Hallo-What? Halloween Outreach Ideas
October 6, 2008
Hallo-What?
As Halloween approaches, parents often ask me, “Should we participate in Halloween?” Others ask, “How can we impact our neighbors on this night, this year?”
In answer to the first question, I say follow your convictions. The words of Jesus found in Matthew 5:14-16 can give some direction in this. It reads, 14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
The observance of Halloween has dubious beginnings at best. The celebration has progressed from it’s early superstitious roots to the costume and candy gathering event of today. Most children and families in our communities either do not know of it’s beginnings or in spite of this knowledge, choose to have fun in spite of past practices associated with this day.
Wearing a Costume?
Here are some guidelines to follow should your family and children choose to dress up this Halloween night.
- As a believer, you want to do “everything as unto the Lord.” You also have a desire to honor and glorify your Savior in all that you do. In light of this, avoid scary, embarrassing, or disgusting costumes.
- Make certain that whatever the costume or make-up you look your best for Jesus. Make-up should be neat, clean, and safe. Avoid the thrown together or unkempt look.
- If you are walking the neighborhood include light colors in your costume. In this way, those driving can easily see and avoid hitting you.
- I recommend that you and/or your children can dress in three categories of costumes. These include:
- Bible person, place, or thing
- Historical figure, or
- Clown/animal.
- Write and rehearse a short testimony that goes with your costume. That way when people acknowledge how cute or interesting you look, you can come back with a brief but poignant explanation of what or who you are giving the listener something eternal to think about.
- Have fun. Christians should be the example of joy at any season. Jesus was the kind of guy you would invite to a party. The wedding at Canaan is an example of this. So do what you can to show the joy of the Lord and the fun that a Christian can have.
- You may want to carry a Gospel tract with your costume. This can be given to those who show interest when you explain who or what you are.
Further Thoughts
Churches have adapted to this night by hosting everything from “Trunk or Treat,” in the church parking lot to “Light the Night,” events in neighborhoods. Whether we throw a harvest party, or not, children will be combing their neighborhoods asking for a handout on Halloween night. Kids will dress in costumes as cute or scary as their parents allow while neighborhood homes will hand out everything from cheap penny candies to popcorn balls and peanut butter cups.
What is a “Christian” family to do? I’ve known some that turned out the lights and locked the doors. Again, I encourage you to act upon your convictions in this matter. If you choose to do nothing for children on Halloween, turn the light off on your porch so that passing children will not be disappointed when knocking on your unanswered door.
Halloween Outreach Guidelines
Here are a few simple guidelines for those who choose to bless children on Halloween.
- Pray! Pray for your neighborhood, the children, parents, and strangers that will pass down your street. Pray for God’s anointing on neighboring churches that are hosting outreach events on this night. Pray that God will make you and your home a lighthouse in this darkened world.
Ideas for those who are simply handing out candy:
- At the least hand out extra candy and a Gospel tract. Bible book stores carry some good ones geared just to children on this day. Master reproducible artwork is provided with this writing. Make as many copies as you need. By handing out an extra portion of candy with the message, you are insuring that most children leaving your front step will read the tract.
- Smile, get happy, and hand out genuine compliments with the candy and tract. You want your neighbors to know that yours is a household that loves children. A kind word concerning a costume or behavior will go a long way with the child and their accompanying parent.
- Don’t be too in-your-face preachy. This is the only night all year on which children will come to your door asking for something good. Do not “scare” them off with obnoxious or offensive preaching delivered under the guise of witnessing. Jesus said, “Let the little children come.” He didn’t say, force them, scare them, or trick them into the treat of salvation.”
- You may also want to have some fun Christian children’s music playing on your front porch.
- Happy non-scary decorations on your lawn or porch can have a positive impact on your neighbors.
- Make certain that your sidewalk and porch are well lit and free of debris.
Ideas for those that want to do a little bit more:
- Set up a mini carnival on your driveway or front lawn. Remember, it’s your party. You can do as much or as little as time and finances allow. Here some things you can do to set up a mini carnival atmosphere.
