Members of the St. Maries Adventist Church in Idaho planned a float for the local Parade of Lights on Dec. 6, 2014. They wanted to honor the Lord with the theme “Come With Us to Bethlehem.”
The weather report predicted “100 percent chance of rain.”
But the members of the St. Maries Church prayed.
“Would you please put an umbrella over the float, Lord?” asked Sue Clark. The rain continued off and on all day. Finally it was time to pull the tarp off the float. The music was ready, the lights were connected around the cardboard Bethlehem, and even the “angels” were assembling around the “city” as it continued to drizzle.
Minutes before the floats began to roll, the rain subsided. The church members smiled to one another and said, “God is answering our prayers.”
Shepherds walking (and running) beside the float asked the people lining the sidewalk, “Did you hear the song? Come with us to Bethlehem and see Jesus! The angel told us where to find the Savior!” They left the spectators with a GLOW (Giving Light to Our World) tract about the story in Luke 2:1–20.
One earnest youngster called out after the shepherd, “I read my Bible every day!”
Another woman embraced a shepherd. “It is beautiful,” she said as the float passed.
Earlier in the afternoon church members were offering freshly popped corn to people walking along the sidewalks. John Pierce, Living Hope Adventist Company (Plummer, Idaho) pastor, and his wife, Dianna, were giving out the book The Great Hope. “I have never seen people so eager to accept a spiritual book. They would hold it and just study the picture of Jesus returning in the clouds. One man asked for two. We had some amazing conversations,” says Dianna.
One young man who was interested in the book asked, “What organization is sponsoring this?”
When he found out it was the Adventist Church, he explained that a friend of his has been attending the Plummer Church. This friend has been sharing what he is learning there at the monthly community meeting they both attend, so he was glad to get the book.
(From left) Judy Sibert and Rosemarie Tiffany offer warm, buttered popcorn and a book to sidewalk strollers before the Parade of Lights in St. Maries, Idaho.
An angel, Ethan Clark, is getting ready to roll on the "Come With Me to Bethlehem" float.
(From left) Ryan Clark and Kyle Ewert talk with Sue Clark minutes before they drive the float, despite the rain.
(From left) Angel Lynne Wetterlin holds the star over Bethlehem as the angel Caitlin Clark looks on.
