Bethlehem

When I read about the birth of Christ in Luke 2, I can now say I have been to the city he was born in!  It is so surreal. I have been in Jerusalem about three months and I still have not gotten over the concept of physically visiting sites that I have studied about my entire life. It all seems like just a dream. 

While in Bethlehem we were able to visit the Church of the Nativity.  This church was built over where many people believe Christ was born. It is shared by the Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, and Roman Catholic denominations. Something that is cool, aside from being the place where many people believe Christ was born, is it is the oldest continuously-operating church in the world.  

This is the spot that many people believe Christ was born. 

This is the spot where they believe the manager of Christ was. 

We were able to visit a few different places where different churches believe the shepherds were at.  The open field we visited last was my favorite. We had a devotional there, sang hymns, had a small testimony meeting, and had free to wander around.  I tried to put myself in the position of the shepherds the night of Christ’s birth. Can you imagine what it would have been like to of been abiding by your flock and have an angel of God come and tell you of the Savior’s birth and where he was at?  Talk about incredible and surreal!