Lighting up the Community with the Story of Jesus

With 20,000 lights strung across the front of his property, Jonathan Christian is lighting up his community with the story of Jesus.

Considering the challenges of the past year, Christian wanted to do something that would bring some joy to his neighborhood. So, this November, he spent nearly fifty hours installing lights across the front of his Cooranbong (North New South Wales) home and several surrounding structures and trees.

The display includes a life-size Nativity scene, which he built with the help of his friend, Trent Keegan, an Avondale University Theology student. Going one step further to share the story of Jesus, Christian installed a box in front of his property containing free literature for passersby to take. The literature includes two tracts, “What’s the Glory in the Christmas Story?” and “Finding Hope in an Uncertain World”, along with Discover Jesus books.

About 200 people visited Christian’s display on opening night, December 1st, and many more have visited since then. He is unsure how much of the free literature has been taken, but he has had to restock the box a few times.

“This is a great opportunity to build bridges with the people in the neighborhood and those from further away,” said Jonathan, who is a member of the Hillview Seventh-day Adventist Church.

“Each night, the lights come on at 8 p.m. for two hours, and visitors can walk around the display or view it from the roadside. You won’t find any blow-up Santas in this display. Both the display and the music are unashamedly Christian and many people have commented on this. I have heard lots of children say, ‘Can I have a photo with Baby Jesus?’ to their parents.

“It’s only a small thing, but hopefully it has a big impact as people take the literature and are prompted to think about the real meaning of Christmas.”