By Susie Rain, Photos by Chloe Lewis
This is going to sound like a “no brainer” — Easter is a natural time for missionaries to share about Christ. Not a big deal! Right?
But think about it. Many live in places where it is illegal to “convert” someone to Christianity. So this is ONE of two times a year when people ask about their “cultural festival.” After all, to the casual observer, Christmas and Easter are just that — good parties.
Using cultural symbols like Easter eggs is a great and fun way to explain Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection. IMB missionaries around the world will use various evangelism tools this Easter to share the “greatest story ever told.” Try one of these activities with your small group and pray for those sharing about Christ’s sacrifice this Easter season.
Challenge: Take it one step further and reach out to internationals around you. Teach them what Easter is really about!
Easter Egg Hunt
Write out parts of the Easter story on small slips of paper.
Put the slips of paper, along with a sweet treat, inside plastic eggs.
Hide the eggs.
Start the hunt off by telling the Easter story and urging listeners to pay close attention. Explain that you have hidden eggs with parts of the story inside of them. Tell participants to find the eggs and then put the parts of the story in the correct order. Read the story out loud together.
Colors of Salvation Eggs
Dye Easter eggs in the traditional colors used to tell the salvation story. Use the colors to talk about what it means to be a follower of Christ.
- Purple: God’s Grace
- Black: Sin
- Blue: Baptism
- Red: Blood of Jesus
- White: Forgiveness of Sin
- Green: Eternal Life
- Gold: Heaven
Character Eggs
Before dying the Easter eggs, use a crayon to write (or draw) an attribute of Jesus on it. It will show up clearly when dipped in dye. When hunting for the eggs, your guests will also be searching for the different characteristics that describe Jesus. Gather eggs together and see who found the most attributes of Jesus and see if they can name them.
Resurrection Eggs
Place a symbol from the Easter story in plastic eggs.
(Variation: draw symbols with wax on hard-boiled eggs and then dye.)
As you tell the resurrection story, open the eggs and show the symbol. When you finish, have your friend retell the story using the eggs.
Egg Parts
Use a hard-boiled egg to illustrate the story of Easter. Dying the egg red represents the blood that was shed for the forgiveness of sin. The hard shell represents the sealed tomb where Christ was buried.
The breaking of the egg represents Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.
Interested in downloading these ideas? Download here: *COLOR *B&W
Susie Rain lives and writes from Asia. Sharing the gospel using creative ways is one of her favorite things to do. You can follow her on Facebook or Twitter.
This article was originally published at stories.imb.org.
