During
the four nights leading up to the week before Christmas in 2009,
approximately 1,800 people traveled to Glenloch Baptist Church, located
just south of Roopville, GA, to embark on an outdoor walking tour of the
little town of Bethlehem the way it may have appeared on the night of
Jesus' birth.
Traveling past actors portraying
lepers and beggars crowding the gate of the City of Bethlehem,
participants persuaded soldiers to enter in order to register for the
census. Beyond the gate, they navigated the marketplace as Mary and
Joseph did more than 2000 years ago, while taking in the sights, sounds
and smells of days gone past. Before them beckoned shops that sold
bread, fruits and vegetables, oil and lamps, spices, and metal ware, as
well as a weaver, basket maker and pottery shop.
All around families lived their
everyday lives-eating their meals and tending to their animals. A couple
named Mary and Joseph, who came to register for the census, took
shelter in an animal stall, and Mary delivered a very special child.
At the end of the tour, visitors
came upon a tomb. "There they heard about how Jesus came to earth as a
babe, grew into a wonderful man who was also God, and gave his life for
our sins," says Jo Creel, a member of Glenloch Baptist Church who is in
charge of coordinating its creative arts programs. "The best part, which
we save for last, is that he is no longer in the tomb. He is risen and
lives in each of us who have accepted him as our Lord and Savior."
Creel
and a dozen of the church's congregation began the work of transforming
the grounds into "One Night in Bethlehem" during the late fall of last
year, and part of that transformation included purchasing a
pre-fabricated steel structure from SteelMaster Buildings, located in Virginia Beach, VA, to use as the tomb.
"We are always amazed at the
creative ways that our customers make use of our buildings," says
Michelle Wickum, the marketing director for SteelMaster Buildings. Each
building utilizes a clear span design that offers 100 percent usable
space along with the ease of construction that is provided by
precision-made, pre-engineered building systems.
Creel says that visitors at the
event are surprised when they learn what lies underneath the tomb's
façade. "I don't think they realize that it is a steel building at all,"
says Creel. "If and when they do realize it, they are amazed."
The company's steel buildings
include all the components necessary to erect a garage, a barn, a
storage building, and even a building to be used as a makeshift tomb
such as the one at Glenloch Baptist Church. The components are made to
precise standards of accuracy for easy assembly, with pre-punched holes
and only one size nuts and bolts for the entire building. The pre-engineered buildings are so simple to erect that more than 80 percent of customers construct their own building with huge labor cost savings.
The company's 30-Year
Mill-Backed Warranty by ArcelorMittal (NYSE MT) ensures that the
congregation at Glenloch Baptist Church can depend on the building
during their production of "One Night in Bethlehem" for many years to
come as they continue to entertain and enlighten members of their
community in their mission to share their ministry with others.
