseph & Mary are depicted in this scene. (Photo courtesy of Frontlines Ohio) Clear Fork Alliance recently hosted an “Experience Bethlehem” tour that was open to the public. (Photo courtesy of Frontlines Ohio)
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