He saw Bethlehem.

He saw giant walls and tiny shops. He saw Roman guards and innkeepers and women carrying baskets of bread through the narrow streets. At the far end of the city was a manger, where a child was born.

Of course, Cook never could have envisioned everything that has happened in that backyard the past six years. He never could have imagined that people from miles in every direction would come out on frosty December nights and wait in line just to see it. He never could have imagined church members would invest hundreds of hours in sweat equity to make this a Christmas tradition, then immediately start planning for the next one almost as soon as the walls came down.

Some time next year, "Walk Through Bethlehem" should welcome its 100,000th visitor. It's yet another Christmas miracle. You can experience this miracle, too, when the church opens the gates of the replica city where Christ was born on Dec. 12-14. Like the birth of Jesus, this annual holiday tradition has become an enduring symbol of the love of God.

Cook looks back on that empty lot and knows God led his church there.

"It was like it was waiting on us,'' he said.

No, there weren't three wise men. But Cook is convinced a couple from Florida, who visited the church one Sunday, must have been two angels. "They had moved to Warner Robins and were looking for a church,'' he said. "They said something they would miss about their home church in Florida was the ‘Walk Through Bethlehem" every Christmas.'' Cook isn't sure whatever happened to the couple. They didn't join Shirley Hills. He never saw them again.

"But they were our germinating seed for what has turned out to be an amazing story,'' he said. "It was like they were sent to us to give us this idea.'' He laughed. "You know how Baptists have to vote on everything?
We never voted on it.'' Suddenly, the folks at Shirley Hills found themselves with hammers, nails, and saws and spirit. They found themselves shopping for sandals at the Payless as the frost covered the December ground. They found themselves renting camels from an exotic animal farm in Athens.

They pulled it all together in 59 days.

"That first year was my favorite year because it showed our church we could do it,'' Cook said. "Everything came together from the camels to the costumes.

We were wondering if people would come, and we had more than 10,000 people.'' At the end of three days, the church had served 3, 894 cups of hot chocolate and given out 6, 732 cookies. The event drew more than 50,000 its first five years and still averages 10-12,000 per year. So something must keep them coming back.

Crowds never seem to mind waiting in the sanctuary, where they hear Christian music and messages. Once they are assigned to a group, with a tour guide, they are met by Roman guards outside the gates of the city. Once inside the walls, they step back in time 2,000 years. They see vendors and shoppers in a crowded marketplace, shepherds watching their flocks of sheep, as well as donkeys and other animals and birds.

It is an interactive experience, too. They have to pay their taxes to Caesar. They have to look for a room for the night. There are also angels proclaiming the joyful message of a baby in the manger. Cook said "Walk Through Bethlehem" will go high-tech with the angels this year. An image of an angel will be projected onto a screen.

When he speaks about the "authenticity" of the project, Cook said biggest is not always better. In the early days, "Bethlehem" had a "Texas mentality,'' he said. The city was designed to impress. But in 1999, when Cook visited the Holy Land, he discovered Bethlehem was a city with tiny streets and sharp corners.

It takes three months to build Bethlehem and one month to take it down. It takes about 500 church members to make the event happen. On any given night, there are 100 actors in the city and another 150 behind the scenes.

And what is the one thing the visitors always talk about at the end? Why, the "real" baby Jesus, of course. "When they see the live baby in there, we can hardly get them to leave,'' he said.

The church has a reserve supply of about five or six baby Jesuses per night. There always seem to be a bountiful supply of babies to recruit from the church. "The youngest we've ever had was 4 days old,'' Cook said. "The oldest was old enough to walk.'' If the walking baby Jesus had somehow "escaped" from the manger scene, everyone was prepared. Said Cook, laughing: "We just instructed everyone to say: ‘It's another miracle!'"

(Editor's Note:  You'll find more photos from WTB 
on page 9 and a WTB testimony on page 19 of HIS Voice. )