Testimonials

From Guests ...

"It is so refreshing to hear of something positive in the community and of someone organizing an event where children will have fun and feel safe.."

"Full marks for arranging an alternative event to Halloween and the unsafe practise of trick-or-treating. Thanks."

"I attended the Light Partyâ„¢. What a delight it was. An alternative to Halloween. I'm writing to express my gratitude to [the church]."

"..It was one of the best parties I've attended . . ."

"..This year my grandsons did not dress up as scary monsters. Thank you!"

From Hosts 2007

The whole night was a success. It gets better every year.  Doubtless Bay Christian Centre

Our live radio broadcast was great. We had music for the kids and funny news updates and competitions which the kids really got into.  Once again the branding on our tee-shirts, aprons stickers signs and all printed material was really effective.  - Connections Community Centre and Christian Church NZ,

We had a very successful Light Party on Wednesday with 70-80 children involved all having loads of fun. - Eastside Baptist Church

[A success was] The appreciation and delight of all the parents who registered their children to receive free treat bags full of goodies and activities. - Flaxmere Baptist Church

The team really worked well together, biggest numbers so far, lots of thank you's from parents, added few new games & activities, food yummy and great access. -  Hastings Baptist Church

[We had a] good crowd - games worked well. - Hillsborough Baptist Church

A very positive atmosphere with lots of parents saying how great it was.  -  Karori Baptist Church

The food, the activities and the crowd were awesome.  -  Maungarei Community Christian Trust, Mt Wellington

It was great to see church people getting in and helping.  - New Lynn Bible Chapel

This was the first time that our Church had held an event like this so the greatest success was the huge amount of support given to this event from those backing this initiative; the offers of help that were received; the community who showed their support by attending our Light Party and the words of encouragement given by many. It was an event enjoyed by all.  -  Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church

We had quite a big turn out, which was partly due to the article we had in the local newspaper a few days before the event. There was a wide variety of activities for the children to do, which catered for both boys and girls. There was a very happy and positive atmosphere to the evening. A great success all around! -  Papatoetoe Baptist Church

We were expecting about 60-80 people and ended up with 392! The community really needed something like this. People could not get over everything being free as this community is a very wealthy area. People felt it was really a community feel and some even thought the church was quite trendy because of some of the entertainment we provided e.g. Go-cart. -  Sumner-Redcliffs Angilcan Church

International

10 year old boys enjoying them selves going home thinking it better than Halloween -  Junior café, UK.

So many parents wanted an alternative to Halloween and thought that the format and ethos of our party was great. We all had a super time! -  St Peter's Church, UK

From hosts 2006

From hosts 2005...

From hosts 2004...

"[The Light Party] was excellent. I can see the benefit of having it organised by the church – more ideas, facilities helpers and a team effort. I was exhausted the next day but still hearing positive feedback from kids, Praise God.”
Alisa Lasi, Auckland

"We had an awesome time. Great for the church family and great for the community. We were overwhelmed by the number of people who came. Everyone was rapt with having something positive happening. Our church family enjoyed themselves reaching out. The big success was reaching the community and the goodwill that resulted. There were lots of great positive comments. Roll on next year!
All Saints Community Church, Hamilton

"The live band was great, they were very flexible and the kids enjoyed watching. The games were fun especially the "What’s in the box?” All the kids loved it and that it was their favourite thing. It was tiring but fun. The resources were a great help, and being part of a nationally organised Light Party was a great help as people felt comfortable with this. We’ll do it again.”
All Saints, Hataitai, Wellington

"All the kids got a prize….”
All Saints Taradale – Youth Group, Napier

"Great idea, keep up the good work. Personally I found it motivated me to get organised having email encouragements coming. [We had] good attendance, fun, [it] united the church in a kids ministry project.”
Balclutha New Life, Balclutha

"Your website was great and I think you're doing awesome work.”
Bethlehem Community Church, Tauranga

