How Our Church Connects With Pokemon Go Players

From the July-August Newsletter

Okay, before you judge our church for trying to capitalize on the Pokemon Go craze, or even for being fans of a game invented for kids, first listen to how we caught Pokemon fever.
 

In July, we were doing Mobile Church on Sunday morning at Neawha Park, like we normally do. While at the park, it became apparent that something was different. Namely, swarms of young people seemingly-milling around while on their phones. It turns out that they were playing Pokemon Go, a mobile game that utilizes real-life landmarks in conjunction with the device's map and GPS so that players can find and catch digital Pokemon characters. You've likely heard about this game, seeing as it's garnered more than 75 million downloads in just one month.

Well, as it turned out, the spot where we pitched our Mobile Church tent (Neawha Park's statue of liberty), just happened to be a "Pokestop," i.e., a location in the game where a player must physically go to in order to obtain in-game items. So, as we were meeting for Mobile Church, many Pokemon Go players would come close enough to the tent that we could say hi.

Now, keep in mind that one of the major reasons we do Mobile Church is so we can meet new people by showing them God's love with an act of kindness. Therefore, we first tried to take advantage of this new opportunity by offering Pokemon Go players cold lemonade and bottled water. You would think that the hot summer weather would cause players to flock to this offer, but we quickly discovered that many of these gamers weren't in the mood to be social. No, they were at the park for one reason; to catch Pokemon. We were just a stop along the way, nothing more; grabbing a cold lemonade would just slow them down. However, one special Pokemon Go player did stop and say hi, our friend JP Lambiase, a filmmaker with Hellthy Junkfood--someone we've met in the past through giving away funnel cakes and the free ride service.

We met JP and Julia in 2014

Later that week, I was brainstorming outreach ideas on how we can better interact with these Pokemon players, and that's when JP contacted me about turning our Mobile Church act of kindness into a Pokemon Go party, and he wanted to film the event for his YouTube channel. I jumped at the chance. Plus, seeing as literally everyone attending our church is hardcore into the game, I knew our church people would be on board.

JP and I met and came up with an activity that was to become the centerpiece of the party; a real-life Pokestop, to be meticulously modeled after the game. JP had a friend create a spinning Pokestop logo, and I bought prizes that resembled in-game items. I'm pretty proud of what we came up with:

Click here for video.

Suffice to say, the Pokemon Go party was a huge hit. We had no problem connecting with the gaming hoard in the park, and HellthyJunk Food made the party fun for everyone--and tasty, thanks to JP's signature, Rochester-style chili dogs.

The video turned out awesome, and 40k views ain't too shabby either: 

A big thanks to JP and Julia and the rest of the Hellthy Junkfood crew. One way you can show your appreciation for their kindness is to visit and subscribe to their YouTube channel. It just goes to show that you never know who you'll meet and what kind of an adventure you'll go on when you step out and show kindness to your community!