JOPLIN, Mo. —
A symbolic light of peace and hope from the West Bank city of Bethlehem will be available to the residents of Joplin at 5 p.m. Saturday in Cunningham Park at 26th Street and Maiden Lane.
The light is being brought for the first time to the Joplin-Springfield area by the Ozark Trails Council of Boy Scouts.
Dean Ertel, an executive with the council, said lamps have been burned continuously in the Grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem for a thousand years. About 22 years ago, a child from Austria was granted permission to light two miners’ lamps from a lamp at the Nativity.
Those lamps were transported to Vienna, Austria, where the “Peace Light’’ was distributed to delegates from across Europe, who returned to their homes with the light and a message of peace, said Ertel.
Since 2004, Austrian Airlines has flown miners’ lamps containing the light from Vienna to New York City, where Scout leaders have lighted their lanterns and spread out across the United States and Canada to share the light.
“It has spread all across Europe to New York City, where it was picked up by Scouts,’’ Ertel said. “We are attempting to pass it on from St. Joseph and Kansas City to Joplin and Springfield.
“Any church or individual who would like to share the Peace Light can bring an oil-type lantern or enclosed candle, and light their light. They can take that light of peace back to their church. They are welcome to do that. It’s the spreading of peace.
“It is our wish that during this Christmas season, the Peace Light becomes another step in the rebuilding of Joplin,” said Ertel. “The light is a symbol of peace, and for Joplin it is also a symbol of hope and healing and strength for the community.”
Representatives of the Scout council, which were alerted to the Peace Light project four days ago, will be at the park “as long as they need to stay there,’’ Ertel said.
The Peace Light also will be available for distribution after a 2 p.m. ceremony at the Boy Scouts Service Center at 1616 S. Eastgate St. in Springfield.
Information
The Ozark Trails Council is coordinating with the Council of Churches to share the Peace Light. For additional information on the Peace Light, visit www.peacelight.org.
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