State Fair

This past weekend, Sr. Rosann and I drove down to Hutchinson, KS to staff a booth run by the Catholic Sisters of Kansas. For those of you who have never been to a state fair, it really is a great deal of fun and something you must do at some point in your life. This fair has all the typical fair activities; judging for ribbons (animals, fruits, vegetables, and crafts), carnival rides, shows and vendors. But one unique aspect of this fair is a sculpture made out of butter. It is huge and is shaped after each years theme. This year it involved bunnies and was really something!

While attending the fair, there is this amazing couple who graciously hosts our community. They not only give us a place to stay, but they pack us a lunch and snacks for the day and for our trip home. They are marvelous and we are truly grateful for the wonderful hospitality that we are shown each year!

But back to the booth we staff. Our booth, (see the photo above) has been in existence for many years. Each year sisters from several communities throughout Kansas take a day or two and staff the booth. Our booth is not trying to sell anything, convert anyone, or hand out any specific information. Instead we are offering a ministry of presence and a place for people to write down their prayer requests. These prayers are then distributed to all of the participating communities and we all pray for their needs. We have people from all faiths and all walks of life stopping by and asking for prayers. It is humbling to be able to talk with them about the joys, struggles and issues that they are bringing to prayer and are trusting us to add to our prayers.

Along with the prayer requests, we have a gift wheel. People can spin the wheel to receive a holy card, pencil and/or pen as a free gift. On Saturday, we had over 1400 people stop at our booth and chat with us, spin the wheel and ask for prayers. I enjoy explaining the various pictures on the holy cards to people. Since there were over 20 different cards, often times the card someone won was not a card that they were familiar with, so they asked me to explain the icon or tell the story of the saint. I love telling the traditional stories to people who are hearing them for the first time. I love to watch their reactions and to hear the questions they ask. So as you can tell it was a busy weekend but a lot of fun.