"This was our first Light Party. Painting light bulbs was a great success, everyone was happy and [there were] lots of opportunities to encourage kids. Yes, we’ll do it again.”
Central Hawkes bay Christian Fellowship, Napier

"The general atmosphere of the day was great. We discovered a hidden talent in our congregation – our clown was wonderful. We heard that one 8 year old boy that attended (who doesn’t like writing) stayed after class on Monday, so he could keep writing his story about going to our Light Party!”
Connections Church of Christ, Upper Hutt

"We are pleased to report that our Light Party was a huge success. We estimated about 30 children might turn up, however, a quick head count revealed we had close on 60 plus adults (most of those in attendance were non-church goers!) Praise the Lord. We had a wonderful afternoon… in light of this year’s success we now have a better idea of how to plan for next year, and delegation will lighten the load. Thank you for your prayers, God was certainly in control.”
Dargaville Assembly of God, Dargaville

"It was a very worthwhile outreach. An excellent concept. It was a great success. A better result than I expected, especially number wise, we’ll follow up by having another one next year.”
Doubtless Bay Baptist, Doubtless Bay

"I really liked all of the ideas that came from the website. The event was well planned and the children had a wonderful time.”
East City Wesleyan, Auckland

"Thank you for helping us to bring to reality something for the children of Flaxmere. The idea of getting so much for nothing just blew a lot of parents away. Kids loved the Cake walk – the idea that they could win a free cake was too much for some! Organising something like this has united the churches, in such a way that God commands a blessing. It has been a priviledge and a blessing for us...”
Flaxmere Combined Churches, Flaxmere

"We had a great time together and everyone enjoyed themselves. It was a good opportunity to share with people from the fringe of church life and others who visited.”
Glengarry Church of Christ, Invercargill

"Things went very smoothly and we feel that is because of the prayer that went into the event before hand. Everyone really enjoyed the evening from the young to the not so young. We had a lady from the community ring the day after to say that she had attended with her husband and children and they were TOTALLY BLESSED. I think bringing Jesus as the Light to the front of what you are doing is wonderful. The turnout was evidence that people like the idea.”
Greerton Bible Church, Tauranga

"Successes; Having some youth who have never been involved in an outreach like this before. Choose a game, design how they would run it, make a sign and get all they need and then run it on the night by themselves… they were so faithful and responsible. Great team building.”
Grey Lynn Community Church, Auckland

"The second time around it was much less stressful as we knew what it looked like, and it can only get better from here. Our church family absolutely love it, they love seeing so many from the community here, they all get in and help – even the 70+s”
Hastings Baptist Church, Hastings

"Being our first Light Party it was not advertised in the community so as to give us a feel for what we could do next year. Successes; the numbers who brought unchurched friends, the catering was just right, the youth event component was a hit, everyone had a great evening. It was a great event. Everyone we’ve spoken to said their family loved it. Looking forward to a bigger and better one next year. Thanks for the vision.”
Ingestre Street Church of Christ, Wanganui

"27 New Testaments given out, good venue, inter-church co operation, community participation, positive feeling – [it was a] very positive experience for the first time. Thank you for offering a positive alternative.
Island Bay Presbyterian for Island Bay combined churches

"This was our first Light Party. [We had] sound planning, promotion, preparation and communication to all team members. [You had] a very good resource pack – excellent detail. We’ll do it again.”
Kingston St Community Church, Palmerston North

"Great night for our first year. Successes were; bouncy castle, helpers, numbers of kids, positive environment, sponsorship prizes. We’ll do it again!”
Life City Church, Wellington

"For a first time event it went amazingly well, I’m sure that’s due to all the prayer generated – big thanks for the Carmelites – we felt so blessed throughout the organisation time. [We had an] overwhelming number of kids.. there is obviously a need out in the community for a safe party on the 31st October. Great to have so many unchurched people in church.”
Living Waters Christian Centre, Hillmorton, Christchurch

