Happy Chinese New Year and the big 'draw' to one church in Ontario...
Tuesday, February 1, 2011 at 3:00AM 
Chinese New Year is February 3rd this year! 新春祝賀 家家福杯滿溢! Many Alpha courses have chosen to honour the Chinese community and this festive time of year for them without compromising Christian values.
Instead of focusing on superstitions, the emphasis turns to spending time with family, honouring elders, and making a fresh new start. Some Alpha courses decorate with red napkins and balloons, and serve fish for dinner and oranges for dessert. Each Alpha course needs to decide what is acceptable for their church, in discussion with the Senior Church Leader.
One church in Ontario used the promotional idea of a "Lucky Draw" to appeal to the Chinese Community, and many have attended the Alpha course because of it! Here is how they did it:
What has worked very well for us is a free Community BBQ that we have run on a Saturday each September. Ahead of time, we distribute a flyer to the community around the church (about 4700 flyers). Volunteers from the church - the youth have been especially helpful with this - hand deliver these to the homes on the week before the BBQ. We also print posters and tape them to telephone poles and other strategic spots. We put sandwich board advertisements outside the church, and the information is also on our electronic outdoor sign.
The advertisements make it clear that the BBQ is free, but that canned goods and other non-perishable items will be gratefully accepted for the food bank. We offer face painting and a party bouncer for the kids (sometimes donated), and serve 1800 hot dogs and drinks, at a cost of about 50 cents per person.
The key to making this work for Alpha has been the added offer of a "Lucky Draw". As our church is located in an area where there is a high proportion of new immigrants from mainland China, we have found that the term "Lucky Draw" is much better understood than "Door Prizes"!
In the weeks prior to the BBQ, we canvass the local businesses to ask for prize donations (often restaurant coupons, or household items), and many businesses are willing to support us as they see it as good advertising, and also feel positive about any effort to support the food bank. We also make an appeal to the congregation in the weeks prior to the BBQ to donate new items to be given out as prizes.
As people arrive at the BBQ, they are invited to fill out a ballot that we have prepared asking for their name, address, telephone number and email address. We list our church's programs and of course, we list Alpha first!
We also make sure we have Mandarin and Cantonese-speaking helpers at the ballot table to assist those who struggle with English. There are also Alpha info flyers distributed at this table, as well as info about other ministries running at the church.
We always schedule our BBQ a week and a half before the Alpha Intro Dinner, as this gives us time to do follow-up phone contact with those who have indicated interest in Alpha on their ballot. This phone contact is critical - if the people are not phoned, most will forget or lose the flyer, and they need specific information that is difficult to share in the confusion of the BBQ setting - time, location and details of the meal, childcare info etc. Email is less personal and for that reason is less effective. We have found this method to be very effective for drawing people into our Fall Alpha session. (By Nancy and Murray Lahn from Good Shepherd Community Church, Scarborough, ON)
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Hello, I am Wanda Ho, the Director of the Chinese Alpha Initiative. After working, serving and experiencing God in China for the past 8 years, I joined Alpha Canada in March 2010. My primary role is to connect and serve Canadian Chinese churches in our multicultural community. It’s such a privilege working alongside with you to make Jesus known in every corner of Canada. Please feel free to contact me by email or phone, 1800 743 0899 (or click here).
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* Did you know? The Chinese calendar is based on the lunar year, so the date of Chinese New Year date changes every year. The Lunar calendar is based on the time the moon takes to go around the Earth.