Today on the podcast, Sean speaks with Dan Istvanik at Victory Church in Lancaster, PA about learning from Fortnite.
Dan recently wrote an article about Fortnite. It wasn’t the standard discussion about whether you should be using Fortnite in your ministry. Instead Dan asked the question of why is Fortnite so popular. Like anything that is popular in the preteen population it is a great idea to ask the question of why it is so popular. That question can help us to meet the needs of our preteens better.
Dan writes for ministrytoparents.com. Two things stuck out to Dan during his research for the article.
1. There is a risk of reward element to the game that taps into a preteens brain. We are all built to feel like we need to be rewarded. Your brain easily becomes addicted to something that you get a sense of reward from. Fortnite offers a risk, a reward, a prize and an emotional high which draws them into it.
2. Popularity really surged during the summer months. This is when students are looking for community because they are out of school and away from their friends. Fortnite offered them an opportunity to connect with other. It gave them a social network online and offline.
Dan and Sean discuss how thinking about these two things can help us in ministry to create a space that ministers to the felt needs of our preteens.
Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast? Send it to podcast@fourfivesix.org. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.
