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by Dawn SundstromWhen Jeanie asked me to host a Christmas coffee, I was scared to death," says Sarah Baker. "I can remember saying to the Lord, I sing in the choir. Isn't that enough?"
The year before, Jeanie Frasch had invited a handful of friends to a gathering at Christmas time, where they reminisced about holiday traditions and heard how faith in Jesus puts the meaning back into the season. Afterward, the mother of three bubbled with excitement about this non-threatening way of sharing Christ and knew that this type of outreach could be effective in her church.
So in 1989, Jeanie shared the idea with her Sunday school class in Southfield, Mich., and asked for potential party hosts. Nobody came forward, even with repeated announcements, and Jeanie grew discouraged. As a last-ditch effort, Jeanie decided to challenge one woman in particular. Jeanie knew that Sarah Baker loved God and knew her neighbors.
"I couldn't shake the idea," says Sarah. "I remember saying, 'I'm going to have to say yes because I can't get it off my mind. The Lord is not leaving me alone on this one.'"
Sarah decided to ask her friend, Barbara, if she would be her partner in it. Barbara felt shocked that Sarah would even consider having somebody come to share the gospel. Even so, Sarah asked Barbara to think about it over the weekend and let her know on the following Monday.
"I had a call from her within an hour," recalls Sarah. "Barbara said, 'You know I'm not even going to think about this anymore. I've been a Christian for 10 years and have nothing to show for it. It's time I stepped over the line and showed these people what I'm all about.'"
Together Sarah and Barbara handed out invitations to the 35 mothers from their baby-sitting co-op, offering child care at Barbara's home.
On the morning of the Christmas gathering, Sarah and Barbara took the coats of 23 women as they arrived at Sarah's doorstep. The women sampled the sweet breads and coffee cake and sipped coffee from china cups. After mingling amidst holly and candle-lit sconces, they stepped down several steps to the family room to share Christmas memories and listen to a speaker give a 15-minute talk about the greatest gift of all: Jesus.
When the women left, Sarah and Barbara read over the pink comment cards, filled with positive remarks like, "I'm now at a point in my life where I'd like my children to have a greater spiritual background. If you start a Bible study, let me know"; and, "Thank you for this moment to focus on Jesus and bring 'religion' into our friendship circle. It seems like a closed subject so often." Several had marked an "X" indicating they'd prayed and received Christ.
"I was on cloud nine," says Sarah.
When life settled down after the holidays, Sarah and Barbara felt a responsibility not to leave the women floundering. They reinvited all 35 to a Bible-study kickoff at the end of January. Eight women came, and they studied the book of Mark weekly until their children got out of school. Sarah ecstatically watched the women grow spiritually.
Later that fall, Jeanie brought the idea of Christmas gatherings to key members of the church's women's ministries team. The noncommittal response frustrated her. "I had knocked on every door I knew to knock on," says Jeanie. Yet while reading Revelation 3:8, she felt that God spoke to her with a promise: "See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut" (New International Version).
A few weeks later the opportunity arose for Jeanie to demonstrate how to do a Christmas coffee for her Sunday-school class retreat. One woman from the women's ministries team watched the demonstration and excitedly took it to the committee, who decided to promote it church-wide.
Soon after, the Highland Park Baptist Church brought together 300 women to learn about evangelistic Christmas gatherings. Several women reenacted a Christmas coffee, then Sarah told them how she had stepped out in faith and how the coffee had changed the lives of other women. The committee encouraged every woman to be involved by either hosting, baby-sitting or praying.
"When everybody left," recalls Jeanie, "I had a stack of 100 commitment cards."
The whole church began praying for the calendar of coffees. Some women formed partnerships with others, and together they hosted 64 evangelistic Christmas gatherings that year. More than 90 people indicated decisions to receive Christ. At one party 17 of the 18 guests invited Christ into their lives. Twenty-three Bible studies formed as a result.
Every year since, 25 or more church members have opened their homes to share the gospel with their friends. The idea has spread to other churches in the Detroit area, where more than 400 Christmas gatherings have taken place in the past six years.
Joyce Bademan, who spearheads the Christmas- gatherings emphasis of Campus Crusade for Christ, believes that the openness of the Christmas season paves the way for gatherings, held throughout the United States and even in places such as Hong Kong, New Zealand and Germany. About one third of the Christmas gatherings have expanded to include couples, with the men responding as warmly as their wives do.
In the years since Sarah Baker opened her home, 40 women have come through her Bible study and hosted yearly Christmas coffees or evangelistic Easter teas. The changed lives include Sarah's own.
"I was born into a Christian family," she says. "I went to a Christian school. I married at a young age to a Christian man and went to a Bible study at my church with Christian women. I was very Christianized. It was a secure place to be, but it was dead because I didn't really have to trust the Lord. Since then I've learned never to underestimate what the Lord can do if we're just willing to be obedient."
Jeanie agrees. "Our little Christmas-coffee committee was just kind of paddling along in the shallows, and then we got caught in a riptide," she says. "Believe me, we did not make this happen by good recruiting or anything; it was just God. He just decided to do it, and we were left overwhelmed and sputtering."
Tips on Hosting a Christmas Gathering
1. Invite at least 30 people to get 10. Don't limit yourself to just friends you know. Some people will come because they want to get to know others in the group.
2. Hand-deliver the invitations and invite people verbally. Tell them that a friend will be sharing inspiring thoughts on Christmas. People only get offended when they feel they've been deceived.
3. To help minimize the stress of the season, have your party the first or second week of December. Ask a friend to co-host and divide the tasks, if you wish. Don't be ashamed to buy refreshments if you don't have the time to bake.
4. For a how-to manual on hosting a Christmas gathering, mail a check for $10 (made out to Campus Crusade for Christ) to Joyce Bademan, 24904 Logan Ave., Lakeville, MN 55044. The manual includes tips for hosting, finding a speaker and adapting sample talks for your party.
Another excellent resource for evangelistic entertaining in your home is The Joy of Hospitality, by Vonette Bright and Barbara Ball, available from NewLife Publications by calling 1-800-235-7255.
Dawn Sundstrom is a freelance writer and mother of Heidi, 8, and Billy, 6. A 14-year Campus Crusade for Christ staff member, she is a regular contributor to Worldwide Challenge, where her husband, Bill, is an associate editor.
This article is reprinted with permission from Worldwide Challenge, the award-winning magazine of Campus Crusade for Christ.