- Set up one or two simple carnival games such as a bean bag toss or rubber duck race in a wash tub. Ideas for these can be found at these websites:
http://www.smalltoys.com/page/st/CTGY/wholesale-carnival-supplies-prizes-novelties
- Serve hot cider or chocolate to those coming to your house. This can be made on the spot or prepared ahead of time.
- Some people have set up their BBQ and cooked hot dogs for the kids. Be sure to have your cooking area roped off so that children do not get burned on the BBQ. Set up a table with covering to hold condiments. If you want the dogs to be really fun, add food coloring to your ketchup or mustard. Include non-traditional items for the dogs like chocolate sprinkles, caramel syrup, or peanut butter and jelly.
- Decorate with fun, non-scary decore. Balloons, pumpkins, and other fall type items can be displayed. Keep anything dangerous away from the kids.
- Set up a TV and DVD/VCR with a fun kid’s movie playing. Several chairs or hay bails can be spaced as seating for this.
- Set up a covered table where children can make their own treats. Cookie decorating is probably the easiest make-your-own treat to set up. Sugar cookies can purchased at a local bakery. (People are less suspicious of store-bought food items.) The children can decorate these with colored frosting, sprinkles, or mini M&Ms.
- Welcome every child as if he/she was Jesus Himself. Some kids will return to your event again and again throughout the evening. Love on them every time they arrive.
- Prepare some treat bags ahead of time. These should include a large portion of candy and a Gospel tract.
Things to avoid
- Clowns or costumed characters in your yard will tend to scare off smaller children. If you must have one of these, make certain that he/she is neat, clean, and attractive, and has a human counterpart. Make sure that he/she allows children to approach him/her rather than the other way around. Clowns and large costumed characters should not invade a child’s space.
- Hard selling the Gospel on this night will not endear you to your neighbors. Consider this a drink-of-water kind of ministry. Blessing children and families will bring a return. Gospel Tracts, Christian videos, songs, and even puppet shows should be utilized to deliver the Gospel message.
- Making this a complicated event ruin it for you and the kids. Do not stress out over this. You can do as much or as little as time and finances will allow. The point is to have fun helping the children to have fun and to share the love of Jesus with all who come to you.
- Scary costumes, decorations, or entertainment must be avoided. Preschool and elementary children do not need a “Hell House,” kind of experience. Fun spooky games like guess what’s in the bucket are acceptable. (Guess what’s in the bucket is a game in which several buckets hold things like cooked pasta, Jell-o, or oiled grapes. A towel is thrown over each bucket. Children reach under the towel and guess what’s in the bucket.)
- Poorly lit or cluttered walkways. Make sure that when children step on your property that they can get around without tripping over boxes, bags, or buckets. Lighting with construction lights or household lamps will help children to see where they are going and what to avoid.
- Foods that might cause an allergic reaction. We know that most anything could do this, but there are some common foods that rise to the top. Peanuts should not be served in any form. Check with your public school nurse to see what should be avoided in this category.
- Offending the return child should be avoided. Some kids will want to come back to your “fun” yard after trick or treating in the neighborhood. Bless every child with as much love, food, and attention that you can whether they show up once or return five times that night.
- Put away anything that might be deemed dangerous to the health and well-being of children.
Have Fun!
This booklet is available for download in either Word .doc or Adobe .pdf formats. If you find this resource to be a blessing, leave a comment!
Trick or Treat Tract
October 6, 2008
I developed this tract to share with share with children during Halloween outreaches. This tract is available for download in Word .doc and Adobe .pdf formats. If you find this tract a blessing, leave a comment and let me know!
Let or Limit: Allowing Children to Come to Jesus
July 6, 2008
The key question here is, “How are you, as a leader of children, going to follow the words of Jesus?” Is it possible to “let” the children come without engaging in forms of coercion? I believe it is. I come full circle back to the original quote that inspired my study of the approach to altar calls and children. Sam Doherty wrote, “I never ask children to raise their hands, or look at me, or stand up, or come to the front if they want to be saved – or if they want to help them. This can easily result in a quick and emotional response which has not been thought through, or there might even be the possibility of following the leader, when children do what they see others doing.” This generates the question, “can an altar call be given without application of psychological, social, or spiritual coercion?
