Outside, the twilight slowly faded and the stars appeared one by one. It was a beautiful night, and a little of it had crept into the room. The smallest child huddled close to Aunty and whimpered, "I want to go home…" Another and another joined in, till it became a chorus. Aunty said, "Since we can't go now, let's tell stories!" The magic worked. "Okay!" said the oldest boy, "Everybody be quiet! Aunty is going to tell us a story!"

"Let me see…I know a true story. It is about how God entered into the history of the world. I'm sure you know the Christmas story. But I'll tell you some of the strange things about it.

The story actually began seven hundred years before Jesus was born! One day, God, told a man named Micah that he would send to earth a great ruler who would be born in a little town called Bethlehem. Centuries passed and the time came for the birth of this baby. But the child's parents lived about a hundred kilometers away from Bethlehem in a place called Nazareth! So, how would this baby be born in Bethlehem? Why would Mary and Joseph want to travel all that distance?

Strangely, just at this time, the Emperor of Rome ordered the people to go to their own hometowns and register their names, so that they could be counted. Now Joseph and Mary were both from King David's family line and David's town was Bethlehem! That is how what Micah said all those years ago came true. God had kept His word, and Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

Isn't it strange that such a special child was born in a cattle shed? Just picture a new born baby wrapped in cloth and lying in the hay with cattle standing near him! It was such an amazing scene, that people have painted pictures and sung songs about it ever since.

And you might think that nobody in the world would want to hurt such a baby…but sadly there you are wrong! There lived one wicked man who wished to kill the child. This is how it happened:

One day, far away in another country, wise men studying the stars saw a bright new star in the east. They were sure it was a sign that the great king people were expecting all this time had been born. So they set off with costly gifts to see him. After a long journey, they headed straight for Jerusalem and entered the palace, thinking the new king should surely be found there.

 It was a king called Herod who was ruling at this time. When he heard why these wise men had come, he got the fright of his life. He thought that the new king would take his place! Like everybody else, he too, did not know that this was not an earthly king. He called all the chief priests and scholars and asked them to search the scriptures and find out where this expected Messiah was to be born. They searched and found what Micah had written. Bethlehem was the place.

He then made a quick plan. He told them to search for the baby in Bethlehem, and come back and tell him, because he too wanted to worship the new king… But of course, he was lying! The wise men were very happy to know where to find the baby. To their great joy, they saw the star once more. They followed it and reached the cattle shed in Bethlehem. There they bowed down and offered their gifts to the baby. But they did not go back to tell Herod, because they were told in a dream to go back another way. Cruel Herod's plan did not succeed.
Joseph too, was warned in a dream to take the mother and child to Egypt by night, and stay there till Herod died. And that is what actually happened.

Did you know that baby Jesus lived in Egypt as a baby - so far from his home? Of course, later he returned with his parents. So, even though you may be far from your home this Christmas, it's all right! And who knows, there may be some pleasant surprises when you open your eyes in the morning…

Goodnight children. And have a merry Christmas!" Aunty's story ended and the children went to bed, dreaming of Christmas.