During the first weekend of December, San Gabriel Academy hosts its annual fun and heart-warming Christmas event, The Journey to Bethlehem. December of 2019 was the twelfth year that this free and unique event was constructed on school campus. Visitors, most of whom are first-time guests and alumni, continue to flock to SGA to begin the Christmas season. What they get is something more than they expect.
Almost 5,000 visitors come through for this interactive journey to the town of Bethlehem, produced solely by the students, faculty, staff, and administration at SGA. The guided outdoor tours wind through a pathway studded with lights and experiences which allow guests to experience the sights and sounds of what it might have been like to travel the road to Bethlehem at the time of Christ’s birth. The campus, lit with over fifty thousand lights, is the stage for visitors to glimpse beautiful student-painted scenes of history with costumed student characters, a bustling Marketplace, live animals, and to the place where life was given to the Savior of the world. The journey ends at an outdoor amphitheater for a Christmas concert, a musical celebration of Christmas and the gift of Christ.
The idea was developed in September of 2007, as a way to bring the surrounding community onto the campus of SGA and share with them Christ’s mission, which is at the center of its education. And so it began. Countless weeks of planning and preparation, long hours of construction and set-up, abundant generosity of those who shared the vision — the family of San Gabriel Academy.
As a traveler on The Journey to Bethlehem, you are welcomed onto the campus of San Gabriel Academy and are assigned to a trustworthy and experienced guide who remains by your side throughout your travels. Guests are given a Census Card and a small bag of coins for the census-taker, the tax collector, and refreshments in the Marketplace. Along the way, you get a glimpse of the Garden of Eden, as Adam and Eve are expelled for the choices they made. You see Isaiah, who predicted Christ’s birth, as well as the Angel telling Mary of the role she will play. You witness the Wise Men following the star and King Herod pondering the threat of a new King. At the Marketplace you experience the hustle and bustle of Bethlehem and the search for a place to stay in the village inns. You watch as the Angel tells the Shepherds of Jesus’ birth, and you are able to pet their live animals. Then, you arrive at The Manger, which cradles Baby Jesus, watch as Joseph teaches carpentry to his son Jesus, and pass beside the hills where John the Baptist is telling the people of the soon-coming ministry of Jesus.
At the end of each weekend, the memories linger in the hearts of those whose lives have been touched. And, as always, Christ remains at the center of it all.
Almost 5,000 visitors come through for this interactive journey to the town of Bethlehem, produced solely by the students, faculty, staff, and administration at SGA. The guided outdoor tours wind through a pathway studded with lights and experiences which allow guests to experience the sights and sounds of what it might have been like to travel the road to Bethlehem at the time of Christ’s birth. The campus, lit with over fifty thousand lights, is the stage for visitors to glimpse beautiful student-painted scenes of history with costumed student characters, a bustling Marketplace, live animals, and to the place where life was given to the Savior of the world. The journey ends at an outdoor amphitheater for a Christmas concert, a musical celebration of Christmas and the gift of Christ.
The idea was developed in September of 2007, as a way to bring the surrounding community onto the campus of SGA and share with them Christ’s mission, which is at the center of its education. And so it began. Countless weeks of planning and preparation, long hours of construction and set-up, abundant generosity of those who shared the vision — the family of San Gabriel Academy.
As a traveler on The Journey to Bethlehem, you are welcomed onto the campus of San Gabriel Academy and are assigned to a trustworthy and experienced guide who remains by your side throughout your travels. Guests are given a Census Card and a small bag of coins for the census-taker, the tax collector, and refreshments in the Marketplace. Along the way, you get a glimpse of the Garden of Eden, as Adam and Eve are expelled for the choices they made. You see Isaiah, who predicted Christ’s birth, as well as the Angel telling Mary of the role she will play. You witness the Wise Men following the star and King Herod pondering the threat of a new King. At the Marketplace you experience the hustle and bustle of Bethlehem and the search for a place to stay in the village inns. You watch as the Angel tells the Shepherds of Jesus’ birth, and you are able to pet their live animals. Then, you arrive at The Manger, which cradles Baby Jesus, watch as Joseph teaches carpentry to his son Jesus, and pass beside the hills where John the Baptist is telling the people of the soon-coming ministry of Jesus.
At the end of each weekend, the memories linger in the hearts of those whose lives have been touched. And, as always, Christ remains at the center of it all.