'Create a more hope-filled Halloween'

World Vision UK has launched a new campaign to encourage churches to use Halloween as a way to engage more children with the good news of the gospel, while raising awareness of the plight of vulnerable children around the world

Halloween is now the third biggest retail moment of the year, and the international children's charity's new campaign Pumpkin Heroes aims to equip Christians seeking a different response to the Halloween season.

Pumpkin Heroes is a free pack of Bible-based resources for churches.

'We understand that Halloween can be a tricky time of year, especially for churches,' explained Chine McDonald, Head of Christian Influence & Engagement for World Vision UK.

'But we wanted to create Pumpkin Heroes to equip churches with great Bible-based resources that we hope will help them use that time of year to bring hope and light to children in their communities.'

The resource introduces children to Patch the Pumpkin. The resource pack includes a leaders guide, an illustrated story book (written by former BBC writer, Nick Page), a story-time film narrated by The Night Manager star Natasha Little, a Pumpkin Heroes Hunt including Bible verses and prayers, and other activities such as recipes and crafts. Each of the resources are available to download for free at www.pumpkinheroes.com.
 
Chine added, 'The vision is not only to create activities for kids, but to inspire them with the good news of the Christian faith and to introduce them to stories of other children like them living in different parts of the world.

'Our prayer would be that this Halloween, Patch and his friends can genuinely help churches create a more hope-filled narrative and get the children in their church excited about sharing God’s love with others.'