Robo-Santa Celebrates a Modern-Day Christmas

With the holidays getting closer, churches are now starting to talk about the birth of Jesus. Moreno Valley United Methodist Church held a special Christmas event to tell the story but with a special twist. On Dec. 14, the church hosted its Children’s Christmas Pageant. Unlike the common story, Anna, daughter of the Pastor Niponi Finau, says they modernized the story of Christmas by adding a robot toy and a play performed by the children of church members. “We have been doing this event for four years and this time we tried to change the story by adding new elements,” she explains. The story of “Robbie’s First Christmas and the Chrismon Tree” follows a robot who does not understand what Christmas is and the other characters decide to teach it the true meaning of Christmas. As the play progresses, Robbie tries to “compute” why people decorate the tree and get excited when Santa is coming. The children decorate a tree with items that symbolize something; for example, a dove with an olive branch represents peace. Robbie then learns the true meaning of Christmas is love. After the play ends, Santa appears and greets the children by giving them a gift and an orange. Parents led their children, to meet Santa, the children were happy to participate in the play and see Saint Nick. Grace, Pastor Jhun’s wife, has attended this event for two years said that she was glad to “share the happiness with the community.” James, a first year attendee, thought it was nice to educate children about Christ. “The event was inspiring and I encourage others to come again next year,” he said.