Last week my team and I woke up at 4 a.m. and got ready for THE BIGGEST musical festival in all of Europe. The name of this festival is called “EXIT”. At EXIT hundreds of thousands of people travel from all across Europe to listen to their favorite musicians. Some of the big names that preformed were Damon Albarn, Gloria Gaynor, Skrillex, David Guetta, Snoop Dog, Franz Ferdinand etc.. however, in my opinion the coolest thing about the concert is where it’s held. The concert takes place in a massive fortress called “Petrovaradin”. Petrovaradin Fortress was built in the early 1500s and hosted one of the largest battles in central Europe during the Ottoman Empire between the Turks and the Austrians in the 1700s. Yet although the concert had all these cool things to offer, none of us actually had tickets to get inside… The twelve of us were there for a different reason. We were there specifically to love and pray for people passing through! This festival was an incredible ministry opportunity! People from all over Europe were coming to us in Serbia, generating an easy outlet for us to bring Christ’s love to the nations.
So, Here’s what happened…
We arrived in Novi Sad at 11 a.m. because our train was delayed 2 hours. However, since our train was delayed we received the train tickets for HALF PRICE. After a delightful breakfast, we finally arrived in Novi Sad. By this time we realized our cool colorful summer attire was a bad decision that day. It was cold, windy and rainy the entire day. We simply misjudged the weather. However, this wouldn’t stop us from achieving our goal. After roaming around the city and admiring it’s beauty, we headed to Petrovaradin Fortress to pray over the city. On our way to the Fort we made a new friend, his name was Ronnie. Ronnie was the friendliest, loving, and hairiest member of our team that day. He fit right in and we enjoyed his company, even though he could only bark and wag his tail. After a long walk, we finally reached liberty bridge, to cross the Danube River and head directly to the Fortress. Once we were about half way across the bridge, something very unpleasant occurred. Ronnie decided to jump out in the middle of oncoming traffic! Within a few seconds we all heard a loud THUD followed by an awful high pitched scream. Ronnie was definitely injured, but managed to pick himself back up and drag himself to the side of the road. At this point none of us knew what to do, especially when this guy jumped out of his little FIAT and cursed us out as if it was our fault. Once the guy drove off I was ready to get across the bridge until… I noticed my teammate Rebecca was no where in sight. Therefore, a couple of the girls went to comfort her after the incident. Personally I thought this was the dumbest set back in the world and didn’t understand how a dog could impact someone’s heart so much. I mean we were there to love & pray for people… Not dogs. However, God had a lot to teach me about LOVE that day! After staring out at the River for about 20 minutes waiting for this situation to work itself out, I heard Gods voice clearly say ” RYAN PRAY TO ME!”. So I went over to Ronnie and prayed healing over him and for God to settle the whole situation peacefully. Within seconds Ronnie hopped up on all fours and lead us all directly to Rebecca, where he would then place his friendly face on her lap and cover her in dog kisses. Eventually Ronnie left us and we made our way back to the bridge to finish what we came to do. We prayed our hearts out unto God for the people of Serbia, Novi Sad, Belgrade and all the nations of Europe. We specifically asked that during this festival God’s LOVE would touch hearts and bring them closer to Him.
Would God answer my prayer once again?
Indeed he would, and he’d even use Ronnie for the 2nd time that day. As we were leaving Petrovaradin, Ronnie was running up and down the streets greeting every person at the forts entrance with LOVE! It’s funny how God can teach us lessons in such odd ways. That day it involved looking at the very character of a dog. Even though Ronnie was hit by a car and circumstances looked bad for him, he never stopped loving! If a dog can do this… I know we can too! LOVE ALWAYS WINS!
I Corinthians 4-7
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
(meet Ronnie our new addition to the team)
