Years ago, when my children were much younger, Halloween presented an interesting question to me. Do I allow them to participate in all the different Halloween festivities or not? Should I let them go trick-or-treating? Should we participate in something that many Christians condemn as “satanic” even though we are centuries removed and it’s really just a cultural thing now? These questions seemed odd to me because as a child I went out trick-or-treating every single year. But as a young father, I found myself asking these type of questions.
After prayerful consideration I came to the conclusion to participate in some of the Halloween activities. Stuff like going to fall festivals and having my girls walk around the neighborhood with friends and family collecting candy. And here is why. Because it is a great opportunity to meet my neighbors and have some great conversations that, God willing, would lead to talking to them about Christ.
As Halloween approaches I believe there are 3 very specific things you can do on Halloween that will help you build and develop relationships with people in your neighborhood.
Go trick or treating. Partner up with some of the other parents from the neighborhood or some of your children’s friends from school, and go trick or treating with them. Have fun, have some great conversations. Use it as an opportunity to get to know the families better.- Host a Halloween/Harvest Party at your house. This is great especially if you have young kids. Have them invite their friends and parents over and just have a fun day of pumpkin carving, eating yummy food, and/or watching fun cartoon Halloween specials.
- Simply sit on your front porch and give out candy. This is something that you can do no matter what your age. As children and parents come up to your place say, “hi” and comment nicely on their costumes. And even stack up your house with really good candy so kids get excited to get something great. By giving out candy and being nice, you open doors for later to begin friendships that will hopefully lead to conversations about God.
Whether you choose to go trick or treating with the kids and other parents, hold a party, or just pass out candy to people in the neighborhood, meet some new neighbors this October, Halloween presents a lot of great opportunities for you in your neighborhood. As the day approaches, keep praying to God that He would open up some doors for you to meet new people that they come to know Christ one day. It will be really cool to see what God does.
What do you think? What do you do on Halloween? Share below.