Saturday and Sunday, December 1-2 , Heartland Baptist Church in Ames, IA held their first ever “living nativity.” The carport of their new facility was used as the location. The church built the props, including the background for the stable and a background of Bethlehem, and made the costumes. They also hired a local exotic animal company that brought a camel, a donkey, a small cow, goats, lambs and even a llama. 
Randy Abell, pastor of Heartland Baptist, acknowledged, “The llama was probably a stretch, but the kids loved it.” This company also provided the pens, the bedding, and even food for everyone to feed the animals.
The church had also pre-recorded a telling of the Christmas story that was playing continuously and all were invited into the church to get out of the cold and enjoy free coffee, cocoa and cookies at their café. Several hundred showed up for the two-night event, including several that have never visited the church.
Abell states, “It was a very successful event and we plan to not only have it again next year, but to add to it.” He adds, “It brought us into contact with some neighbors and allowed us to generate new contacts, plus our own church families loved it too. Many of the actors were not active in our church but loved being a part and we are hoping it is a bridge to connect them even more.”
Abell adds a suggestion for anyone that might consider it for their church, “Start early, especially up north. Anything that can get planned and organized in September is a lot better than December in Iowa.”