Halloween Outreach

When I was a kid, Halloween was always a special time that wasn’t at all about witchcraft, spirits, and dark demonic forces looming about wanting to cause havoc in my hometown. The whole family would get together at my Aunt Kathy’s and we would roam the neighborhood gathering treats for as long as our parents can stand. I can still smell the ruberized plastic of my Superman costume and feel the condensation of the mask. Not to mention that stretchy string that held it together never lasted the night. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, it was all about family, tradition, and seeing our neighbors one last time before winter.

Since moving to Iowa, it wasn’t much of a thing out here. My fist year I bought a huge bowl of candy, only to eat some of it on my own and throw the rest out. The whole time I’ve lived here, we’ve only had two kids show up. With no candy available, I probably either gave them some leftover coins, a stapler, or a carrot from the fridge. I guess some traditions are just fade away over time.

This year was different though as I spent it with Kasin distributing treats, tracts, and treasure in Christ. When I got to his place, I couldn’t believe all the kids walking around, especially since we only live a five minuite walk away with a park between us.

The Presbyterian Church at the end of the street had a “Trunk-or-Treat” which brought in way more kids to his neighborhood. Honestly, I never really understood the whole “Trunk-or-Treat” thing and it just seems weird to me. To be honest I think it’s more about lazy moms than it is about safety, but I digress. Feel free to change my mind.

Kasin’s setup was pretty dope. As you can see, he had a firepit going and a lit up table with candy, tracts, and prizes to give away for those who guessed the riddle. It definitely made it fun, and even the parents got into it. The sign was downloaded from my friend, Eddie Romans’s, website and it says:

SOLVE MY RIDDLE!

The man who made it didn't need it. 
The man who bought it didn't use it. 
The man who used it didn't know it. 

What is it?

I was pretty suprised how many kids guessed it, some even without the hints. But it brought an interesting element to the night that was different than other houses I saw in the area. We both gave away a ton of candy, and tracts, but the only difficult thing was tying people down and hearing the gospel because they only had two hours of gathering before the yearly event was over.

I really liked Kasin’s use of the riddle and using it to tie into the gospel. The lit up table was a great draw and provided some light so that we could read things easily if needed. I am already thinking of next year, and what we could do differently to make it even better and more elaborate. More Halloween tracts for kids, maybe a game, or incorporate a spooky story and tie in the gospel at the end.

Did you have a Halloween setup to share the gospel?

Paul, my friend from Marshalltown also had a setup last night, and he gave out over 400 tracts to kids and parents walking by, and has been doing it for several years.

Did you have a Halloween setup to give tracts away and share the gospel? If you did, please send pictures and share your ideas with us. We would love to improve on it next year. Happy Reformation Day!