wfn.org | Event gains international attention

[BethAH@mbm.org]

January 3, 2001
Beth Hawn
Communications Coordinator
Mennonite Board of Missions
phone (219) 294-7523
fax (219) 294-8669
<www.MBM.org>

January 3, 2001

Nazareth Village Christmas event gains international attention

NAZARETH, Israel (GCMC/MBM) – As Arab communities downplayed
Christmas celebrations because of ongoing violence that has
killed more than 350 people in the past three months, Nazareth
Village found a simple way to observe Christmas with local
residents.

Nearly 500 people took part in four nights of programs in which
Nazareth Village guides read the Christmas story from Luke 2
while costumed participants re-enacted the events from the
annunciation to the birth of Jesus in the reconstructed
first-century village.  The event, which brought international
attention, is one of several ways Nazareth Village is gaining
local attention in the wake of a virtual end to international
tourism because of the ongoing political crisis.

More than 4,000 area schoolchildren visited Nazareth Village
between late October and early December when more distant field
trips were not possible as organizers focused their energies on
serving schools, clubs, church and other civic groups.
“Thankfully, from the outset, Nazareth Village was designed to
speak to the people of this region,” said D. Michael Hostetler,
who serves as executive director of Nazareth Village.

Hostetler, a worker for Mennonite Board of Missions and the
Commission on Overseas Mission of the General Conference
Mennonite Church, anticipates that the live nativity will become
an annual event.  On a hillside not far from Nazareth’s
first-century city limits, the site created a setting USA Today
called “the most authentic nativity play ever staged.”  In
addition to the Dec. 22 report in USA Today, the event also
earned attention from the Associated Press video service and the
Mail on Sunday, a British newspaper.  In USA Today, a newspaper
noted for its brevity, the 20-paragraph report, photograph and
map filled a quarter page of space, which would cost more than
$31,000 if it were an ad in the same edition.

“People can’t go to Bethlehem (where Jesus was born) right now
because of the situation, and in Nazareth the annual parade and
other festivities have been canceled,” Hostetler told USA Today.
“Christians all over the world act out the story.  For us this
year, it will be a symbol of hope in the midst of so much absence
of hope.”

As of Jan. 2, 299 Palestinians have been killed since the
uprising for independence began three months ago.  Fifty-six
Israelis, 13 of them Arab citizens of the Jewish state, have also
been killed in the unrest.

“We here in Nazareth have been challenged to present Jesus in a
fresh and new way to the Nazareth community,” Hostetler said.
“For months, the violence in this part of the world dominated the
headlines.  We at Nazareth Village have asked the question, ‘What
does it mean to present Jesus in this context?  Does Jesus from
the past have relevance for us today?’  We are discovering that
remaining open (when thousands of people in the travel business
have lost their jobs) has been a source of hope for the Nazareth
community and beyond.”

For more information about Nazareth Village, particularly a
gallery of photos of the site, visit its official web site at
http://www.nazarethvillage.com.

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MBM Staff        PHOTOS AVAILABLE