In 2020, COVID-19 swung our outreach into a different direction. From offline to online, sharing the gospel with young people is challenging but exciting. We stretch and learn to reach out digitally and to different types of youth in the virtual world.
PLAYING GAMES IS ABOUT SPENDING TIME WITH FRIENDS
Online games are aplenty. Generally, game developers aim to keep gamers playing and spending, with little emphasis on in-game interaction. “But we hope to teach our youth that playing games is about spending time with friends,” explains Youth Guidance staff, Huang Kang Rui, 33.
On Games Day, online games or mobile apps revamped from yesteryears, with interactive elements were used. Kang Rui and his team weaved in questions like “How do you feel about today’s games?” and “Did you talk to one another?” With that, they shared their concern about how some games promote communication while others isolate gamers to play alone.
REACHING OUT TO NEW ONLINE COMMUNITIES
To meet ITE youth, 34-year-old staff Doreen Low, used a popular singing app with functions that ‘singers’ use to add new people and have personal chats. Over months, Doreen became a regular of a singing community and shared the gospel with a young lady she befriended.
Desiring to create a safe play culture without the toxicity of vulgarities, ITE Ministry staff and volunteers play regularly with youth from online e-gaming groups to increase rapport and influence them. When they could, they shifted to physical platforms to further the friendships. At Digital Food Hunt, an online evangelistic event for food-loving ITE youth ‘travelled’ through Chinatown via fun station games, enjoyed set meals delivered to their homes and bid for game points to win snacks and ‘Haidilao’ goodies.
DIGITALIZATION – STUDENTS ARE USED TO THIS WAY OF LIFE
Hannah Chua, a 25-year-old Polytechnic Ministry staff, co-led a buffet of online workshops called Extended Play, and evaluated that “online events are usually simpler and more straightforward to organise.”
While the team no longer needs to find a suitable venue or put up decorations and performances to create the hype, it is harder to engage young people in conversation. More thinking now goes into finding ways to break the ice over the screen, connect well and equip group leaders with more lead-ins to gospel conversations. Group sizes are kept small.
Hannah sees these modifications as necessary. “We are all going through digitalization – students are used to this way of life. Convenience is a key factor”. A youth can now wake up late,turn on his device and tune into an online event right away. Instead of travelling to a workshop, materials are delivered to his doorstep. The team continues to capitalize on convenience and easy access to try out more online events for polytechnic students.
IF WE DON’T TRY, WE WILL GET STUCK
Our online outreach journey is best summed up in Preteens Ministry (PTM) coordinator, Jennifer Pang’s motto: If we don’t try, we will get stuck!
Restricted from conducting physical sessions with preteens, her team went digital and tried new ways to engage them, making changes to group leaders’ preparation and programme mechanics.
PTM staff, Yee Min Jia, 29, observes, “Switching from physical to online events meant less problems with crowd control. But it also meant less interaction.”
At their online, immersive mystery game, Bubble Tea Theft (on left), the team had to keep up the interest of participants by ensuring an appealing storyline, enough fun and simple games, plus well-connected clues that identify the ‘culprit’ and led logically to the ending. In spite of a lack of IT devices and poor Wi-Fi connection, we thank God the children found it meaningful and fun.
No one knows if we will return to pre-pandemic days of regular face-to-face meetings and events for young people. We will just keep surging ahead to do digital outreach more and better. We look to the Master of the Harvest to keep us relevant and creative, ready for His use.
Angela Ow writes for Reach and also serves in the Secondary School and Junior College Ministry.
