If you’ve ever visited the Nazareth Village and wondered whether the shepherd, potter, or villager you met was genuinely a time-travelling resident from the first century, then guide, Nathaniel Wiseman has done his job well. Barbora Brezakova recently caught up with him to explore what life behind the scenes at the Nazareth Village looked like.
For the past eleven years, Nathaniel has been one of the many faces of Nazareth Village, guiding visitors through a world where mobile phones disappear, sandals replace trainers, and sheep occasionally steal the spotlight. Nathaniel acknowledges that, “what began as a part-time guiding role has evolved into a remarkable blend of hosting, acting, teaching, pottery making, media coordination and sometimes even shepherding.”
“Putting on the costume helps,” he explains. Once the modern clothes come off and the first-century robes go on, Nathaniel is ready to step into character. Armed with a shepherd’s staff, a well-rehearsed script and a gifting in drama, he can comfortably switch between numerous village roles, bringing biblical life vividly into the present.
But life behind the scenes isn’t always as tranquil as the setting suggests.
Summer temperatures can soar to 40°C, turning authentic costumes into personal saunas. Winter brings its own challenges, with cold rain driving villagers to seek shelter wherever they can. “If it’s raining and cold, it’s very miserable to be a villager,” Nathaniel admits.
Then there are the sheep.
Most are remarkably cooperative, but lambs occasionally squeeze through fences, causing panic among their mothers and headaches for staff. Left unsupervised, the flock has also been known to sample newly planted trees, with unfortunate consequences for the landscaping department.
Perhaps Nathaniel’s greatest challenge has been learning pottery. Modern potters enjoy electric wheels and precise controls. At the Nazareth Village, Nathaniel works with a simple wooden wheel powered by his own legs. After countless attempts, online tutorials and plenty of trial and error, he’s improved considerably—although he cheerfully admits that experienced potters are unlikely to be fooled by his masterpieces. The Village is highly committed to authenticity, using first century techniques and tools, all of which are hard to master. However, Nathaniel admits, many visitors can hurry past and miss these details, many of which bring colour and nuance to Scripture.
Increasingly as data plans increase and people feel they have a right to record footage and post content, Nathaniel insists that what makes the Village so special is that people experience it as another world. Nathaniel describes it as, “an immersive experience of the first century where we want people to be fully present and undistracted”.
For Nathaniel, the real reward, isn’t about creating pots or herding sheep. Instead, it’s watching visitors experience those unforgettable “aha!” moments. Whether discovering how olives were pressed, seeing ancient carpentry tools for the first time, understanding why Jesus cursed the fig tree, or just hearing those stories of how God has spoken to them in profound ways at various stages of the tour. Nathaniel believes that many guests leave reading Scripture differently from when they arrived.
And after more than a decade, Nathaniel keeps turning up because the Village is both an important ministry and also a ‘second family’ in his words. Beneath the costumes, tours and occasional inclement weather, he sees the Nazareth Village as a place where history, faith and imagination meet, helping people encounter familiar Bible stories in a wonderfully unfamiliar way.
