Jesus asks us to love God and to love our neighbor. On October 31, we have a unique opportunity to do just that. This is the one day of the year the world—our neighbors— come to our doorstep. As Christians, we have a wonderful opportunity to use this day to share with them about Jesus, about our church, and to bless their socks off with candy—the good kind!

One way we can do this is to host “Light the Night” in our communities and neighborhoods. We can use this wonderful opportunity to be a blessing and to be light in our area. Below are some tips to create a fun “Light the Night” outreach on October 31.

1. Organize host homes. If your church has community groups, ask them to partner with your children’s ministry and host “Light the Night” at their host homes.

2. Create gift bags. Have your children’s ministry create the treat bags that are handed out. In the bags include information about your church, information about Jesus (music CDs, comic books, tracts, coloring evangelism sheets, etc.) and good candy.

3. Make the event fun. It can be as minimal as handing out treat bags or as big as you want it. Some things you can include are: carnival games, coloring pages, hay bales to sit on, food (popcorn, pizza, chili, apple cider, hot chocolate, etc.), balloon animals, puppet shows, an outdoor movie projected on the side of your house or church, or music. You are only limited by your imagination.

4. Offer lots of candy. Most kids go trick-or-treating because they get to dress up; yes, but also because they hope to get lots of their favorite candy. My suggestion is to bless their socks off with the candy. Go the extra mile and be the “big bar house.” When we bless our kids with good candy, we gain an opportunity to tell them about Jesus. This also serves as an investment, as next year word may spread that your church or house is the “big bar house.” The number of kids you can minister to may increase because of that.

“Light the Night” can be an opportunity to partner with your community group ministry or your outreach department. It can also be a way to work with your youth group. Talk to your youth pastor about hosting a “Light the Night” where the teenagers can come and serve. This event can serve as an opportunity to connect ministries within your church and to show Jesus to the kids and families within your own community.

Halloween can be a tricky holiday to navigate, but whatever you choose to do, thank you for sharing the love of Jesus with the kids in your neighborhoods!