Christmas Eve in the Bethlehem
One of the purposes of this group of Christians traveling to the Holy Land was to sing in Manger Square on Christmas Eve. Each year the city of Bethlehem hosts a celebration with choirs from around the world. We were representing the United States. As mentioned earlier we had several very talented singers and musicians in our group. I was excited to be a part of the choir for this performance. I do not have any photos of our performance, below are a couple from the internet. Ours would have been in 1981.
5:00 pm - Checkpoint on the way to Manger Square - metal detectors. Security is tight. Soldiers with machine guns on the roof and ground. One of the guards apologized for the delay and wishes us a "Merry Christmas." He let me take a picture of him.
I remember eating dinner at a restaurant on the square.
At 7:00 pm we go to a reception with the mayor. He welcomes the groups and makes presentations. Then we wait in the cold for our turn to go on.
Once on the stage we performed the following numbers:
Victory in Jesus - Choir
Jesus Loves Me - Becky N.
Ring the Bells - Kim Wicks
I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked - Myrna Loy Hedgepath
Becky N. and Mike Collins soloed and then we all sang "The King is Coming!"
We went back the Church for singing and refreshments. Left church at midnight. Sang Christmas carols on the ride back to the hotel.
Certainly a Christmas Eve to remember.
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