By Matthew Steel

Minecraft is a customizable multi-player game that appeals to ages five to fourteen, which can be played on mobile devices, consoles (such as XBox), and computers. When I turned eleven, I began creating Minecraft worlds for Camping Stick Kids, a ministry that shares the gospel with kids. When kids came to our booth at homeschool conventions because of Minecraft and ended up hearing the gospel, we quickly realized the potential of Minecraft as ministry.

Minecraft has been trending with young kids for a while, just like Fortnite and PubG. But Minecraft can be customized by the creator and does not require players to shoot each other to survive. Minecraft is about your imagination.

So, how can you use Minecraft as ministry? You can create a server with a gospel message. Making a server doesn’t need a genius coder. Anyone can do it as long as he knows how to build. To fully immerse players, you will need a strong story.

The world I am creating for Camping Stick Kids tells the gospel story in five colors. Gold is for Heaven. Black is for sin. Red represents the blood of Christ. White is forgiveness. Green is for growth. My first game will have a maze, a parkour course, and a roller coaster. Players will learn about Heaven through Bible verses that will appear when they go the right way. Subtle things like this may spark an interest in the idea of Heaven.

If you create something similar, I suggest you reference a Bible passage that correlates with your game that you have already studied yourself. Be sure your story is not too long by implementing different stages, like I’m doing with the five colors.

Using Minecraft as ministry is much more rewarding than simply building and playing games with no purpose. I am hoping the Minecrafters I meet online will share my server with their friends and neighbors, brewing curiosity for the gospel.

Remember, every soul counts—even that kid's across the street. You know, the one who won’t even look at you. Perhaps you could invite him to join your Minecraft server. A little Minecraft as ministry can go a long way.

Hey, if you liked this article or you like Minecraft, I will be posting some tips on the Camping Stick Kids YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/V2ROIE_a6DE

IP Address for Server: 69.175.43.5:25585

Tell me how you’ve used Minecraft as ministry.

Matthew Steel is fourteen years old and a team member at campingstickkids.org. His favorite subject is math, and his favorite past-time is learning how to code and animate. He creates videos, collaborates on projects, and is the team’s main tech person at camp and homeschool conventions. Matt enjoys hanging out with his family and playing with his dog, Molly.