What are Christmas and Easter all About? – Page 2

Six ways to share the gospel during the Christmas season

Christmas is fast approaching and many churches and believers are preparing not only to celebrate this special festival but to make full use of this natural opportunity to share the gospel message with the people in their lives and in their communities. Two resources that are very helpful during this season are What are Christmas and Easter All About? and its brand-new variant, The Story that Matters. This new booklet has the same text as Christmas and Easter but is in a smaller format, and with completely new line art. Now you have the choice of two booklets for your Christmas plans.

Here are six ways to make use of these resources.

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I confess… I cut up “The Lamb”!

Cutting up The Lamb It’s the end of summer in the northern hemisphere. While school was out and the weather warm, summer camps were in full swing. Many children attended Christian camps, backyard Bible clubs, or Vacation Bible Schools (VBS) where, in the midst of fun activities, they also got to learn the message of the Bible. For many of these children, it was the first time they heard the gospel message.

We received an email from Julia,* who taught at a VBS. She said she had to confess something to us. She wrote:

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Radio broadcast in Malawi using GoodSeed Resources

In January we posted a Report from Malawi describing what God has been doing there through the newly translated Chichewa edition of the booklet What are Christmas and Easter All About? Recently, over the Easter weekend, the booklet was broadcast live and listeners were able to call in with questions, comments, and to order the book for themselves. Here’s an excerpt from Rodrick, the Bible teacher who did the broadcast:

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Church gives the gospel at Easter Parade

The folks at Bethel Baptist Church of Parkersburg, West Virginia, are busy getting ready for the fifth annual Mid-Ohio Valley Easter Parade. Their float—a rolling visual aid complete with a cross, empty tomb, music speakers and Bible verse placards—is almost complete. Volunteers from the congregation plan to walk alongside to greet and pass out candy to the crowds of onlookers.

Last year Bethel Baptist ordered 300 of the booklets What are Christmas and Easter All About? The problem, though, was that they ran out of them part way through the parade route. So, last week one of the pastors, Kevin Brosius, called the GoodSeed USA office to place an order for 1000 booklets. They’re determined not to be short this year!

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How can I make the best use of Easter?

The Lamb... an Easter gift Easter is a natural time of the year to explain the message of the gospel with others. Many of our neighbours, friends and co-workers are curious about the significance of this occasion. In addition, churches often use this opportunity to host special events in order to share the Bible’s message with interested people in their communities.

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A brief report from Malawi, Africa

(Editor’s note: Last month we posted A very good Christmas gift for Malawians which told about the recent completion and launch of the Chichewa (national language of Malawi) edition of What are Christmas and Easter All About? This is a first-hand report from Rodrick, the translator and Bible teacher who is using this resource to equip Pastors and young people alike to clearly understand the gospel and share it with their own people.)

**A brief report from Malawi on the Christmas & Easter Booklet launch**

Some years ago, I read a very interesting statement. It said something like this:

“Zeal without knowledge is dangerous, and knowledge without zeal is disastrous.”

What a true statement!

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Why do you give the name Yahweh high profile in By This Name and What are Christmas and Easter all about?

yhwh sky

For those with limited experience confronting non-biblical worldviews, the use of Yahweh in these books seems a little unnecessary. Why even bring that name up? Will it not be confused with Jehovah Witnesses?

To start with, those who are biblically illiterate wouldn’t know that the name Jehovah and Yahweh are related. So it is no problem to them—they don’t make the connection to the Jehovah’s Witnesses. As for the Jehovah’s Witnesses themselves, they do know the connection, which makes these two books more acceptable to them rather than otherwise.

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“A very good Christmas gift for Malawians”

Beginning today, 160 believers from villages around the African country of Malawi will be taught how to share the Good News using the recently completed translation of the book What are Christmas and Easter all About?

The translator who did the work to translate this resource from English into Chichewa, the national language of Malawi, sent this note just yesterday.

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Big plans for small towns in Alberta’s North

Our curiosity got the better of us this week when an order came into our Canada office. The man wanted 2500 copies of the book, What are Christmas and Easter All About? We discovered that big plans are in motion to share the gospel with families of First Nation communities in Northern Alberta this Christmas.

“It actually started this past summer when we used The Lamb curriculum at camp,” said Peter Fehr on the phone yesterday. Peter works with Eagle’s Nest Ministry Center, an organization that hosts 500-600 children every year from over 20 First Nation communities in Northern Alberta and Northwest Territories. Peter went on to tell how the campers were enthralled with the colourful illustrations and how each lesson’s questions helped the staff make sure each child clearly understood the gospel message.

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Refugees on Christmas Island

Photo credit: DIBP images on flickr

Australia regularly receives boatloads of refugees seeking asylum. Many of these people from surrounding nations are genuine asylum seekers, while others are not. It’s a challenge for the government to discern the difference as it processes these people arriving on its shores.

The refugees are temporarily housed on Christmas Island while their cases are being investigated. There are ministries on the island that provide aid to these men and women from distant places. James and Shelly Campbell* are one such ministry couple. They interact with the refugees, providing help and handing out Bibles and Christian literature to those who ask for them. At their request, our Australia office shipped them a box of What are Christmas and Easter all About? along with other GoodSeed books. The parcel was apparently lost in the mail but, thank God, it showed up two months later.

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