>> today on "christian world news" a record number of tourists are expected to visit bethlehem this season. find out ohy many christians living there want to move away. plus the church of the natinaty. one of the oldest churches in the world. was it built where jesus' manger once stood? and handled messiah. do you know the man behind the music whoez faith in christ has touched millions around the world. welcome everyone to this special edition of "christian world news." i am wendy griffith.

e holy land draws christians to the place where christ was born. a side ironny that christians that live in bethlehem are desperate to leave. julie stall explains. >> unpredictable is how christians are described. forced marriages between christian women and muslim men. worst is against converts to christianity. >> if they were born muslim and decided to find jesus. this is a like being a traitor to god. and there is very substantial chance they will be beaten, forced to leave the country or

killed. >> threat against christians from fellow palastinians has subsided since 2005. years of violence ruined touriu. a record number of tourists this season. many christians are doing well financially. they are still subject to neighbors that could throw them in jail because they are christians. this has forced many to leave the holy land. those departures have depleted the population of bethlehem area from a high of 80 percent to around 10 percent. >> it is my prediction that if the remaining christians in the west bank and gaza. gaza only has maybe 1,000-2,000 christians. if their needs are not addressed

in 10-15, at most 20 years, there won't be any christians in the cradle of christianity. this will be a memorial, a museum. >> julie stall, cbn news, jerusalem. >> steve curry is the associate pastor of first baptist church in beth le him. chris mitchell asked him about the challenges faced by his congregation. >> tell us what the situation is on the ground for christians in bethlehem. >> on the ground, there is a great atmosphere of decoration. i know if you look deep within their hearts, many have fear and doubts in the unknown and unseen. that is what the message we are trying to give people in the

city of bethlehem and throughout the holy land, hope is built on the true solid rock and that is the birth of christ, greatest in the history of man kind. it is a hope that will never fail us. >> as people turn their attention to bethlehem, how can they pray for you and other christians around the area? >> we ask for prayer for our protection. a lot of things that we do are unorthodox. they are not considered the smartest safest thing. it gets the message out. that is our calling to get the message at all costs. second thing, we are asking to consider standing and praying with the arab palastinian countries. we have seven ministries

throughout the arab community teaching and preaching on the law of jesus christ. we ask people to sustain with us to pray with us so we can continue to expand. we need each other to see the kingdom come. >> is that the main message you are trying to get out this year? >> hope is built on jesus christ. that hope will never fail you. that hope will never let you down. everything else might. nice celebrations and decorations. things might not go your way. when your hope is in jesus, all else it doesn't matter. he is the ultimate hope, the only hope. >> thank you for joining us>> he is our hope indeed. when christians visit bethlehem,

many visit the church of the nativity. chris mitchell went tnt the church. >> reporter: one of the oldest churches in the world, church of the nativity. >> this is the place where jesus christ was born. >> this professor teaches history at bethlehem university. he is an expert on the church of the nativity. >> it was built in 362 when emperor constantine declared christianity of the official religion of the roman empire. since then pilgrams started to come to bethlehem. >> inside the church, the original columns from the 4th century still stand. constantine's queen mother hah

lena built it. >> it goes back to middle of the century, a.d.>> after hayedian destroyed the town, they built a temple where christian pilgrams honor the place where jesus was born. >> what was left only a cave where the virgin birth gave birth to the child. people were going back to the site to visit it. instead of destroying the place, preserved the place. >> jerome wrote in 396 a.d. it is known inside, he who is adored and glorified was born. >> the church itself went

through a number of changes. it is one of the few churches that was never completed destroyed. >> this is the main entrance, the door of humility, you have to bend down north poleder to get inside the church and altared by the otmans. >> 1400 years after the queen built the church, christians still come from around the world. many record their christian pilgramage. many believe it is the cave where jesus' was born. a star marks the exact location. many crowd down the narrow stairs. pilgrams touch the star and record the moment they got to see the birthplace of jesus'. for many it is a profound e and

emotion experience. >> what does it mean? >> no words. really surprised. >> now reading my bible, now i can picture the places. >> it is unbelievable. a life's dream. >> father peter vasco says it is especially meaningful. >> a wonderful occasion for pilgrams to pray and bring that prayer in their own lives. >> professor gave us a rare look underneath the church of the nativity. >> we have the tomb of the

innocent children. harrod killed 6,000 church. >> we followed him down below the church. >> here are the tombs of the innocent children. these are the bones of some of the children that we believe were killed by harrod. >> another significant event took place outside bethlehem. a local pastor showed us caves used by the shepherds on that holy night. >> they would use these caves to store their food a live. >> those shepherds became the first witnesses to a fulfillment of a prophesy given 700 years before when isaiah proclaimed,

the virgin will be with child and call him emmanuel. today it is still the same. >> god himself came to earth to be born in a manger. >> chris mitchell, cbn news, bethlehem. coming up, operation christmas child. how a simple shoe box is d's love to millions of needy children.

