Giant Nativity Collection Proclaims God's Glory Worldwide

   If Jesus, Mary and Joseph, in their familiar Christmas Nativity setting, are  an inspiration to you, you may want to check out the collection of Nativity sets on display at the Algoma Boulevard United Methodist Church in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

   The collection consists of over 1,000 Nativity sets from different countries and cultures worldwide.  It is believed to be one of the largest permanently displayed Nativity collections in the world. Even more amazing is that the entire collection was assembled by one woman, a retired kindergarten teacher from Omro, Wisconsin named Mildred Turner.

   Mildred began her nativity collection in 1988 following a series of personal misfortunes; her own illness, an early retirement from the job she loved due to the illness, and then the death of her mother.  Despite her misfortunes, Mildred vowed: “I will not be blue at Christmas!”  Instead of allowing depression to dampen her Christmas spirit,  Mildred turned her thoughts to Jesus and set out to collect Christmas Nativity sets depicting His birth.  As He so often does when we turn to Him in our times of need, Jesus not only comforted Mildred, He turned her sadness into joy and through her Nativity collection has brought joy to thousands of people as well. “God pushed me to begin this collection,” Mildred acknowledged. “Otherwise it would have been impossible to find so man ...