Source: International Mission Board, April 20, 2026
Daniel Bates couldn’t believe his eyes. But there it was, tucked between a pastel row of cafés and cobblestone alleys in downtown Ljubljana, Slovenia—a friendly local game store. He pulled [his wife] Heather through the door and into a world alive with colorful miniature role-play scenes and towers of board game boxes.
It had been hard for the family to make close local friends when [their church] first sent them to Slovenia through the IMB. Their Slovenian language skills were still a work in progress, so most interactions with parents at the kids’ school or with neighbors stayed polite and surface-level.
But in this game shop, the connection through board games was immediate. The owner invited Daniel to join a weekly game night in another town. The distance wasn’t an issue. Slovenia, after all, is roughly the size of New Jersey, and the gaming group drew people from every direction. They used a Discord channel to keep in touch during the week.
“We use different social platforms—Reddit, WhatsApp, Messenger, Discord—as part of our digital engagement strategy for ministry. This is where people gather, so we want to be there too,” Daniel said. “We’ve found most will never talk to you in person, but they will chat on the computer with you.
“But taking these relationships from digital to physical is hard,” he continued. “That’s what made this gaming group so different. It’s hybrid. They meet physically and use their Discord channel to keep in touch during the week.”
Read the full story. Always good to see people leveraging their interests to connect with those who enjoy the same things. Evidently Daniel loves board games (and Slovenians).