>> welcome back. millions of children around the world will be blessed this christmas with a shoe box full of goodies. operation christmas child collects the shoe boxes to send to hurting boys and girls and provides an opportunity for kids to learn about jesus'. franklin graham's operation

heads up christmas child. it shows the impact on needy kids. >> i want these children to know god loved them, died for them and rose from the grave and can make a change. we want the children to know the true meaning of christmas, god's love. >> operation christmas child has delivered 85 million shoe box gifts over the past 25 years. in this christmas season, christians are encouraged to look for ways to help the most vulnerable. some are children living in the former society yet union. look at this video from russian ministrie ministries. >> it should go without saying, parents care for their children, encourage them to grow and develop. a growing number of children

have lost their parents. estimated 700,000 orphans in russia and 150,000 in ukraine wake up lost and alone. in russia's large cities, officials estimate 2 to 4 million children and teenagers wonder the streets. children in both of these great nations who live in the basements of boarded up houses or underground in train and subway stations. children who don't even count as government statistics. >> joins us from our bureau in washington is sergei of russian ministries. thank you for being would you say. >> it is a great privilege, wendy. >> your ministry trains new leaders and ministers to the poor. we see that video and it is an eye opener. how do these children live day-to-day? >> there are lots of children

who need somebody to care for them, wendy. as you have seen on the video, 700,000 orphans that live in orphanages and state-run institutions in huge territory of russia, siberia, central siberia and so on. we are to go out, especially young people and reach to the needy children with a wonderful project as we call it project hope. >> tell us more about project hope, how does project hope help these kids? >> it is when we work together in a wonderful partnership with other countries and provide resources, when they pack those christmas gifts, gifts of hope. russia is not allowed to bring

any humanitarian aid from western countries to russia. when they are placing this gift into the hands, they share a story of jesus, of hope. there is hope in the future and somebody out there who cares for them. >> to find out how you can help russian ministries, go to cwnews.org. el's messiah and how it is reaching millions for jesus christ.

>> choirs perform handel's messiah all over the world. how much is known about this man and the work behind it. mark martin traveled to find out more about this devout christian composer and his work that transcends time. >> for many, christmas wouldn't

be complete without taking part in a performance of handel's messiah. it is felt across the globe to learn more about the gifted composer of messiah, german-born george freddic handle moved into this house in his late 30s. handel considered himself -- by 1741, he wondered if retirement was near. >> some people think it was like a career crisis, really, it is quite possible he was thinking of returning to germany. >> that is when this man, charles jennens handed him the

word of messiah. he carefully selected new testament scriptures documenting prophecies of messiah, jesus' birth, death and resurrection. >> for jennens, i think messiah was a personal mission. jennens was a very committed christian. >> we find jennens going to another friend saying i have done this scripture collection for handel and hope it becomes his best. it is on the best subject. subject is messiah. >> here is handel's composition room. he wrote it in 24 days.

many believe it was devinely inspired. one music scholar described the number of errors of incredibly low for a composition of its length. a friend who visited discovered him sobbing. after he wrote the hallelujah chorus, reports saying i do think i saw the heaven before me and the great god himself. for jennens and handel, they made the controversy decision to perform in theatres instead of churches to reach a wider audience. suzanna maria siber was

described of being able to penetrate the heart with its voice when others could only reach the ear. >> she touches people on every left whether it be a spiritual level or personal level. >> if you look at the youtube hallelujah choruses, hits are running at 43 million. i doubt all are professing christians. you can see the people listen, you can see the change as theyy listen and they are greatly moved. >> performances were often benefit concerts to release from debtor's prison and provide for

orphans. messiah has fed the hungry, clothed naked, fostered the organ more than any other single production than in any country. george fredrick handel didn't want the credit. he wrote the letters, svg to god alone, the glory.

>> finally this week, mistletoe, it is more than a kissing plant. it is known as a plant that represented peace and stopped battles. ace collins tells us why. >> ace, a lot of couples seek out missile toe so they can

steal a kiss. there is a lot more to it? >> they found out mistletoe was a plant these people revered. it didn't die in the wintertime. >> it was considered sacred. >> two viking warring tribes couldn't fiegd. they had to seek piece. early missionaries took advantage of it. mistletoe plant became the plant that represented a faith that wouldn't die. >> ace, how did it become the kissing plant? >> vikings thought it was so powerful, they had their bride and grooms marry to remind them if they kept christ in their life, it would be sustained, even during tir darkest,

bleakest days of winter, hence what happens at the end when a marriage ceremony takes place. >> the kiss. >> that is why it became the kissing plant. it is better known as the plant that stood for the prince of peace. >> isn't that amazing? stop battles? thanks for joining us this week. until next week, good-bye and