We have reached the 50th episode of Our Hope Podcast 🎙! As we close this season, we wanted to give you a behind-the-scenes look at how we are using digital media to share the message of Yeshua! Listen to this episode now at the link in our bio. 🎧

Welcome to Our Hope

a production of Chosen

People Ministries.

“Go

therefore and make disciples

of all the nations,

baptizing them in

the name of the Father

and the Son

and the Holy Spirit,

teaching them to observe

all that I commanded you;

and lo, I am with you always,

even to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19–20.

Ever since Yeshua

gave the “Great Commission”

to His disciples,

His message of hope

and redemption has spread

throughout the world,

and people have used

all kinds of ways to share it.

For Chosen People Ministries,

which began in 1894,

we have used the radio,

television, pamphleting,

newspaper ads, and now—in

this digital age—online ads,

to share the love of Messiah

with God’s chosen people.

Over the years, we have

learned what media works

and what does not work

for our ministry—

and we have also learned

how to work following God’s

lead, in unity

with our colleagues.

On today’s episode,

we are looking back

on the various ways

we have shared the

message of Messiah.

We will also share

some of the lessons

we have learned along the way,

and we hope

you will be encouraged to use

what God has given you

to reach the world.

It is my pleasure

to now introduce

the host of Our Hope Podcast,

Abe Vazquez!

Hello everyone,

welcome to Our Hope

this is Abe Vazquez.

I'm super excited about this

episode, episode 50

and today

we have Robert Walter,

we have Brian Crawford,

and we have Nicole

Vacca joining me

and we're going

to be discussing

some exciting things.

Hi guys, how are you?

Hey Abe.

Shalom!

Hey, doing great.

Awesome, so

we might sound like

we're in the studio together,

but we're actually

all over the country.

Three of us in New York

and one in California.

Thank God for technology

that we can do this.

And speaking of technology,

that's what we're

really talking about

in this house.

So, before we even go there,

what kind of episode

would this be if we didn't

talk about food, right?

So I'm going to ask

very simple question.

What do you prefer,

and this is food

related to New York – Pastrami

sandwich or roast beef?

Uh pastrami all the way.

Yeah, it's

not even a question.

Katz's Deli.

You know

you get that mile high stack.

It's just yeah,

no question yeah.

Pastrami pastrami

with some some mustard

you know.

And if you're at Katz's,

I recommend

the pastrami Reuben,

which is delicious.

They put some coleslaw

and some melted Swiss cheese

and some Russian

dressing sandwiched

between two nicely sliced

pieces of Rye bread.

Oh man, they're

going to have to start

paying us to promote that,

that sounds so good!

Real question

though, Robert is,

do you share or not?

Do you eat that

whole thing yourself?

Yeah,

that is a good question.

I think it depends.

It depends. Honestly.

I mean,

I think it's best to share

because it is such

a massive sandwich

and just for the sake

of your arteries.

It might be in

your best interest.

Agreed, yeah.

I mean Nicole, you and I

are in the gluten-free

club now,

so it does hurt our heart

talking about sandwiches.

indeed.

You know, I've

I think I've only tried

pastrami once in my life

and it was one bite,

so I'd have to try

pastrami again.

Yeah,

I think we need to just pause

and pray for Nicole.

Well,

when you can go there,

just get yourself

a sandwich, Nicole,

take it out of the bread

and enjoy the meat, I guess.

Alright, well thank you

again for joining us.

We're really excited

to celebrate or commemorate

our 50th episode of our Hope.

I think it's a big deal.

We really launched

this podcast,

you know, as a result

of the pandemic we felt

people needed hope.

Nicole, do you want to share

a little bit more about why

we chose this episode

to talk about this topic?

Yeah, so

I mean it is the 50th episode

and so I wanted to do something

a little different.

A little special.

I wanted to give

people kind of an inside

look at what we do

and how we share

this message with the world

and how it has changed overtime

and also just a behind

the scenes

look at

kind of our work process

and hopefully inspire

some creators

who are listening.

