Trunk or Treat Is Coming!

Every day I am astounded by the rapid rate at which our year is flying by. Less than 2 weeks to Halloween. Walmart is already putting out Christmas decorations. I am sure it will be no time and their will be Mother’s Day cards on the shelves, too!

Speaking of Halloween, you and I have a great missions opportunity coming up on that day. That would be the Trunk or Treat we host on our upper grass lot each year. I know…costumes, kids, etc. might not be your thing. Your kids are grown, your grandkids don’t live here, and you don’t want to get out and trick or treat. I completely get that but let me paint it in a different light for you. Let me show you the missions side of opening your trunk.

On Wednesday night, October 31 we will have close to 1,000 children on our property. They won’t be alone. They will have their parents, grandparents, or aunts and uncles with them. Maybe even a combination of all of those. They will be here…on our turf. That means that we get the chance to meet them, engage with them, and leave them with an impression of the Gospel, an impression of our church, and an impression of how we care about Fairburn.

Another addition to this is how they get here. How many church events do you think the City of Fairburn will advertise for us? Or, for how many events per year do you think our local elementary schools have the free reign to send home an invitation from our church with each child? If you guessed more than 1, you are wrong. This is it! We have been given direct access to nearly 1,500 children through West and Campbell Elementary schools for this event.

So, the other thing with trunk or treat is that it is not just us. Sure, we are hosting the event here, but we have been contacted by other churches, schools, and community organizations about bringing cars of their own to use for the trunk or treat. That is pretty cool. This will truly be a community outreach on our turf. Other community entities will join us, but we also have the chance to engage them. This is another reason why we need 20 trunks from FBC to participate this year. Here are some other ways you can help:

• Bring candy. Even if you are doing a trunk, bring candy. The more bags, the better. If you are doing a trunk, maybe even bring a starter bag for yourself.
• Greet people. As families line up around the block, a smile and a brief statement of direction will go a long way. You can even help direct people towards parking and place a church invite card in their hand.
• Be a candy runner. So, we will have command ops set up on the back of the grass lot and wagons. We just need you to commit to helping restock the wagons and the trunks throughout the night.
• Help our guests. I know I mentioned parking, but helping direct our guest trunks will be great. Helping them set up their trunk will be a great move of kindness. Hear their stories and learn about their lives in a way that shows that FBC Fairburn truly loves this city and her people.
• Bring a trunk! There will be a sign up sheet this week at the welcome desk where you can sign up to do a trunk. We need 20, but would love to have even more. Maybe your Sunday Bible Study wants to do a trunk together. Be creative. You don’t have to overhaul your entire car. But, please be willing to open up the back of your car to make this trunk or treat our best ever.

I know the next questions is: “How is this missions?” That is a good and fair question. We think of something being missions when we go somewhere or set up a Bible camp/school in a different place or even when we step into the city of Fairburn. Many would say this is just an outreach of the church. That is not wrong, but it also is not exclusively outreach. Maybe the better term is “being missional”. That is what I want you to see with this. Being missional. Seeing the mission field of Fairburn and using a candy laden, costume covered Wednesday night to build the bridge of the Gospel into a new life.

Sure, candy is the draw and a night of fun is the impulse for people showing up. However, because you and I know Jesus, we can make it so much more. Come join me on Wednesday, Oct 31 at 5 on the upper lot as we reach families in Fairburn.