By Duncan RobinsonMonday 17 Aug 2020Hope BreakfastCultureReading Time: 2 minutes
I want to start out by saying that I consider myself a bit of a youth-preacher veteran.
For over 15 years I did youth ministry, and have probably given about 200 messages at youth events – on boats, beaches and mountains, in cabins, churches and sheds, in the snow, in the rain, on the back of a ute, and just about anywhere else you can think of.
So when Pastor Skar (aka Kieran Skariah) invited me to come and give a Friday night talk Jesus-talk – on one hand I thought, “great, that’s my jam”. On the other hand, I felt a little out of my depth… because my talk was going to be done over Twitch, to many thousands of live listeners.
For those who don’t know, Twitch is, for the most part, a streaming platform that allows gamers to talk to their viewers live, while they play games.
I was really confused as to how I was going to share about Jesus while also playing a game.
But I was game, and so I said yes.
Friday night rolled around, and I found myself online with Pastor Skar for two hours, playing Fortnite. Then, mid-session, everything transitioned. We moved into ‘real talk’ time, where we talked about Jesus for half an hour to our giant online audience.
I’m not gonna lie; it was different, fast paced—and confusing! But it was also awesome fun.
COVID-19 has changed a lot – especially for youth groups.
Some kids, for a variety of reasons, can no longer make these gatherings, and so Pastor Skar has been able to step into that space. Perhaps for health reasons you can’t make it to you your group any more. Pastor Skar has that covered.
At this point, I do want to clarify that I’m a savvy gamer from way back.
So the whole night ends in the best way possible.
We got the Dub!
If you don’t know what that means, watch the game highlights below!
- Follow Pastor Skar on Twitch or Instagram.
- Lifting the Lid: How Youth Pastor Kiran Skariah Took Youth Group Online & Became a ‘Streamer’