Trick or treat: intrusion or opportunity?

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October 2017 – Rick Lane, in San Antonio, Texas, at first grumbled when he realized that over 300 kids are bussed in for trick or treating on his street each year. But soon he recognized it as an opportunity to give out more than candy at his doorstep.

“Some years ago, we set out 300 pocket-sized versions of the Gospel of John in Spanish and English, and all were picked up, plus hundreds of my self-written tracts with verses and explanations pointing to the Bible,” Lane shared with AFA Journal.

As the numbers of visitors grew each year, the project of giving out gospels became more expensive than simply handing out candy.

“I prayed to know the impact,” Lane said, “and not long after, a Hispanic friend told me that she was sitting in her Catholic church with her grandson, and he pulled on her sleeve and said, ‘The priest is quoting from the book of John.’ She asked how the fourth grader knew that, since she knew he did not own a Bible, and she could not read. ‘It’s the book I picked up at Mr. Lane’s house at Halloween,’ he said. ‘I read it.’ I reordered 300 more, and trust that he is not the only child to read it.”

Other Christian books Lane gives away for the parents during Halloween include Bible for the Bewildered and Prayer for the Tongue Tied.