{"id":59258,"date":"2025-12-12T16:06:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T16:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/59258\/"},"modified":"2025-12-12T16:06:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T16:06:17","slug":"volunteers-bring-walnut-creeks-journey-to-bethlehem-to-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/59258\/","title":{"rendered":"Volunteers bring Walnut Creek\u2019s Journey to Bethlehem to life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Months of preparation, from luminarias to live characters, create an immersive retelling of the nativity story for thousands of visitors<\/p>\n

\n Wes and Cinda Wojciechowicz from Charleston, West Virginia make their way through the marketplace, one of a handful of stops along the Journey to Bethlehem in Walnut Creek.
\n Dave Mast\n <\/p>\n

The making of
\nJourney to Bethlehem in Walnut Creek Dec. 5-6 takes an inordinate amount of
\npreparation and work.<\/p>\n

There are so many
\ndetails involved in creating this special Christmas event that focuses on the birth of Jesus and so many people that it takes months
\nof coordination to get everything in order.<\/p>\n

First, the town of
\nWalnut Creek and the surrounding area is lined with thousands of luminarias,
\ngallon plastic jugs donated by Hillcrest Orchard that are filled with sand and
\na candle. <\/p>\n

Area Amish teens
\nare committed to filling the jugs with sand and lighting and then blowing out
\nthe candles every night, an extraordinary task considering the luminarias extend
\neast of town to Elite Flooring and southeast all the way to The Farm in Walnut Creek,
\nnearly a full mile out of town.<\/p>\n

Maps of the tour
\nfor both the town and The Farm are created, giving visitors a roadmap to the
\njourney.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Shepherds watch their flock by night as part of the story of the birth of Jesus that is portrayed each Christmas season by a host of volunteers in Walnut Creek.
\n Dave Mast\n <\/p>\n

Then there were
\nthe characters portraying the variety of people including the wisemen, shepherds in the fields, angels singing praise, and Mary and Joseph. Even the marketplace at Coblentz Chocolate was alive
\nwith the sounds of characters dressed up and peddling their wares, begging and
\ncajoling people to buy their merchandise.<\/p>\n

James and Ruth
\nMullet were dressed in shepherd clothing ad had a roaring fire going outside Elite Flooring, the first stop on the tour that greeted guests making the
\njourney.<\/p>\n

Knowing this
\nendeavor takes countless volunteers, they wanted to be a part of something
\nmeaningful.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe felt this was
\nsomething we could do to help the community and to help portray the story of
\nthe birth of Jesus,\u201d James Mullet said. “We enjoy greeting people and making
\nthem feel welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

One bad-tempered
\ncharacter in the biblical story is Herod, the king who demanded to know the
\nwhereabouts of this supposed new king.<\/p>\n

Visitors to his
\nstation, in which he was purposefully guarded by a pair of Roman
\nguards as he sat on his thrown, were treated to a less than hospitable king who
\nwas teetering on the edge of jealousy as he maddeningly sought to confront this
\nnew king he felt threatened his crown.<\/p>\n

That angry king
\nwas played by Eddie Regan, who has portrayed the jealous king since the very
\nbeginning of the event 16 years ago.<\/p>\n

While he portrays
\na bad guy, his spirit of promoting the story of faith and Christ is
\nanything but that.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Volunteers for Journey to Bethlehem came in all ages.
\n Dave Mast\n <\/p>\n

\u201cI think the
\nreason I keep doing this is because it is an incredible ministry in sharing the
\nstory of Jesus,\u201d Regan said. \u201cIt\u2019s exciting to continue to share a story that
\nsome people may have never heard and to retell it in a unique and interesting
\nway for those who have heard it.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Coblentz
\nChocolate the marketplace was abuzz with activity, and as people exited the
\ntunnel of chattering actors, store owner Jason Coblentz and his wife handed out chocolate to visitors as they passed through.<\/p>\n

Coblentz has been
\ninvolved with this production since its infancy, and the marketplace has helped
\nset a tone of authenticity to the entirety of each evening.<\/p>\n

He said years ago Amy Yoder, a local resident whose Light in the Valley Church used to offer
\nthe presentation, came to him with the idea of having this event in Walnut
\nCreek and expanding it so others would be invited to join.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n The Farm in Walnut Creek and its many volunteers play a pivotal role in bringing the story of the birth of Jesus into focus for the annual Journey to Bethlehem event.
\n Dave Mast\n <\/p>\n

Since then it has
\nblossomed into an event that draws thousands to the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been blessed
\nto continue to remain loyal to the same truths and story that the church
\nstarted years ago,\u201d Coblentz said. \u201cWe as a company really cherished the
\noutreach part of being involved with this.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said recreating
\na marketplace that give people some insight into exactly what it was like in
\nBethlehem thousands of years ago is intriguing because he said some of the
\npeople coming through the tour may not be churched, others may be somewhat
\nknowledgeable, and others may be seeking encouragement on their faith journey
\nor simply want to recapture the essence of the story.<\/p>\n

He said each stop along the journey adds to the story of the birth of Christ,
\nlayering it as people take the journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis event brings
\nin people of all walks of life,\u201d he said. \u201cOur hope is to bring the story to
\nlife in a meaningful way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Months of preparation, from luminarias to live characters, create an immersive retelling of the nativity story for thousands…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59259,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":{"0":"post-59258","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\/59258","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=59258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}