streamers | Walking By Faith in Europe

I had no sooner posted that last piece when Miki, leader of the dance team, came to me. She said that as she was showering she was thanking God for sending an intercessor (me!) to pray for the team. And God told her, “No, she’s a dancer.”

My jaw just fell open. It seems that He’s calling me back to dance. He’s got to do quite a bit of physical restoration to do that, but He is God of Restoration. We walked to the ferry dock with my head swimming at the thought.

I generally don’t like boats very much, but the ferry crossing was really nice. The water is the cleanest harbor water I have ever seen—or smelled! It’s a pretty deep teal color, and there is no oily scum or floating trash that I’ve always associated with harbor water. Here’s how clean the water is in Valletta harbor: I would actually swim in it! I haven’t, but I would.

On the other side we took the elevator to the park high over the harbor. Up there we found Herbie, the guitarist. He grinned at us, “I had a good morning! I did some busking, made some money.” He had his guitar and a battery-powered amp with him. He was clearly on a high from his successful morning.

I watched the team’s backpacks and prayed while they went to pray and Herbie went to look for a plug to recharge his amp. Herbie came back at 2, the appointed start time. He was grinning again. He had found a plug in the Indian Embassy waiting room. Inexplicably, they had not chased him off. Well, not inexplicable, really because I had been praying for him to find a place to plug in.

Herbie warmed up the crowd with a Christian song, done in his own smooth jazz style. People grabbed their phones, cameras, and tablets and started filming or taking pictures. Then the dancers did a hip-hop number that looked like a lot of fun. Herbie played a song or 2 in between each dance set. Then a bunch of about 10 junior high school kids came along. One boy started in mocking the dancers and tried to get the others to mock, too. A couple of other boys did, but half-heartedly. A couple of girls started dancing a little where they were, and after a while Miki invited them to join in the dance, and they did. They were clearly having a lot of fun, and a friend filmed them with her tablet. They stepped back into the group when the song was over, but stayed to listen to Herbie sing and play. They joined into the next dance even more enthusiastically.

Meanwhile, people came by and put coins in Herbie’s open bag. I saw one man come by and carefully put in about €5 worth of coins. Later another man put a €10 bill in Herbie’s bag. Herbie had a good day!

Then the dancers did a dance with streamers and the mocking boy made a grab for Miki’s streamer. She gave it to him, and he danced with it, and with some degree of grace and style. Then the kids announced that they had to go. The 2 girls that had danced hugged each of the dancers and said good-bye, waving to the rest of us. It was a really sweet moment.

Because of my duties in watching the backpacks and helping set up the music, I wasn’t able to get around to talk to very many people. But I did get to talk briefly with one lady who was visiting from Australia.

It was a fun afternoon. And I got another message from God about dancing, this time from Carrie, a Maltese believer who had come to support the dance team. Carrie said to me: “You should get out there and dance with them.” I said, “What on earth made you say that?” She said, “I don’t know!”

Well, I do know: it was God! I guess He’ll show me how He wants me to proceed. God is good!

Milan has just had its Carnivale celebration. Carnivale is the last hurrah before the carnal deprivation of Lent, and should technically be celebrated on Fat Tuesday (or Mardi Gras), the day before Ash Wednesday.

In Italy, however, Carnivale is celebrated for two weeks. Unlike the nearly naked and drunken celebrations of Carnivale in Brazil or Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Carnivale here is mostly for children. Confetti, Silly String in aerosol cans, streamers and costumes can be found in most every market and shop during the month of February. And a two week celebration means that a child can celebrate Carnivale with her grandparents in Parma one weekend and celebrate at home in Milan the next weekend.

One February I was in the small town of Iseo, Italy by the like-named lake. I was tired, so I sat on a bench near a place where the sidewalk narrowed. There was a boy about 3-4 years old in costume. His dad was also tired so they shared my bench. The boy had a bag of confetti and every time he saw another child approaching he pulled out a fistful and—POW!—showered the other kid with confetti. The giggling that followed was positively contagious. Then he would load up again and wait for his next victim. We passed an hour or so this way.

February of 2010 I was in Venice. I would never have deliberately gone to Venice during Carnivale because I don’t like being in crowds, but since I was there and it would probably be my only chance to do so, I went to St. Mark’s Square and watched the celebration. Venice’s Carnivale is quite a spectacle, with some of the most opulent and elaborate costumes I have ever seen. It reminded me of the costume party scene in Hitchcock’s “It Takes a Thief.” I was told that some people save up all year for their Carnivale costumes, and I can believe it. But it was a also an event for children. At one point, I found myself near a family with two children. The little boy kept tossing confetti on his little sister, who was too little to understand or appreciate the fun. Finally he got frustrated with her and turned and threw confetti on me. “Whee!” I giggled every time he did it, which made him keep doing it until his mother stopped him. I think she must have thought I was just being kind, but really I was having fun.

The very next day was when God told me about my ministry to Europe. I like to think that God will use me and the rest of the missionaries in Europe to bring revival, and then we’ll celebrate in a party that never has to end.

Yesterday celebrations ended here in Milan—just when I had gotten used to riding the subway with fairy princesses and Power Rangers! All that’s left is Carnivale’s detritus: confetti and spent streamers all over the ground, and silly string going gooey all over the walls. The city is really good about cleaning up after Carnivale, so there will be hardly a trace of its silly fun. I don’t normally mind the winter, but February really needs Carnivale’s fun. I think God knew that!

Walking By Faith in Europe

Tag Archives: streamers

Dancing in the Park

Confetti, Silly String, Masks, and Streamers Everywhere!