"Being able to use the Light Party logo and the advertising in the paper meant quite a few community children not connected to the church came. Yes – Definitely do it again.”
Living Well Church, Rotorua

"This was my first Light Party. About 5 non churched families attended plus a number of teens from another church. One family was looking for a church home. [We had] a great, fun time together. The branding will become better known as time goes on.”
Masterton Apostolic, Masterton

"A good time was had by all, we’ll definitely do another it was a great success. A good cross section of the community, Christian and unchurched attended.”
Mountainview Vineyard Christian Fellowship, Stratford

"We received lots of comments back from community parents on the quality of entertainment and how enjoyable the evening was. A great response to providing an alternative to Halloween for parents. The entertainment, food and atmosphere were excellent. It’s fantastic to see so many churches doing this – lets pray for double next year!”
Mt Wellington Community Church, Auckland”

"Successes; the number of children who turned up who have no connection with any church. The positive response from those parents who attended. The website was a great help. Hold Light Party again? Yes – definitely!”
Morrinsville Combined Churches, Morrinsville

"This was my first Light Party; kids are coming back for Rally, one parent wants to know more about Chritianity! It’s great for church members to work together on this project. We’ll definitely hold a Light Party again.”
Nae Nae Open Brethren, Lower Hutt

"Being a small church we had just the right number of people turn up on the night. [We had] a great turn out of non-church members and expression of interest from people to attend church. One child is attending Sunday school.”
New Heights Community Church, Rotorua

"Praise God for the great weather. The place was buzzing and it was great to see the church working together to provide such a fun event. It has been excellent to hear of feedback from guests about how they appreciated the warmth and generosity of the church – we’ve already had guests from the Light Party attending our English classes, but the best thing is the way the Light Party brand connects us with other churches and we can all pray for each other.”
Ngaire Avenue Bible Chapel, Epsom, Auckland

"We did not go ahead with the party as we left our run too late with only 2 weeks prior to the evening when we got your details. We also felt that Halloween was not big here, however newspaper follow up later that week spoke of the mess and destruction in the town on that evening. So we plan to act early next year and get a party up and running.”
Nhulunbuy Uniting Church, Northern Territory, Australia

"Overwhelmed by how much people loved it. It was the talk of staffrooms at school the next day. Loved to hear how unchurched kids took their ‘take home bags’ to school next day for morning talk. It was very successful. We would love to see Light Party events all through Taranaki and have no kids going Trick or Treating.”
Northpoint Baptist Church, New Plymouth

"The weather made the whole event really awesome. It was a real community carnival and we have had lots of positive feedback. People were amazed at the small entry cost and that most things were free. We put lots of prayer into this event and we believe that it paid off. A big thank you to the nuns who also prayed as well as the Light Party exec. It was a mission getting an event this size organised but it helped to be able to network with another church down the road who were also running their second Light Party.”
Pakuranga Baptist, Auckland

"[The Light Party] is a very worthwhile initiative. Parents who had not heard about it before thought it was a good way of directing their children’s enthusiasm.”
Parliament Party

"Our purpose was to provide a safe party in our not so great neighbourhood – totally worked! Also to share individually about Christ – I had a table of 6 adults from our church who are all outgoing and many bilingual – totally worked! We had a table of free Bibles and people took over 40!!. You guys are awesome – your encouragement so greatly carried us through some hard times. We plan to do a Light Party next year!”
Pasadena Christian Centre, Pasadena, California, USA

"[We had] such a great night. The website and resource kit made it so much easier. We had heaps of non-church families, which was great. Everyone who came said they had a fantastic night, all parts of the night went great – better than we thought. Definitely will have one next year.”
Raleigh Street Christian Centre, Cambridge

"The Light Party was a success for us because we connected in a positive way with another church. It showed the people in our church that it’s not just about us, but the Kingdom of God. It was really a joint effort. We will do the same thing next year, i.e. promote their Light Party, as they ran the night very efficiently and successfully.”
Salt and Light Community Church, Papamoa

