Sharing the Gift of Christmas
One of the biggest challenges facing Christians in Western nations today is that people lack an interest in Christian things. The apathy that prevails in many of our lands almost makes gospel witness impossible, however, this seems to change around Christmas. A wise evangelist will seek to make the most of the season, as we have a prime opportunity to talk about Christ to people who otherwise may never consider Him. It is at this time of year that people are more open to taking a tract or book; many will even come along to special events at churches.
What I would like to do in this article is propose a simple, but effective, form of evangelism which churches and individuals can utilise during this season. One method of evangelism which we can use during this season is the giving away of gift bags.
This year in Newquay, we are planning to give away 500 Christmas gift bags to people in our community; these bags contain a candy cane, a gospel booklet, a tract, church invite and also a Christmas carols CD. In the two weeks prior to Christmas, we plan to go door to door distributing these gifts. Last year, we gave away 200 gift bags, with only a handful of people rejecting the gift. What we do is when someone answers the door, we introduce ourselves as being from a local church, then we say, “We would like to give you a free gift this Christmas. Merry Christmas!” Last year, the vast majority of people were overwhelmed with gratitude at this simple gesture, and many conversations took place.
Due to the cost of this outreach, I wouldn’t suggest covering entire towns or suburbs (unless you have the finances to do so), rather I would encourage you to focus on a particular street, housing area, or student accommodation. In the days before you begin to distribute your gifts, call for a special prayer meeting at your church so that people can pray for all those who will receive the gospel bags. Then after you have given away your gifts, report back to your church so that they can pray further.
To help you fill your bags, I would recommend the following resources (you don’t have to use them all):
1) Candy Cane or Chocolate: Include something sweet and nice which people can enjoy.
2) Gospel Booklet: This year we are using a special compilation gospel booklet from the Pocket Testament League which puts all the birth narratives of Jesus together into chronological format. We will use this booklet to encourage people to read the story of Christmas for themselves. In previous years we have given away copies of the Gospel of Luke, so that people can read about the birth of Jesus in their own time.
3) Christmas Tract / Booklet: A short and clear gospel tract which uses Christmas as its theme is very helpful. Many people will read Christian material at this time of year if it is addressing the topic of Christmas. This year we are using the Christmas tracts from the Open-Air Mission. Other helpful Christmas themed resources include (but not limited to) those written by Roger Carswell, Glen Scrivener, John Blanchard and Rico Tice.
4) Church Invite: Include an invite to your local church. We have included a flyer that details our Carols and Christmas Day services. Our goal is to see the people we give the bags to converted, and then joining local churches.
5) Introduction Letter: I have included a letter explaining why we are giving away the bags and encouraging people to read the Christmas story for themselves. This letter will hopefully make further connections with people in our community.
6) Christmas Carols CD: With 2020 being rather strange due to COVID-19, and now the fact that Christmas will be different, we thought it would be a nice touch to include an evangelistic Christmas Carols CD in our bags. Our desire is that people will listen to the singing and message either at home, or while driving in their cars.
Of course, these are but a few suggestions as there are many more things you could do. The main thing, however, is to make sure the gospel is clearly included in these gift bags.
This Christmas make much of Jesus!