I was practically raised by video games. My mom brought me to church, but faith never followed us home. My ideas about friendship, morality, and love came from TV shows and story-rich video games. Without holiness modeled in the home, you start searching for fathers and mothers of the soul. I longed for connection, but I was the socially awkward kid no one wanted around. It felt like everyone had a manual for life except me. After years of hurt, broken friendships, and running from God, even after I was saved, He brought me to repentance. VRChat had existed for years, yet God kept it from me until I returned to the fold. Looking back, that was mercy. If I had found it earlier, I may be where many of the people I now serve still are.
In VRChat, friends are always present. You can watch, talk, game, eat, and even fall asleep together. For many, it becomes a soft world that replaces reality. It is a digital morphine drip that soothes loneliness for a moment but leaves the soul untouched. I know that desire. I once wanted the same escape. But God gave me a life filled with holiness, family, and real love, and these are things young adults in isolation may never experience unless someone goes to them.
Many Christians care deeply about victims of trafficking or addiction. Few think about the millions of young adults who never leave their rooms and hide behind headsets. This is a real mission field. The church is only beginning to enter it.
Through my own story, my theological training, and daily care for these isolated young people, God has prepared me to reach at least some of them. My hope is that they will know the peace and joy He has given to His people.
Call Beyond the Screen
“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Matthew 9:36
Jesus did not see the crowds as a fools who can’t measure up. He looked at them with compassion. Today these crowds do not gather in the streets. They gather behind screens. VRChat hosts one of the largest groups of shepherdless young people in the world, with millions who hide behind avatars because they do not know how to face real life outside their room.
Christ’s compassion has not changed. He still moves toward the harassed and helpless, and He calls His church to do the same. When you support ROOM, you send the heart of Jesus into a mission field the world cannot see, but one He sees clearly and loves deeply. Thank you to those who give and pray. Together, we are reaching the socially isolated.