"It was fun having something different than Halloween to give to the children and families. It was good family fun, enjoyed by all.”
Salvation Army, Gore

"We are very pleased to have had the opportunity to conduct a Light Party. As you said on your website, a very positive response from the community.”
Shirley Methodist, Christchurch

"Great fun; took the pressure of Halloween off families, excellent way to involve non believing family members, opportunity for the family to be together. All the resource materials were helpful. Most valuable were the breakdown of party activities and testimonies.”
Shore Community Christian Church, North Shore, Auckland

"We were pleased with our effort, everyone enjoyed the event and we made contact with families in our immediate area who are not church attenders. We’ll definitely hold one next year.”
St Aidans, South Auckland

"We were encouraged by the number who turned up on the night – had found it difficult to predict in advance. The immediate response from the organising group was ‘it’s worth doing again’. The resources and support made the organisation straight forward. Thanks for sharing the idea with us and for all the behind the scenes work that is done.”
St Anne @ Ward, Anglican, Northland Wellington

"We had more kids than we expected but our catering was pretty accurate. [We had] an awesome response from parents from outside our church who really enjoyed the party and the concept behind it.”
St Chad’s Church, Meadowbank, Auckland

"More attended than expected, great weather for outside, pleasant atmosphere – really well worth doing. It is very likely that we shall hold another one next year.”
St Columba’s Anglican, Hornby, Christchurch

"This was my first Light Party, it was fun for helpers and children and we’ll definitely do it again.”
St Cuthberts Anglican Church, Manaia

"We appreciated your prayers and your media release Sunday night... I think a church venue is a problem for some families.”
St James Uniting Church, Onerahi, Whangarei

"This was my first Light Party. The pizzas were great, games were great, kids had a great time. Did not get as many children as expected due to them going trick or treating, but will definitely do one next year!”
St James Anglican Church, Orakei, Auckland

"Successes; the number who turned up, indicating there is a definite need for a positive alternative to Halloween. [There were] many appreciative comments. ”
St James Presbyterian, Waihi

"Everyone had a great day and is keen to repeat the programme, especially the parents of the children. The parents were eager for an alternative to Halloween and were so very cooperative. A report together with photos is to appear in the local newspaper.”
St Johns Community Church, Medlands Beach, Great Barrier Island

"Children and parents enjoyed it, hectic but we enjoyed it. Feedback remarks were all favourable. Our party was a community outreach. We saw people we never see in church, and they saw us, finding hospitality, friendship and (dare I say) love.”
St Johns, Highfield, Timaru

"We all had a ball. It brought a lot of people together in a lovely, enjoyable way. Lots of bright, happy faces. No accidents, no hiccups, lots of ‘fringe’ families there. Every part of the church complex was in use, adults were seen browsing the new groups brochure in the care, a very elated Vicar who wasn’t involved in organisation. This was a trial first event, but we will advertise wider next time. The suggestions for the format and types of challenges were excellent and saved us so much time and work.”
St Mary’s Anglican Church, Silverstream, Upper Hutt

"Thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Our Parishioners are all set to take part next year. Several parishioners have talked about Light Party to friends and they all think it’s a good idea.”
St Mary by the Sea, Torbay, Auckland

"Your Daystar article, website and branded materials were the catalyst to actually run an event (after years of my thinking we should do something – but not acting).”
St Michael and All Angels, Henderson, Auckland

"Everyone enjoyed the party, we would have like a few more children but had to compete with a half day party at the community centre for Children’s Day.”
St Paul’s Anglican Church, Wairoa, Hawkes Bay

"We just had so much fun and the organising team have nothing but praise for all the help we received. WE found all the suggestions for various activities marvellous and used many of them. Again and again we heard from parents and children alike how much fun they had. Was great working with fold from other church families and we hope to widen that next year. The generosity and co operation was awesome.”
St Paul’s Presbyterian, Feilding

