Our team recently went out in June to Lockport's Canal Days festival. As we did last year, we had help from THREE Knights of Columbus Councils. Below is a report from our main Station Leader for the weekend, John W.:

The event itself was great! New evangelist, Cini, gave out rosaries faster than he could untangle them! Then we had guys in the aisle meeting people

A lot pf praying happened with passerby. The local associate pastor, Fr. Tom, came by for a couple hours and talked and prayed with people. One guy had a big bandage on his throat; just had vertebrae fixed. I asked if he could use some prayers, and Fr. Tom talked to him and laid hands on him. He prayed a ton while he was out there with us.

There were two guys who were actually carnival staff and said they’re Catholic. We asked if they went to Mass, and turns out they were from South Africa! Two young guys who couldn’t stay long, and they were excited to see us there. Then Ken, a fallen away Catholic came up, but he wants to get involved with the Church again and be a Knight of Columbus. I said we could have him join right here. He said he's in a nearby suburb, and said there’s a council and parish there. He asked how to get back in touch with and engaged in the community, and we helped point him in the right direction. Please pray for him.

Then two sister came, one named Conchina, asking where they can get Red Bulls! Apparently, her father’s  food truck was nearby. We told them we didn't know where they could get Red Bulls, but we asked if they’re Catholics. They said "yes", but haven’t gone to Mass in a while. We told them about the local parish, St. Joseph's, where I go to Mass. I said to look for me in the pew this Sunday! We talked a bunch more, and they were so excited that by the end we were high-fiving each other and they said, "not sure where red bulls were, but feels like we had one!" They expressed interest in coming back to Mass, and bringing their father, too.

Then right as he was packing up to leave on the first  night, a guy was talking to us, and he said he was from Ukraine, but he’s Orthodox. We went back and forth a bit. Apparently he was raised by monks! Moved to Lockport since 2017. They talked a bit about the war as well.

Some other Protestants came up too, to argue with us, but we expected that! Many people wanted Bibles and we gave those away freely when people asked. Told them it’s still wrapped in the plastic wrap, so brand new!

We asked people if they knew how to pray the Rosary, gave them pamphlets with the sacramentals, and also explained miraculous medals. When we ran low on stuff we gave the "$1billion dollar" St. Peter bills out, especially to the younger crowd accompanied with their parents. But we told them, "You gotta flip it over and find something even more valuable than a billion dollars!"

Please pray for everyone we encountered, and that they may all come into union with our Lord Jesus through His Catholic Church!