Several of the churches in Vernon invited anyone interested in experiencing a typical day at a Bethlehem market place during the Christmas season were invited to join in for a typical business day that resembled our own Farmers Market. We attended the nearest one held in the parking lot of Emmanuel Tabernacle. Two stern Roman soldiers in costume guarded the gates with pointed spears directed us through a gateway to sign in.
A straw path took us through this outdoor market where goats, sheep and donkeys offered friendly faces with opportunities for us to reach over a stave fence to pet them. The baby goats and lambs were a delight to the children. Continuing through the displays of crafts; gowns, hats, jewelry and other fashions of the day were offered. Flat breads baked on site in an open fireplace were there for purchase. Shekels, the only currency for payment a sellers spurned our master cards and looked questionably at us. One of the wooden stands showed small loaves of bread made with ancient grains. They looked so interesting but we had no shekels for payment. Later I met one of the youth pastors and suggested that next year they should have a money changer at the gate. He nodded with a smile. After our journey through the outdoor market we were invited into the tabernacle itself to enjoy a play about the Star of Bethlehem that featured duets by the Davison sisters. The excellent director of the play was assisted by members of the Youth Group. At the close attendees were guided through a path where cookies and hot cocoa were freely offered. We strolled past a tree faller who held his upright axe in silent stance of splitting logs, two children sat on a log, toasting marshmallows to pretend fireplace flames. Other silent figures affirmed their methods of shaping metals before a flaming forge and many other ways of earning and conducting their businesses each day.
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