Instead of the usual haunted house, a small church in Georgia has set up a series of rooms containing dramatic portrayals of real life situations. One shows a bloody car accident, another displays the horrors of abortion. A sordid drug scene is included along with a ghastly satanic ritual. The last room contained a scorching walk through hell after which trick-or-treaters were given a gospel tract on the way out.

This is only one of the creative methods used by soul winners to capitalize on the witnessing opportunities at Halloween. Many churches buy Halloween literature and hand it out free to their members to use during the Holiday. One church in New York distributed 2,000 trick-or-treat bags that included a tract along with candy. Another church set up a table on the sidewalk with tracts and treats for the neighborhood kids while the church youth were having a "Harvest Party" inside.

One pastor spent some pulpit time teaching on the history of Halloween and then provided literature for the families to distribute when the night came. "Many people are surprised when they learn the actual meaning of Halloween," he said. "Tracts are also a good way to get the gospel message across when time does not allow for a discussion."

Some churches watch for community activities were they can reach large crowds quickly. One town in Kansas has a week-long, city-wide celebration called Newollah, Halloween spelled backwards. It included a parade and carnival, a queen contest and musicals. All of these activities attract a lot of people where soul winners can move quickly getting the gospel into many hands in a hurry. The pastor reported, "The tracts were readily accepted and very few people refused them. We stamped our church name on the back of them and our members passed out 1800 tracts."

One church provided Halloween tracts to a local food bank that asked churches to supply literature to go in food boxes. Another Ohio church is working on putting the gospel in every home in their town. At Halloween they add Chick Halloween tracts to the information packet which they leave at each home. "We know especially that with the Chick tracts they are going to get read. If they throw the packet away they will still have the church information on the back of the tract," said church member Tom Gresham.

More even than Christmas or Easter, Halloween is being turned into a major national witnessing opportunity by creative soul winners.