‘Tis the Season to Partner with Love Thy Nerd

We at Love Thy Nerd have been to dozens of gaming, nerd, and comic conventions and we’ve met countless fellow nerds. We’ve played games, built friendships, and done our best to communicate the good news that Jesus loves nerds. However, we are not the only Christians at these events people are likely to encounter. It is not uncommon to find professing Christians outside the conventions we attend shouting angrily at people with megaphones. Once we even witnessed protestors pull aside a mom and her two kids to inform her that she was damning her kids to hell by bringing them to a gaming convention. LTN exists to tell nerds a better story. 

Our mission is to be the love of Jesus to nerds and nerd culture. We do this in three ways: by building intentional community, reaching out to people relationally, and producing thoughtful content. 

The harvest is plentiful

Over the last two years we’ve met fellow nerds in person and online. We’ve had the opportunity to sit down both to games and meals with the friends we’ve made. We’ve had people open up to us about their struggles with depression, their issues with Christianity, and their lack of hope. We’ve been able to listen and learn and serve. We’ve had people ask us to share with them about the hope we have in Christ. 

PAX South 2019 Outreach team

We’ve also worked to educate Christians in areas of nerd culture where they might be uneducated or misguided, with articles such as A Christian Defense of Dungeons & Dragons and Why Do Comic Books Matter? We’ve curated lists of games that pose meaningful questions and even reflected on how some of the darkest aspects of nerd culture might offer a lesson on how to be a better neighbor to the people around us.

We host a Facebook group of over 2,000 members where nerds can nerd-out about nerdy stuff in a respectful and loving community. We also recently launched our own Discord server where nerds can nerd-out even more and go deeper in their relationships with one another.

We’ve recorded hundreds of episodes of our three unique podcasts that have not only covered nerd culture winsomely but have actually led to us build relationships with people all over the globe, many of whom we have the pleasure of connecting with in-person at the conventions we attend. We also have video shows where we review and stream board games in hopes of building relationships with the people who make and play the games we love. Each of these shows tether us to the culture we love so that we might meet people there, love them, serve them, and point them to Jesus. 

LTN Con – Q/A Session

In our efforts to educate and equip the church about the value of nerd culture and the people that inhabit it, we’ve hosted breakout sessions at ministry conferences like the Urban Youth Worker’s Institute’s National Conference, Mission Fest Seattle, ETCH: Family Ministry Conference, and others. We’ve helped churches start game nights and even helped a church in Texas launch their own comic con. In October we also hosted our own conference, LTN Con, where we deepened relationships with those who have partnered with us and challenged attendees to join us on mission. We also worked with Grow Curriculum to create some nerd-themed youth ministry event curriculum. 

But the workers are few

As you can see, we are doing a lot—arguably more than we can or should given the amount of time, energy, and money the work requires. No one works for LTN full-time and LTN does not bring in a fraction of the amount of money it would require to pay our staff members a living wage. We give our time and energy to LTN because we’ve been called to mission and our eyes are firmly fixed on it. We are committed to meeting nerds where they are at, loving and serving them. To be honest, there is too much work to do and the investment required is too great for us to bear on our own. 

This is where you come in. 

How you can partner with us

We know there are many causes and charities you might consider giving to this holiday season, but if you believe in what we are doing and want to see more nerds discover the life-giving truth that Jesus loves them, would you consider giving to LTN? Your giving helps us travel to nerd conventions, attend ministry events, print materials, record podcasts and shows, and create content—all for the purpose of being the love of Jesus to nerds and nerd culture. With your help we can continue to do the things we’re doing and expand our reach and influence in 2020 and beyond.

For Giving Tuesday, Facebook is matching funds for those giving to nonprofits, so one simple way you can help is by clicking this link which will direct you to create your own fundraiser for LTN on Facebook.