Sam proposes that rather than altar calls, the children’s worker give invitations. He suggests that the leader invite the child to come and seek counsel after the meeting is over. “This allows them time to think about what they are doing and to come on their own initiative – rather than being influenced by others.”
I am not suggesting that the children’s leader give up the tradition of the altar call. What I am suggesting is that we utilize this important juncture in any service to impart an invitation to children. This invitation may or may not include the children coming forward in response. Whether this invitation includes an immediate public response or not is the leader’s prerogative. It must carry with it authority without pushiness and spirituality without overzealousness.
The altar call or invitation must not water down the basic gospel message. Tony Kummer, Baptist Children’s Pastor blogs, “Being overzealous to give a child assurance of heaven can result in a false assurance. Repentance is a biblical component of conversion.” Sound teaching on basic salvation doctrine is demonstrated through the life of the teacher then acted upon by the child. This suggests more of an ongoing process rather than a onetime instant occurrence. Lawrence Richards expound upon this saying, “Ultimately, our assurance of a relationship with God does not come because we remember when we made a verbal commitment, but because we increasingly commit ourselves to live for Him, and discover a growing trust and love. It would be wrong to deny the possibility of childhood conversion.” He writes further, “The real challenge in ministry with boys and girls is to provide that context in which the first step can be taken…and then a whole lifetime of growth be supported.”
Perhaps the coercion related to altar time would cease if leaders began to look at salvation in the lives of children as more of a process than a singular decision. This process will be marked by various decision points as a child grows in his cognitive ability to grasp the abstracts like love and eternity. Lois Lebar writes,
“If we provide small children frequent opportunities to say, “yes” to Christ in accordance with their limited comprehension of Him, we shall never err by hindering them from coming to the Savior, nor by being responsible for their making a mere profession before the Spirit has prepared the heart. We shall never be guilty of going to either extreme if we give our groups of children numerous occasions to confess their love of Christ, and then deal individually with those who seek salvation, a miracle which happens once for all time and eternity.”
Sometime in a childhood blessed by consistent exposure to the Christian message, the child will experience this once and for all miracle. It may be at an altar or on a playground. It may happen with adult supervision or not. My son Aaron announced one morning at breakfast that he had asked Jesus to come into his heart. It was his first “public” confession of faith and I understood that at age four, he didn’t comprehend the implications of his announcement. But my wife and I encouraged him anyway. We continued to nurture his faith at home and through the church. He prayed at altars on many occasions through the childhood years. Each experience only served to solidify his spiritual commitment that began before that breakfast table pronouncement. Barna states, “Anyone who wishes to have significant influence on the development of a person’s moral and spiritual foundations had better exert that influence while the person is still open-minded and impressionable – in other words, while the person is still young.”
What Barna and I are explaining here is a process of letting children come to Jesus. Many times the methods used in formal children’s ministry settings can limit a child’s true response to the gospel. This occurs any time the child is put in a position of feeling that he must respond in order to please teacher. Hayes writes, “All of this discussion is meant to demonstrate the fact that when we seek to integrate a doctrine of salvation with a behavioral concept of evangelistic methodology, we encounter difficulty.” Our particular behavioral concept of evangelistic methodology may then be responsible for causing difficulty in producing clearly authentic faith response in young children.
Our ethical response to the possibility that this is true must be to step back and assess the dynamics of what we are doing. We cannot continue with business as usual if that form of business is offending little ones. Jesus said, “And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” Our ethical response is to adjust what we are doing so that children will be welcomed to Jesus without offense.
Conclusion
Edward Hayes wrote, “Giving an invitation is a natural and normal part of the gospel presentation. How it is done is quite another thing. Teachers are wise not to force or push for decisions. The gospel, rightly presented, has its own appeal. The Savior has His own drawing power. This is the divine work of the Holy Spirit in wedding human need and response to the winsomeness of Christ.” The children’s worker in today’s evangelistic setting must be willing to accept this “divine work of the Holy Spirit.” Altar times cannot be forced, pressure-filled, events in the lives of children.