"The Light Party was a great chance to get family groups together – thanks for your help which was a good backdrop. We are well pleased with the event, the kids had a wonderful time. It was noisy, fun-filled and had a lovely church- community feel.”
St Peter’s and Paul’s, Johnsonville

"Successes? The whole thing!! There were some times that we wondered if we were going to pull it off, but we did it in the end. All who came to our party had a great time – kids and helpers alike. For our first party we were so pleased with the turn out and the fact that so many parents stayed and spent time with their kids. Will definitely do it again.”
Taupo Elim Community Church, Taupo

"Great fun was had by all. Every child I have spoken to asked if they could come next time so that is very encouraging. We were glad to hear people had read about it or heard it on the radio and that is why they came.”
Tawa New Life Church, Wellington

"Parents and children appreciated it. It was good to meet up with parents. A good number of church folk were involved.”
Te Puke Baptist, Te Puke

"What can I say, but it was well worth all the late nights of preparation. The night was so amazingly good fun. Thanks for the great resources they have been so awesome to use. Keep up the awesome work.”
The Salvation Army, Tokoroa

"It was a blessing to be part of God’s work, I love the kids and it was great to see them having fun. The Light Party was great all round, yes we’ll have another one!”
The Rock of Life Outreach, Inglewood

"We had a good turnout from community families. A great time for our church community to work together and meet some new people. The community were very enthusiastic for an alternative for their children. Lots of fun and overall a very successful event. Wonderful concept – I found your manual very helpful – everything was there we just needed to do it.”
Titirangi Baptist Church, Auckland

"It was a fun and safe evening where children heard the gospel, lots of helpers and everyone seemed to have fun.”
Waikowhai Community Church, Waikowhai, Auckland

"The whole programme went well. Would like to hold a bigger one next year with all the churches in Whakatane participating!”
Whakatane Baptist Church, Whakatane

From hosts 2003. . .

"We had a lot of positive comments from parents about decorations, plays etc, somewhere safe to come.. positive feedback from children.. children came up and thanked us.. lots of fun was had by all. Will definitely be doing it again next year."
Tawa New Life, Tawa, NZ

"We had 100 children, (more than any other event we've had). Over half the children were from outside the church family. The carnival games were a huge success and children wanted to keep playing. The church family all got involved. I was thrilled with the number of families from outside the church and the positive comments they had to make."
Whakatane Baptist Church, Ohope, NZ

"It was great! Especially seeing different churches in our area pulling together to provide a service to the community. We had about 100 children which is a lot for our neighbourhood, and everyone had a great time!"
Waikowhai Bible Chapel, Auckland, NZ.

"The Noah's Ark Light Party was a fantastic evening, which exceeded all expectations. Children were asked what they like the most about the evening - they replied 'Everything!'"
Upper Hutt Baptist Church, Upper Hutt, NZ

"The evening was beautiful, the children had a great time, plenty to do, plenty to eat and room to move around. It was nice to see families from all over, relaxing and talking with each other. Probably the best thing was seeing how the event connected different people. It was great and we received lots of positive comments."
Ngaire Avenue Bible Chapel, Akld, NZ.

"The kids all had a blast, and we've had so much feedback from the community it has been great. I still have people stopping me to say what a great time they and their children had. The church response has been awesome too. Lots of positive feedback and everyone is looking forward to doing it bigger next year!"
Hastings Baptist Church, Hastings, NZ.

"The Light Party went well. I think this is such a fantastic idea and I pray that it will grow as more people realise the value of pooling resources and ideas and coming under one banner."
Liberty Christian Church, Akld, NZ.

"The whole night was a success! We plan to do it again next year!"
St Peter's Anglican Church, Pahiatua, NZ.

"We were amazed at what we achieved - with a small church, only 2 organisers and only a month to get it ready. We were delighted with the number that attended. The bubble man was very popular and every kid wanted an animal balloon!"
Connections Church of Christ, Upper Hutt, NZ.

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