Every Visitor a Winner at Nowata Fair Booth

 If you’ve been around these parts for a while, then you know that county fairs are serious business. Churches across Oklahoma find these fairs an incredible opportunity to share Christ's love—giving out free water and snacks, offering children’s games, praying for those who stop by their booth and, of course, handing out literature.

Picture this: a town with a population of a little over 3,000 and a quaint country church eager to see a great work done in their community. Enter the Nowata County Free Fair.

The Nowata Seventh-day Adventist Church in Northeast Oklahoma has been participating in their county fair for more than 30 years. This year’s booth featured a white box with a bright sign that read, “Win a Bible!”

Excited by the word “win,” both the young and the more mature came to the booth to fill out their information, watching as the slips of paper filled the box, eager at the thought that their name might be selected. Through the course of the four-day fair, 19 people signed up to win a Bible.

Church members Beryl, Shirley and Joe purchased the Bible for the giveaway and worked the booth alongside volunteers Nancy and Marilyn. They were all excited to meet and interact with people from the community.

After the fair was over, the volunteers gathered to draw the winner. “It seems a shame to pick just one winner,” lamented Marilyn. “Couldn’t we get everyone who signed up a Bible?”

And that’s exactly what they did! With 19 Bibles purchased, volunteers from the Nowata church began delivering these treasures to those who had signed up.

“This is the first year we’ve done an everyone’s-a-winner contest,” shared Marilyn, “but it won’t be the last.” 

‍