Maybe you hate what Halloween has done to October 31st and you don’t
know how to handle it. My reaction until a few years ago was to hide in a
dark corner, or keep my nose in a book and let my excited, big, black
dog on my side of the door repel the weird, hideous, cute knockers on
the other side of the door.
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| Whose reflection do you see? |
In this post I’ll share the solution I found which not only makes October 31st a worthwhile day but even has me anticipating and planning for it.
MY EQUIPMENT
One shiny black shoebox with fittingly spidery writing on the lid
Wrapped lollies/sweets/candy
Fun, interesting, quality gospel tracts
Plastic zip-lock bags (big enough to fit my selected bootie – if the contents can be easily folded, I use smaller bags than shown here)
Prayer
A loving, cheerful attitude
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| Black boxful of goodie bags ready to go |
I've chosen to include a simple brochure that explains Halloween. In this case, it's the hellish-looking ‘what is Halloween’ history sheets which my father sourced from
www.2besaved.com some time ago [at time of posting not available]. However, I view the gospel tracts as the important content of the gift. The rest is gift wrap.
The skeleton Million $ Note came in a mixed sample pack from
www.rayoflightwitness.com (maybe the fellas at Ray of Light Witness can
work on a ‘what is Halloween’ sheet for next year?), but you can choose from many image styles of the famous Million $ Note. You don't have to go the Gothic route if you don't want to.
Clockwise from top left: Halloween: a Celebration of Evil; The World's Best Optical Illusions; Are You a Good Person comic; The World's Ten Most Popular Things scratch card; NZ million $ note (skeleton version); I.Q. Test card.
I ordered the other gospel tracts from
www.livingwaters.com for use by our Bible study group. The ladies are delighted and relieved now that they’re prepared for visitors. Instead of feeling unhappy and helpless, we’re doing something about a situation we don’t like.
I realize this post may be too late for you to get organized in time for this year, but I hope you’ll be inspired to make up your own Halloween Gift Bundles for next year.
When beggars approach, don’t let yourself be angered by any aspect of demand or greed they may demonstrate. They have come to you hoping for sweetness. Use this opportunity to share with them true love and kindness, and pray that through the Law and the Gospel of Jesus Christ they will receive more sweetness than they ever dreamed possible.
POSTSCRIPT
When they first encountered American Halloween, Kiwi evangelist Ray Comfort and his family used to react the same way I did! In the following episode of "On the Box", he explains what they do now instead of hiding from Halloweeners. He mentions it twice during the half hour program.
