Texas Carnival

 

Downtown River Promenade Park in Sisak Croatia at night.

This summer was our 20th year of being called to Croatia, some years coming up to three times, while most years just included our summer MiLO from middle of June to middle of July. We wanted to make it a special celebration, so on July 4th, while those of you here in the States celebrated America’s 250th birthday as a Nation, we were making the most of celebrating our 20th year by creating a very special Texas Carnival on the downtown river promenade in Sisak Croatia.

Not Everything is bigger in Texas, as this pizza box proves our point

While in Croatia these past 20 years we have asked God to use us where He sees fit and He has never disappointed us in providing open doors to do just that. From blessing delivery drivers that deliver pizzas bigger than anything I’ve ever seen in Texas, through a smile and providing them with a healthy tip for bringing us lunch or supper. Pizza is a large part of our diet while we are there and to be honest with you, I have yet to find a better pizza here in the states then what we get in Croatia. Being so close to Italy and having a lot of Italian influence, they make the greatest crust I have ever had my teeth sink into. Come and join us one day and see for yourself!

This year we handed out free t-shirts to the first 100 visitors to the carnival. This was special because the design was made by my youngest son and his creativity.

The carnival is enjoyed by the young and old and everyone in between.

Young and Older enjoy the Texas Carnival

Over the years the blessing of sharing God’s love through the carnival has opened many doors to share and the carnival has grown considerably over those years. We started the carnival back in 2009 on the baseball field after camps and then in 2013 we were invited to take it to downtown Sisak on the river promenade park so more people could enjoy it. That is where I saw God open the opportunity to expand the carnival and use it as an opportunity to share our faith openly. After several years of providing this free event, it became a part of the summer schedule and the city embraced it and started providing all the resources and paying the expenses necessary to put a carnival on. Stage, electricity, sound system and park rental were provided at no expense to us. We soon had people joining us from the nearby streets and the cafés that surrounded the park. We have been blessed over the years to provide carnival games with prizes, concerts and ask one of us to share their testimony.

Most years we have included roping a calf bale of hay which is always a special time and a Texas Carnival tradition. Neven is from Croatia but has been to Texas several times as well as hang out with a few Texans who have experience with roping. He is such a blessing to have as a part of those from Croatia who help us year after year.

Neven showing off his roping skills and teaching those who come and try.

This year’s carnival we wanted to make special and provide some extra things for the people to try and have some fun with. So, we invited a local service ministry to come and join us by bringing several of their horses to provide rides for those who wanted to get on a horse. We also found a local company who provided children bouncy houses and slides. What a joy that was to have for the little ones to come bounce around in.  We also asked the local dance school to come and perform. They came and taught the crowd how to line dance which was really neat to watch and see the involvement.  These were some awesome additions to go along with our traditional provision of smores, that people always enjoy having and are a huge hit with the kids as well as their parents.

Texas Carnival in full swing with some great traditions and additions this year.

I have always wanted to have the local church join us for the carnival and although some of them have come to enjoy the carnival, they have never joined us by being a part of it. Well, this year God placed in their hearts to join us and provided their worship band to come and play and for the first time. Simeon, one of the worship leaders and his three kids plus another band member from another church came to play and sing. We were all  blessed beyond measure. It was such a delight to have them play and share their faith through the Christian worship music they played throughout the carnival.  For the first time we had a Croatian believer willing to get on stage and share her testimony to those who were in attendance. I have asked in years past, but no one took me up on the offer to join us and for Barbara to say yes and her willingness to share her life before Christ and what her life means to her today with Christ, brought me to tears. There is a longer story here that I would love to share how her life and mine as well as the HiS Print team came to be intertwined. Please ask, I would love to share. She shared her trust in Jesus and then challenged those there to grab a Bible and read it and see what God reveals to them, which will be the truth. We have always been blessed to have Bibles and other Christian literature in Croatian, thanks to Janko, as well as in English, but this year more were taken than in the years passed combined.

God has opened up more opportunities and now with the walking out our faith with one of the local churches we pray God will bring them alongside us in more of the activities and give them an opportunity to share with the community. Come and join us eating a s’more in Croatia one year. They taste as good there, maybe even better.  Have a wonderful God filled day and remember Jesus loves you and so do I! HE DID IT!  David