Teens paint mural for Good Shepherd Lutheran Church's live nativity

The 45-foot by 12-foot mural will serve as the backdrop for the live nativity.

Kelsea Dvorak, 15, of New Freedom, and Gary Fissel of York paint in the buildings of Bethlehem in a nativity mural Saturday. Members and friends of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Manchester Township are painting a nativity mural depicting the star of Bethlehem shining over the village and surrounding hills. The mural, which measures 12 feet by 45 feet and has consumed almost 20 gallons of paint, will be used as a backdrop for the church's live Nativity scene on Dec. 9. (DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS - CHRIS DUNN)

Since October, five teenage girls have been giving up sleeping in on the weekends to sprawl on the floor of Howe Wood Products in East Manchester Township in paint-splattered socks and bare feet.

The 45-foot by 12-foot mural they have been working on will be the backdrop for Good Shepherd Lutheran Church's annual live nativity, "A Journey Thru Bethlehem," in Manchester Township.

"It's huge," said Kelsea Dvorak, 16, of New Freedom. "I did not realize it was going to be this big."

With more than 125 hours of work so far, the mural is almost complete. Dvorak and Kelsey Fissel, 15, of York, painted windows and shaded in buildings Saturday while Liz Lynch, 15, of Red Lion, started adding sheep to the other side of the canvas. Kathleen Byrne, 15, of York, and Alexis Shirey, 15, of York, also worked on the project.

"We'd probably be with each other anyway," Shirey said Or, "sadly getting homework done" joked Dvorak. The friends are all sophomores at York Catholic.

While they enjoy painting and contributing to the community, the reason they keep going back is simple.

"It's always fun," Fissel said.

Fissel's father, Gary, is a member of Good Shepherd's Outreach program.

"I thought it would save us some construction time each year. It turned out to be a project," said Gary Fissel, who organized the mural project.

The backdrop will add additional detail and realism to the live nativity, Fissel said. In its fourth year, the nativity features actors dressed as the characters of the nativity, as well as live cows, sheep and alpacas. Last year the event attracted more than 500 people and the church hopes to double that this year.

"We want to really reach out to our community," Fissel said. "Outreach is something that is important to Good Shepherd."

The live nativity grows every year, and the group already has plans for what they can add to the backdrop next

Liz Lynch, 15, of Felton, uses a sponge to paint a sheep on a grassy hill in a nativity mural on Saturday at Howe Wood Products in East Manchester Township. ( DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS -- CHRIS DUNN)

year.

If the live nativity continues the way it has, some day the young women will be able to visit with families of their own and show their children what they helped create, Gary Fissel said.

"It looks really good here, but I think it will be so different when it's actually hanging up," Kelsey Fissel said.

If you go

"A Journey Thru Bethlehem" is a free event and will be held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Dec. 9 at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 2121 Roosevelt Ave. in Manchester Township.

Source: http://www.ydr.com/local/ci_22019161/teens-paint-mural-good-shepherd-lutheran-churchs-live?source=rss

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