About the Movie :)

Some of you have asked us what this "Amazing Grace" movie's background is. :) So, here's the explanation. Gramado (the "Vail/Aspen" of Rio Grande do Sul) puts on huge presentations for Christmas. We were privileged to view this particular presentation (Nativitaten) with our youth group a few weeks ago. Nativitaten is held at one of the lakes in Gramado every year. The singers are in little cupulas in the water, and the lights/fire, etc are all displayed over the water.
The presentation itself was spectacular - included 7 professional singers (European, I think), a 60 voice choir, a bagpipe player, fire, fireworks, and a light show, with music sung in English, German and Portuguese. It began with Creation and the Fall of Man, and then spent a good amount of time on the Birth of Christ. Some music was secular, but a good majority of it was hymns and Christmas carols.
There were thousands of people there - and most of them were paying for their seats. The producers of Nativitaten allow folks to squeeze in on the back side of the fences - without seats - to view the show for free. That's where we were with the youth group - tucked in nice and cozy in the hydrangea bushes. :)

Towards the end, some of the staff went around and lit candles for everyone in the paying seats. It was so pretty - all around the lake...

This part was so interesting - they portrayed the Fall of Man with a lot of fire, yellow and red lights, and through it all, the choir stood with their backs to the audience, while caped drummers pounded out the rythym. The entrance of sin into the world was very well illustrated, I thought!

And the beauty of the promise of the Savior!

Here we are. :)