In this paper we began by looking at an ethical response to the age of accountability. This was followed by three segments addressing: (1) Faith or Fear; Setting aside scare tactics and letting God be God, (2) Pressure or Pleasure; Relaxing the altar time so that children can enjoy the presence of God, and (3) Let or Limit; Allowing children to come to Jesus rather than engaging in psycho-spiritual coercion.
Considering the length and depth of this work, all aspects of each segment allow for further study. Questions will continue to arise each time an altar call is given. Our “Christian” ethics based in part on Christ’s character, demand that we question, evaluate, and, if need be, adjust our approach when giving altar calls to children. In this world of confusion, ethical foundations such as compassion, integrity, and faith continue to stand rock solid. While the storms of ego, impatience, and unbelief assail us, our godly ethics will stand. With the Lord’s help, I believe that anyone involved in leading children to Christ can consider the arguments stated in this paper and better serve the children and Jesus when altar time comes.
Tony Kummer. “Childhood Conversion and Age of Accountability.” Word Press.com http://tonykummer.wordpress.com/2005/11/25/childhood-conversion-and-age-of-accountability-part-1-introduction/ (accessed June 2, 2008)
Lawrence Richards. Children’s Ministry (formerly A Theology Of CM). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing, 1983. 375.
Download the complete paper [PDF]
Evangel Art: FREE Reproducible Art
July 6, 2008
I’ve created, compiled, and am making available as a FREE download! That’s right…this resource that includes years worth of my cartoon-style drawings is available for FREE!
Dick Gruber’s Evangel Art: Reproducible Art for Children’s Ministries is offered for FREE and includes:
- over 40 evangel pages
- 385 picture words
- 124 scripture pictures
All artwork is provided in .jpg format and can be easily incorporated into any word processing, desktop publishing, or presentation software. To request a free download of Evangel Art, simply complete the download request form at www.cmuo.com/resources/evangelart. You will then receive an email with more details for downloading your free copy.
Side Yard Party Planner
July 5, 2008
Have you ever wanted to put together a neighborhood outreach to your community? This is the planner I used in conducting Neighborhood Outreach Week.
Download printable version [PDF]
We Love Kids Banquet Info
July 5, 2008
A very effective outreach is to conduct a “We Love Kids Banquet” in your church. Here’s info on how to hold your own!
Download printable version [PDF]
Altar Calls and Children
July 5, 2008
By: Dick Gruber
Jesus said, “Let the children come to me…” He did not say, “drag, coerce, push, force, threaten, or brow beat them to come to me.” Over the years, altars calls for and with children have included many different styles, uses, and sad to say, abuses. I have witnessed people holding children down until they received. At one camp an adult was shaking a child by the shoulders, and demanding that the child
receive. I have even heard an altar worker encouraging children to repeat phrases in order to be filled with the Spirit.
I have also experienced the sweet presence of the Holy Spirit filling children to overflowing. In our church boys and girls using ministry gifts as they pray with other boys and girls. I have participated in many prayer services where children have been saved, healed, and delivered at altars. The altar call/service should be a positive experience for children. Workers must be sensitive to God’s leading and encourage children to pray one for another. Physical contact should be limited to a hand on the
shoulder, head, or back. When appropriate, a hug may be given to a child. Cry with the children. Laugh with them. Above all, enjoy the presence of God with them at the altars.
We encourage boys to pray with boys and girls with girls. In the mid to upper elementary ages, more distraction is evident when children pray for those of the opposite sex. Nothing should be allowed to distract children from meeting with God.
The leader giving the altar call must speak with confident authority. God has placed him/her in this service for such a time as this. Many times the altar call is referred to as the “invitation.” Think of it as an invitation and you will stay away from improper attitudes, actions, or words. A loving, Christ-like calling out of those wanting to respond will reap great results.
