Redemption; Playing God’s Game
There is a consummate battle between good and evil in this world. We all
struggle with it in our daily lives. But confined within these walls...
kids are able to see that struggle by using the very hand they've been
DEALT.
“If anything, they're here. They're in a church doing something fun. It
gives them that connection of being in a church, doing something fun and
they don't feel so intimidated by that,” said Chris Bany, Owner of Covenant
Games.
In this church is where some otherwise at-risk kids are getting Bible
lessons without the preaching.
“We've got a number of kids here today that come from a very low,
practically poverty stricken part of Rochester. They've been brought here
by a group running a mission. This is totally a foreign type of thing for
them but such a positive way to break the chain of violence and everything
for them,” said Chris.
It's a card game called Redemption, an action-packed collectable trading card game based on the Bible. Players send their heroes into battle against
their opponents' evil hordes in an attempt to rescue lost souls. All heroes
and evil characters are actual people taken from the Bible.
“With Redemption you're not trying to kill your opponent. You're using
heroes from the Bible like David, Matthew, Mary, Elijah to try and rescue
lost soul cards and your opponent is trying to stop you by using evil
characters like Goliath, Judas and that type of thing,” Chris explained.
It's a game that is played nationwide and Justin Alstad is a seven-time
national champion.
“I have so many friends who I've met online through Redemption it's
unbelievable. I met some of my best friends over the internet through the
game and just having fellowship with them and talking about it is a huge
thing for me,” Justin said.
For Chris Bany, this ministry is also his business.
“Society is getting so polarized and it's kind of an 'us versus them' kind
of thing. Mainstream has become so secularized trying to pull God out of
everything and the Christian side of the fence says we're going to have to
try to come up with our own games and our own music and videos because if
mainstream is going to pull that out then we need to do it on our own
because we need to have God be in every facet of our life,” Chris said.
“It concerns me. Some of the secular card games and obviously they're not
going to be playing some of the dark games right away but they start with
something that looks more innocent and there's a progression that can
happen there,” explained Justin.
“It's the desensitization that worries me. A friend of mine played ‘Magic
the Gathering’ and really got deep into it. One day a neighborhood guy, an
adult, asked him if he'd like to get into casting spells for real. He
started learning how to actually do some of the spells and really ended up
in a dark place,” Chris said.
The kids ask questions about these Biblical characters. They come together
for fun and in turn also get fellowship.
“It's planting seeds. It's getting them hooked into something that down
the road can lead to bigger things. They're hanging around church, playing
Redemption and maybe they'll get involved in children's ministries. Then
maybe they'll get the youth program and whatever keeps them around church
is probably a good thing,” Justin said.
“I've really kind of said, 'God you've got a plan for what I'm doing here,
the business and who I'm going to touch'. And I just let Him drive that and
I just kind of go along for the ride, try and do what the next thing is
that He wants me to do,” Chris concluded.
