![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/997419.webp\" "\\"The")
<\/p>\nVisitors from multiple states gather to walk through scenes of Jesus\u2019 birth, celebrating the biblical story at the heart of Christmas<\/p>\n
\n Journey to Bethlehem’s final scene ends in a barn, with Mary and Josep surrounded by angels. Remaining loyal to the birth of Christ and its central theme to Christmas remains at the heart of this popular journey.
\n Dave Mast\n <\/p>\n
Walnut Creek was
\nabuzz with activity Friday and Saturday, Dec. 5-6 for the annual Journey to
\nBethlehem, which has grown to draw people from many
\nstates as well as locals.<\/p>\n
All parties wanted
\nto partake in a slice of a story they believe remains central to
\nthe heart of Christmas, that being the celebration of the birth of Jesus.<\/p>\n
From the moment
\nvisitors were invited into Elite Flooring to kick-start their journey with a map of the activities, the experience focused on what many people continue to call the true meaning of Christmas, from\u00a0shepherds manning an open fire and a pen filled with
\nlive animals to the defining moment where Mary and Joseph kept watch over
\ntheir newborn babe in the stable at The Farm in Walnut Creek.<\/p>\n
Sam Gandee and his
\nwife Cynda from Venus, Pennsylvania came to Walnut Creek to experience the
\nJourney to Bethlehem for the third time. Sam, a pastor, said this time they
\ndidn\u2019t come alone for the trip.<\/p>\n
The group drove
\nover Friday and made the trip back to Venus that evening, but in between they
\nexperienced something special.<\/p>\n
Sam Gandee said experiencing the story of the birth of Jesus in
\nthis way is special enough to keep coming back, and he
\nsaid the group hopes to expand next year.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n The innkeeper scene was one of several that highlight Walnut Creek’s Journey to Bethlehem. The annual event brings thousands of people to the area to celebrate the birth of Jesus during the Christmas season.
\n Dave Mast\n <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just as
\nenjoyable and meaningful as it was the first time around when we came,\u201d Cynda
\nGandee said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe birth of
\nChrist is just as new and exciting today as it was 2,000 years ago,\u201d Sam Gandee
\nsaid. \u201cThis story never gets old.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chris Argabrite,
\nwho is employed at Carlisle Inn, was one of the actors welcoming people to
\nvisit with the innkeeper who gave the holy couple a humble place to stay and
\nbirth their newborn.<\/p>\n
She said being
\npart of this experience continues to be important because of the meaning behind
\nthe story.<\/p>\n
She said seeing
\neveryone coming through excited, happy and soaking up the atmosphere around the
\nevent makes all the hard work worthwhile.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love all of it.
\nBut I think the thing I enjoy most is seeing the smiles and wonder on
\nchildren\u2019s faces as they come through,\u201d Argabrite said. \u201cWe have welcomed
\npeople from all over the place to this event, and it\u2019s wonderful to see the
\ninterest continue to grow because of the importance of this story. This is such
\na good thing for people to experience, and the uniqueness of it is something
\nthat continues to bring people back year after year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wes and Cindy
\nWojciechowicz from Charleston, West Virginia made their first journey
\nto Walnut Creek to hear the story. They were visiting the area for the first
\ntime and by happenstance found out the journey was taking place.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/997421.webp\" "\\"Members")
<\/p>\n
\n Members of Wellspring Church in Millersburg sing carols as part of Journey to Bethlehem.
\n Dave Mast\n <\/p>\n
\u201cWe were scrolling
\nthe internet to see if The Farm in Walnut Creek was still open, and we read
\nabout it,\u201d Cindy Wojciechowicz said. \u201cWe saw it, and it looked really interesting and
\nreally felt drawn to come experience it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The couple had no
\nidea how big this event was, and they were blown away by the magnitude of the
\ncrowd and the authenticity of the scenes. They said they prepared to take the
\ntour at 4 p.m. but decided to wait until dark to get the full effect of the
\nluminarias, lights and sounds around town and at The Farm.<\/p>\n
Both agreed the biblical story of the birth of Jesus was something that drew them to
\nattend. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe attractions
\nand restaurants in this area are great, but at Christmastime, when most events
\nlike this are about Christmas lights and Santa Claus, this one is different,\u201d
\nWes Wojciechowicz said.<\/p>\n
He said the
\nscene portraying the marketplace with its vendors passionately approaching
\npeople as they passed by and peddling their wares reminded him of the Bahamas, where they experienced that same sort of thing.<\/p>\n
That is the type
\nof authenticity that continues to make Journey to Bethlehem a must-see for so many people.<\/p>\n
With a story
\ncommitted to its biblical roots, the portrayal continues to be an
\nadventure people seek as a connection to the message at the heart of the Christmas season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Visitors from multiple states gather to walk through scenes of Jesus\u2019 birth, celebrating the biblical story at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59006,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":{"0":"post-59005","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bethlehem","8":"tag-bethlehem","9":"tag-bethlehem-headlines","10":"tag-bethlehem-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}