EVANGELISM IDEAS FOR CHILDREN

BY MARY BRANSON

It was early May. I was using my lunch hour to shop for a card for a new mother. In the back of the card store, I noticed several shopping carts overflowing with stuffed bunnies. The salesclerk was in the midst of reducing these leftover Easter goodies from 75 to 90 percent off. A quick calculation told me that little bunnies were twenty-nine cents; large ones were $1.99.

It was too good a bargain to pass up. I quickly filled a cart of my own with 10, 20, 30 (okay, more than that) stuffed bunnies in various sizes. As I tossed bags and bags of bunnies into the trunk of my car, eased out of my parking space with a satisfied smile, and headed back to my office, reality hit: What do you do with an embarrassingly large quantity of Easter bunnies and only two small children in your family?

It was the beginning of one of my most satisfying on mission Easter experiences.

The next week, I checked out discount stores and found that May Easter baskets could also be bought for a pittance. Likewise Easter grass and other nonperishable Easter items. Soon my basement was filled with carefully stacked, systematically labeled boxes.

A few weeks before the next Easter, I contacted the chaplain at the local Veteran's Administration hospital. I explained, "It must be difficult to be in the hospital during holidays. Patients are always receiving gifts, but they can't get out to shop for gifts to give.

"Could our family bring Easter baskets for your patients to give to children and grandchildren who visit them? And, if so, would you mind if we included an explanation of the true meaning of Easter?"

"Certainly" and "Certainly not," he replied. So we set a date for the baskets to be delivered.

Then we sat down with Taylor, 5, and Elliott, 3, to ask them what Easter was all about. They dictated, we typed and duplicated. We rolled the very simple messages, scroll fashion, and tied them with ribbon. We attached them to the outsides of the baskets--they were meant for the patients. Then we filled the baskets with the bargain goodies we'd collected, added some individual packages of raisins and gummy candy, asked God to let every rolled-up paper be read by someone, and headed for the VA hospital.

The chaplain greeted us with enthusiasm and expressed such gratitude that Taylor and Elliott promised to deliver Easter baskets annually until they were 16 (the most mature age they could imagine and the limit to Elliott's counting ability).

Not every on mission Easter activity has to be this time-consuming and, yes, exhausting. But every Easter season we celebrate with our children can and should include activities that emphasize our faith. At Christmas, we're eager to share the Source of our joy. But at Easter, we're often strangely silent. What better time to tell what Christ has done for us than at the season when we remember His sacrifice?

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