Showing Up

As I write this, today is the last day of 2025 and I find myself sitting at the corner table of a gaming cafe, drinking my morning coffee out of a pint-sized wooden stein. The large decorative mug matches the tavern vibe of the room with its fireplace, couches covered with animal pelts, and various axes/swords/shields adorning the walls. The hand-crafted tables are all illuminated with equally hand crafted fixtures hanging from the ceiling with large flickering bulbs that simulate candlelight. Every shelf lining the walls is crammed with board games that the general population have never heard of.

If you are also a nerd/geek/gamer you can understand why this is my favorite space.

One year ago I sat here on a Tuesday night with an open journal in front of me. I also kept an open heart while watching, seeking, praying for direction as to how I could make this my “mission field”.  How I could “live intentionally in the place where God placed me.” 

I was there following the advice given to me by Giles Hash of Discipleship Gaming. Following his breakout session with Mark Lutz about D&D as Ministry at NCMS 2024, I wanted to pick his brain for guidance about how to take the growing desire within me to connect with other D&D (Dungeons & Dragons) players for nerd ministry – specifically in local game stores – and start making it a reality.

I remember asking about how to interact, if there were any special printed tools that existed, how to shift gameplay into spiritual conversations, and so many other questions to help provide a checklist of daily and weekly things to do. 

However the words he shared didn’t involve elaborate prep, a checklist, or some gimmick. His greatest advice was four words.

“Just show up regularly.”

In my immediate city there are three FLGS (friendly local game stores). One is part of a small chain that hosts primarily Warhammer events along with some general board game play with the prerequisite bread-and-butter of most game shops – Magic the Gathering (MTG). They had a small back room where D&D happened on occasion, but it felt like a rare event. 

The second location was a small mom and pop that focuses only on Trading Card Games (MTG, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, etc). I had tried to run some D&D there when my original game meetup location closed in 2019. Our tiny remnant tried to hold on for a bit – but the upcoming pandemic struck the final nail.

Neither of these two locations felt like the right environment. While both are successful businesses with merits in their own right, neither felt right for building community within D&D regulars.

But that Tuesday night I sat down at the third and newest game store in our city. This game cafe was born from a group that organized board game pops ups on a weekly or monthly basis at local breweries.  The cafe’s current brick and mortar location, opened in June of 2024, was largely funded through a Kickstarter campaign. I had been fortunate enough to catch wind of the grand opening and my youngest child and I had to sit in an outdoor overflow due to the 300+ guests that had crammed in to take part in food, fun, and friends.

The vibe was so tavern-esque, warm, friendly, the staff were very personable (and the sandwiches are amazing)! 

I had found what social researchers would call “my third space”.

That Tuesday night I began jotting notes and thinking about how to start a new weekly group. What are the best days and hours? How I could utilize Easter and Christmas RPG one-shots as additional methods to point to Jesus. Could I start a Bible study? What can I put in peoples hand as a cool take home that would point them to the truth somehow. But where do I begin? How do I start this? 

My racing mind got interrupted by a woman who had started unloading books, dice, and maps onto a nearby table.

“Hey!” she called to me. “Have you ever played D&D?”

It turns out I was vastly overcomplicating the process. 

I didn’t need to have some cool gimmick, a set ministry plan, or a checklist. 

I just had to show up – regularly.

Due to her simple invitation, I joined the Tuesday night D&D campaign. I got to know the DM (Dungeon Master) as well as the dozen other weekly players who drop in and out. I got to know the cafe staff. I expanded my time there to include the Thursday night D&D group and have been able to introduce myself to a multitude of curious guests who stop in to see what the cafe is all about. I further expanded my time there as it became a once a week “office” where I worked remotely or on personal passion projects.

And most importantly, I got to know the owner.

Understand that, if anyone were to look over my shoulder while I’m taking notes for D&D, they would notice among the chicken-scratch of NPCs, and town maps, there is a list of every player who sits at the table. Alongside their name are little notes about their lives as I get to know them. Concerns, surgeries, heartbreak, celebrations. This is my ever-growing list. These are the people who I do my best to cover in prayer everyday.  Mostly by their real name, but often by their character alias.

But, if you flip to the beginning of the journal, the first name to ever appear on that list – is that of the owner.

Over the last year we have gotten to know one another pretty well and it’s become a growing friendship. After almost a year of hanging out at this cafe, he and I had a fantastic two-hour conversation about life, faith, and shared trauma. He is not a believer. Nothing we talked about tipped the scales of his faith. However, he now knows that he has a friend who is praying for him daily, and he has told me how that simple act impacted him greatly. 

It’s been amazing to see just how far the knowledge that someone is praying for them affects an individual. I’ve seen the look of real appreciation in the eyes of a party member headed into an IRL serious surgery. Using Discord we were able to keep up with her recovery and celebrate when she returned to the table after a two month absence. 

I’ve come to learn that it’s okay not to have a ministry checklist. Most DMs know that your plans often have to become improvised anyway as the party makes choices you never imagined. Most checklists have to be discarded.

I’m learning that real ministry is not a 5 minute Gospel sales pitch. It’s a waiting and listening game where we not only get to know people, but also that they get to know us. They get to see how we respond – not only to the highs – but also to the lows that we all encounter and battle in our own lives.  

Today, I’m entering the new year excited and ready to see what’s going to happen in this little cafe. I’m currently part of four separate D&D campaigns. I have 36 people on my regular prayer list, building some lasting friendships, and waiting for the moment when the Holy Spirit gives the signal to take a conversation a step deeper into the realm of faith and introduce people to Jesus. 

I don’t know when or if that will happen. 

But for now – I’m just going to keep showing up.