Saturday, November 1, 2008

Fall Festival

Our annual Fall Festival Halloween alternative was a huge success this year. It was our biggest crowd yet with estimates of over 3,000 people in attendance! We gave away 2,500 hot dogs, 750 bags of candy, hundreds of temporary tattoos, parked hundreds of cars and popped of popcorn and cotton candy. From those playing Bouncy Boxing to kids taking costume pictures, there were lots of new faces in the crowd and I had a blast getting everything ready to serve all those people. Over 250 people in our church served last night. I met one family in a store that day as they were preparing for a Halloween party for themselves. They were purchasing some things and I told them about our alternative. They put their things back and said they would see us that night. I saw them and they had a great time. They said they would see me at church Sunday as well. Last year, we met a new family and now he leads one of our AWANA game times and she is one of our church secretaries.

While events like these require a great deal of planning, preparation, people and time, they are great to reach people and connect them with the church. Not our building, but the church - people who live for Christ. It wasn't about pony rides, cotton candy and inflatable games, although they were fun. The Segways were great, but it was about loving on people. I pray no one who served that night missed out on that truth.

I loved seeing all those kids having a great, safe time at a place filled with loving people representing Christ and our church. Our church did wonderful. They loved on people, stayed late to clean up, and did whatever it took to make it a great night for our community. Thanks to everyone who served and thanks to those who had a great time. I can't wait to make it bigger and better next year to reach more people. It was great to have a place that gave a positive, Christian alternative and reclaim this day meant for fright and fear for the Lord. To be honest, this is the first year I didn't think about fear, haunted houses or anything that represented evil. My thoughts were on making last night full of Christ. I pray we displayed Christ and made connections with them and our church.

No comments:

Post a Comment