I often encourage every child to spend a little time with Jesus. Children are directed to find a place to pray at their chairs or at the altar area. What a blessing to see children turning and kneeling to pray. What a thrill I’ve experienced in children’s church when joyfully praying with boys and girls at the altar.
I’ve listed some things below to do and say when giving an altar call or ministering around the altars. I trust that these will help you to better sharpen this ministry skill.
Things to do:
- The theme is repeated throughout service
- Pray about the established theme
- Speak with God’s authority
- Use kid-friendly language/concepts
- Keep it simple saint
- Repeat instructions as needed
- Relax, let God do the work
- Pray for this part of the service all week long
- Give a variety of options IE: prayed at chair, altars, alone, with friends, stand, sit, kneel
- Encourage those not praying to worship and be respectful
- Compliment those not praying for showing respect to God and their praying friends
- Play slow worship music that is familiar to the children
- Direct children to pray for other children or adult helpers
- Let them pray as long as needed
- Be positive in your approach. IE: I know some of you are ready to pray today…
- When most are done praying, close in prayer. You may want to sing a song with the children as they go back to their seats.
Things to say:
- Some of you want to respond
- Put your faith and trust in Jesus
- Ask Jesus to come into you life
- Trust Jesus to be your best friend
- Ask God to forgive the wrong things you’ve done
- We call the wrong things we do, sin
- Only Jesus can clean the sin out of our lives
- Jesus wants to save us from the destruction that sin causes
- You may all find a place to pray right now
- You can pray up at this altar or turn and pray at your chair,/li>
- Pray/repeat after me
- If you want special prayer, raise your hand. A worker will come and pray with you
- Prayer time is time to meet with God. That’s why we are not talking or playing with friends right now.
- I want to thank you for showing respect to God and your friends by sitting quietly or worshipping Jesus when you are done praying
Things not to do or say:
- Ask Jesus into you heart
- Just let go
- Just hang on
- Sin is black
- If you’ve done this before, do not come down
- Give your heart to Jesus
- Come let the blood of Jesus wash you
- Pray now or go to hell
Here are some pointers specific to praying with children to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
- Be positive! God wants to fill every child to overflowing.
- Encourage children to ask God for this according to Luke 11:13
- Once they have asked God for His baptism in the Spirit, encourage them to praise and glorify God out loud. In 25 years of praying with children, I have never witnessed a child receiving this gift without first praising God out loud in his own native tongue.
- Praise God in English and He will give you a prayer language at just the right time.
- Never tell a child that he has received. Ask him what God is doing. Ask him if he is speaking in tongues. If the answer is yes, encourage him to continue.
- Remind children that according to Luke 11:13 those who ask will receive.
- Encourage children to speak out by faith when the Holy Spirit even gives them a partial word to say.
Children leaving the altar without having received should be encouraged to walk by faith knowing that they will be baptized to overflowing any minute. God may have a special time picked out just for that child. I have done this many times with great success and awesome testimonies. One girl pushed the button on the elevator and her and all of her friends were baptized in the Spirit and began speaking in tongues. Another boy told me that he was walking to the bathroom and just began praising God. Before he knew it, he was speaking in a heavenly language. A girl in one camp prayed every night. It wasn’t until she was at home with mom and dad that God allowed her to pray in tongues. As a result, mom and dad were both baptized in the Spirit as the girl laid hands on them.
It is important in any altar service to let God be God. Do not attempt to force a move of God or raise the spiritual level of the altar time by your own strength. Jesus is the Lord of the altar time. He will assist you in keeping it spiritual. Let the children come to Him.
Download printable version [PDF]
“Jesus Loves You” Tract
July 5, 2008
1-page tract/coloring page that explains the plan of salvation
Download printable version [PDF]
“One Way” Tract
July 5, 2008
1-page tract/coloring page that explains the one way to heaven
Download printable version [PDF]
“Seek & Save” Tract
July 5, 2008
1-page tract/coloring page that explains how Jesus came to seek & to save the lost
