Every year during Christmas time, thousands of families flock to Carthage, Missouri, to see the Way of Salvation light show. The local tourist attraction is free, with donations accepted. The drive-thru light display is owned and operated by volunteers who are either brothers or priests at the religious order on the Congregation of the Mother of Redeemer's campus.
The church currently has about 120 brothers and priests living on the campus. They're from all over the United States and Vietnam.
The light show has been in operation since 1982. What started small has evolved into an extravagant light show and a Southwest Missouri favorite. Nearly 20,000 people visited the lighted show last year.
One priest, Father Benedict, said this light show is special.
"It's something different that most light displays don't display, and it gives the message of hope," added Benedict.
In 1975, Vietnamese brothers and priests escaped communism in Vietnam. The refugees were held at Fort Chaffee, a refugee camp in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Two priests, Reverend McAndrew and Bernard Francis Cardinal Law, helped the refugees flee the camp after realizing they had nowhere to go.
At the time, the Congregation of the Mother of Redeemer was a vacant campus.
It used to be an Oblate college, a Catholic graduate and professional school that offers Catholic theology classes.
"They made a couple of phone calls, and they brought the 180 brothers and priests here, renting out the place for only $1 a month. They sold the place to us for $500,000 paid over ten years," said Benedict.
The refugees coming to Carthage is how the light show initially started, according to Benedict.
"Not knowing the language, not knowing how to spread the word, and using the gifts of spreading the word to others in a way where they can fully express it," he said.
This isn't just your run-of-the-mill residential Christmas drive-thru light show. It's a large, multi-piece fluorescent light display depicting stories from the New and Old Testaments. Like Jonah and the Whale - with the blue fluorescent whale jumping up in the air, swallowing Jonah whole. That's a fan favorite for Carthage resident Adria Garrison.
"It used to have, like, Jonah getting swallowed, and then the whale would, like, pop up and clap with like, this really goofy grin on his face. And it got me every time," added Garrison.
Father Dominic is in charge of this year's light show. He started planning and decorating in early October. As he's standing in their workshop, large light displays surround him. Another volunteer is welding and cutting pieces for this year's show stopper - a 30-foot lighted Christmas tree.
Each light display is hand-drawn, wired, and assembled by a volunteer.
"So basically, we just weld the frame and then put the mesh up. Then we, as I said, project the picture onto the paper, and we follow it, and we just kind of zip tie it," added Dominic.
Dominic said the most intricate display is the David and Goliath scene. It involves multiple frames, with David throwing the rock all the way over to the giant display of Goliath.
One of the more unique parts of this display is the wooden manger scene. Complete with Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus lying in the trough, and a donkey and a cow surrounding them. In years past, smoke would billow out of a donkey's nose.
But something happened two years ago, right before opening night.
One of the brothers was in charge of the Nativity and put the smoke machine too close to the hay barrels. The Nativity caught on fire in the middle of the night and everything burnt down.
The brothers were somehow able to build the manger in one day.
The show has evolved a lot over the last few years, both in size and in the types of displays. But, as Benedict said, the message stays the same.
"The light display is something special to us as a community, a religious community, to bring Christ to others, to bring that message of hope, to bring that message of love of Jesus, Christ in this time of Christmas and knowing that Christ is with us, always," he said.
The Way of Salvation Light Show opened on November 28th and is open until New Year's Day from 6 pm - 10:30 pm.
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