Joyce and I left from the Jaffa Gate of the Old City in Jerusalem and took a minibus to Rachel's Pass - the border crossing for Bethlehem.  We befriended a really nice guy named Saed there who is a Palestinian Christian.  We walked about 2 miles to the Manger Square - and all along the way, the town of Bethlehem had Christmas lights - EVERYWHERE.  It was so festive.  At the Manger Square, there were thousands of people (mostly Muslims and Christians) visiting for the holiday.  There were musicians from all over the world performing on the stage, and food vendor outside of the gift shops selling hot Corn-on-the-Cob, Falafels and Shwarmas.  Joyce and I walked around for a couple of hours, and then we thought we would try to get into the Church of the Nativity.  It seemed impossible as tickets are rare and need to be arranged days in advance - and so I prayed.  God answered with a yes.  We met a man name Paul from Australia who was training to be a Roman Catholic priest.  He asked a couple beside us if they could use two extra tickets to the church... they suprisingly said no, and so I piped up... "Joyce and I would love the tickets - How much?"  "Nothing, I'm giving them away!" He said, and handed us the tickets.  We were able to enter the church for the Midnight mass and we were there for a good portion of the festivities.  We left at around 1:30 and went into the Orthodox section of the Church later - then caught a cab back to Tel Aviv.  It was an unforgettable experience!

 


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