Dec 16, 2024

35 Years of Our Nativity Sets on Display at Pella Library

In 1990 when Cheryl Newendorp began volunteering at The Work of Our Hands, she began collecting nativity sets crafted in other countries. “I was a white girl from the US, and I fell in love with the uniqueness of those sets,” she said. “They placed the birth of Jesus in their own culture.” In the set from Africa, members of the Holy Family have black faces. The magi in the set from Peru ride donkeys. In the farmer set, they carry gifts of potatoes and corn.

Forty sets from Cheryl’s collection are displayed in the main display case of the library, to the left just after entering the library. Each is labeled with its country of origin. During the decades Cheryl worked at WOOH, her collection grew so large, she has stopped adding to it. Now she gives nativity sets as gifts, especially for weddings. “I want a young married couple to have a nativity set in their home for their first Christmas together,” she said. “And I like it to be a set from another culture.”

Her favorite set on display is one from Laos. “The magi’s gifts—a box, a fish basket, and a lotus flower—are so appropriate,” she said. The box is probably for gold. The fish basket, which was used to catch fish, is a beautiful symbol for Jesus. He fed fish to crowds and was a fisher of people. The lotus flower is a symbol of purity and renewal, which Christ offers to his followers.

Cheryl’s nativity sets are on display at the library until the end of December. Nativity sets are available at The Work of our Hands year-round, both at the store and on our website.