BETHLEHEM – In Bethlehem, the city known as the birthplace of Jesus, there's something else to celebrate this Christmas. The Nativity Encounter is a new project designed to share the story of Jesus with those who live where the story began.

As Christmas Day approaches, volunteers from the First Baptist Church in Bethlehem are welcoming visitors into what organizers call the Nativity Encounter, a walk-through journey bringing the story of Jesus' birth to life.

What's different about this project, though, is its focus. The encounter isn't just for the thousands who visit each year; it's for those who live here year-round

Pastor Steven Khoury of First Baptist told CBN News, "The demographics of Bethlehem changed quite a bit. About a 22 to 23-year period. We saw Christianity in Bethlehem go from being the majority, close to 80% and 20% Muslim population to today, 22 to 23 years later, depending, completely swapped."

Khoury added, "The good thing is, we discovered that the Muslim population in Bethlehem are very open. So we see and know there’s opportunity."

That means the story of the Shepherd's Field, where angels first announced the Messiah's birth, and the very identity of Christ's birthplace, remains largely unknown among the city's population.

A Muslim woman who lives in Bethlehem told us, "Now, there are many things we didn't know, for example, the birth of Christ – we frankly didn't have that background that one knows. So, we learned so many things, and honestly, the kids also saw them. I mean, we hadn't even left the tent yet, and the kids started asking: 'Mom, what is this? Mom, what is this?'"

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Pastor Khoury explained that the vision for the nativity encounter came during a ministry trip, where he saw an openness to the gospel.

"I'm in Indonesia, the largest Muslim nation in the world," he recalled. "I see they're building bridges between a Muslim and a Christian community. Came back to Bethlehem, the birth(place) of Jesus Christ, where I live, I minister. And we said, 'Why can't we do the same thing to help bring Jesus into the eyes and the hearts of both the Muslims and the Jews in Israel in a creative way? 98.7% of the country will never set foot inside of a church. Well, what do we do to bring Jesus in a creative way?'" 

Pastor Khoury's wife, Sherry, noted, "Let's tell the story, and to tell the story through the perspective of someone who had a personal encounter, not just in the activity that you see, but something you feel in your heart."

Together, Steven and Sherry began shaping a bold and timely idea: a biblically accurate and immersive journey through the Christmas story.

Sherry observed, "This whole encounter really needs to come from the shepherd's perspective, because the shepherd is someone that represents someone humble in life. Someone you know could be maybe be cast to the margins of society. And there are a lot of young people in the Arab community, especially the Christian Arab community, that maybe feel marginalized."

For many locals, this is changing how they see their own hometown and its importance.

Sherry gave us a tour of the Nativity, pointing to a scribe and explaining, "This room is all about prophecies, so we have him working on some prophecies right now, some ancient scrolls."We asked, "He stays in character the whole time?" She replied, "He does."

How do the kids love it?" we asked. She answered, "The kids love it. Because they don't notice him at first because they're at the table, and then they come over here, and then all of a sudden he comes to life. It's a very immersive experience that we have for the children that come through, and for the adults too."

One volunteer stated, "There's like a lot of reactions because there's, like, so many different kids coming through...younger kids, older kids. But I will say their main reactions are very, like, shocked because they weren't expecting to go through and experience what they experienced."

A young boy described what others his age would see in the encounter. "I felt a feeling of joy and peace because I am seeing Bethlehem, approximately 2000 years ago, and I felt how the shepherds were 2000 years ago, and how the Christmas story happened with them, and how Jesus came," he said.

Organizers say the nativity encounter is opening new doors into local schools, with students coming onto the field.

Pastor Khoury told us, “One of the things that's new this year is we have, roughly, one thousand students from all of the different K-12 schools going through our Nativity Encounters. And this is something new. You know, it gives us an opportunity to sow a very impressionable seed into their lives at a very early and impressionable age.”

For Bethlehem's Muslim community, the Nativity Encounter is becoming a place of shared learning and understanding.

Pastor Khoury commented, "It's not wrong for one to learn about other religions. Here in Bethlehem, we have Christians, Muslims, and there are even Jews, too. We are living together in the end. So you find it nice for one to know the culture of people or how they think or what their holidays are or exactly what they believe in."

He continued, “There's only one Bethlehem in the world. There's only one place where we know we can claim to be the birth city of the Savior. The King of the world. Bethlehem is a city of hope to the world. But unfortunately, we live in a day. An era where people, local people, community, Muslims, and Christians, have forgotten that the Prince of Peace, that this is the city of Hope. And we're trying to bring hope back to his birth city.” 

In a place where Jesus is celebrated globally, yet often forgotten locally, this project is reminding people that the story of Jesus began right here and changed the world.