Why Does a Church Host a Carnival?

For over 15 years, Christian Chapel has hosted a carnival in our front parking lot on October 31. We have found it to be an amazing opportunity to meet our neighbors and be present in our community. This is a day when many young families let their kids dress up in costumes, take them out to meet their neighbors, and load up on candy. 

While some in our culture turn this day into a celebration of darkness, death, and evil, we choose to use it as a chance to shine the light of Jesus. It’s a day for us to remember that Christians don’t run from the darkness. We run with the light of Christ in darkness. John 1:5 says, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” We believe the light and life of Jesus are the most powerful and transformational force in the world, and this is a natural opportunity for us to reflect that reality to our friends and neighbors. 

One of the things that I love about our carnival is that it gives people an easy, low-barrier way to connect with Christian Chapel. For some, walking through the doors of a church can be intimidating and feels like a big commitment. But coming to a free, outdoor, come-and-go carnival with their kids is easy. They can come, have fun, get a bunch of candy, meet some of our people and experience the kind of church family that we know Christian Chapel to be. Every year, we see the fruit of this approach as we have families who begin attending Christian Chapel and encountering Jesus whose first connection with the church was the carnival. It is an easy way for us to make is easy for others to find and follow Jesus. 

I hope you’ll join us – either as a volunteer, or with your family for the carnival. It’s a great outreach and fun night for our Christian Chapel kids and families to be together. The whole evening is a chance for us to live out the mission that God has given us: to Gather, Grow, and Go. We want to be a church that is present in our community, friendly to our neighbors, and shines the light of Jesus in darkness. 

What can happen when a healthy church takes root in a community? 

For Stephen and Bailey Kuert, that question has shaped both their ministry and their lives.

Stephen was born in Nairobi, Kenya, where his parents served as missionaries. At around 10 years old, during a missionary prayer retreat, he felt God clearly calling him to missions. He remembers thinking as a child that he would either become a game warden chasing animals across Africa or a missionary. By high school, he already felt certain where his life was headed.

Stephen attended Oral Roberts University, where he studied International Community Development. After graduating, he returned to Africa and began serving in evangelism and church planting. In 2007, that calling took him to Burundi. His first years there were difficult, but during that time he developed friendships with Burundian pastors and leaders that would later become foundational to his ministry.

One example can be seen among the Batwa people, one of the most marginalized communities in Burundi. A church planted there in 2020 has since helped plant 12 additional churches. Alongside that spiritual growth, agricultural cooperatives are helping families grow food, earn income and send their children to school. It is a picture of the kind of transformation Stephen and Bailey hope to see wherever a healthy church is planted.

The spiritual impact has also been significant. Involved International estimates that between 25,000 and 30,000 Burundians have met Jesus and become part of one of these 200 local churches.

Christian Chapel has been part of this story for several years. In 2019, Pastor Chris challenged our church to help plant churches in Burundi through Kingdom Builders. The original hope was to fund a couple of churches, but Christian Chapel responded by giving $56,776, beginning a partnership that has continued ever since. Since that first offering, the Christian Chapel family has helped fund nearly 100 churches throughout Burundi. While Burundi remains a major focus, Involved International is also partnering with local leaders in Kenya and the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, helping plant churches, build schools and serve communities across East Africa.