That's great,

that's awesome.

So Robert, Brian

when did you join CPM?

So I came on staff

initially

in January of 2007 wow,

but didn't officially

become full time

until January of 2010.

So it's been a little while.

A little bit.

And I came on board

in 2010 as well,

and Robert was actually

one of my first phone calls

after I came on staff

because he had just

gotten to New York City

and I was planning

on making my way there,

but I didn't actually

touch feet on the ground

of New York and begin

full time ministry until 2011.

That's awesome

and I'm assuming

at the time when you joined

some of the stuff

that we're doing now

wasn't really put

into practice back then.

Is that fair to say?

So stuff on social media, stuff

on on the digital side

of things?

Yeah,

we weren't really doing

that kind of thing

back in 2010, 2011,

when I first got to New York.

We were in the

middle of a major

campaign called the Isaiah

53 campaign

and we had billboards

and we had subway ads and bus

station ads and we were

we had those ads

all over New York City

and then we moved those

ads to other cities

throughout the country

and that was

that was

one of the major things

that we were doing at the time.

Yeah, and I think that

the Isaiah 53

campaign in particular

was sort

of the emblematic campaign

that saw US transition

from doing a lot

of stuff in print

and then transitioning

to the Internet.

So it was a really important

campaign, honestly.

Yeah,

tell us about that campaign.

What was the what was the heart

of that campaign?

So, Dr.

Mitch Glaser, the

president of the ministry,

he wrote a book called

Isaiah 53 Explained,

which is a very

evangelistic presentation

that Jesus is the

the suffering servant

of Isaiah 53 and it's written

in such a way where

it's coming from

one Jewish person

to another Jewish person.

Very relateable

and a very effective

honestly,

presentation of the gospel.

So as the book was coming out,

we wanted to distribute it

and get it in front of as many

Jewish people as possible.

So like Brian mentioned,

we had these huge

billboards in Times

Square at the entrance

to the Lincoln Tunnel.

We had a we had a full page

ad in the New York Times.

And it was really it was,

it was pretty substantial.

You know, it's interesting

before I even I came

on to CPM sorry, Chosen

People Mnistries in 2015,

and I remember that billboard

at the end of Lincoln Tunnel.

I remember seeing,

yeah, you can't miss it.

So that was that was five years

before I came to CPM

and I remember that,

so that's pretty cool.

Yeah,

and that

ad in the New York Times,

it basically just printed

the entire chapter of Isaiah

53 on a full page ad

and then had a phone

number down at the bottom

and that was the ad.

Just let people

read it for themselves.

We just wanted people

to read it for themselves.

Wow.

That is awesome.

Question for you Brian.

What are some of the more

traditional ways

for sharing the message

of Yeshua with the Messiah?

Yeah, in Chosen People,

probably the most

traditional way is

through our

congregational ministry,

where we share

the message of Yeshua through

preaching, teaching,

celebrating the Holidays.

That's a it's a place where

both believers and unbelievers

can come together

and learn more about Yeshua.

But the bigger question is,

how do we actually get people

to come to our congregations?

And so there's

there's really been

two major ways

that we have done

evangelism traditionally.

It's been face to face

ministry on one hand

and then media evangelism

on the other.

Face to face ministry,

you're probably familiar

with it.

It's

a lot of tracts distribution.

Sometimes street preaching,

doing book tables,

sometimes door to door

in neighborhoods

where that is agreeable,

you can't really do that

in some Jewish neighborhoods,

particularly in New York City,

but you can also do-

you can have clipboards

with questionnaires

and have aids like signboards

and whatnot.

That's the more face

to face ministry

and also meeting with Jewish

people who we get

referrals from.

Maybe friends of our ministry

have connected us

with their Jewish friends

and then we meet

them at a coffee shop

or visit them in their home.

So that's the face

to face ministry.

But then there's

media evangelism

and there's all kinds of ways

that we've done media

evangelism in the past.

Since we're 126 plus years old,

we have been there and done

that when all kinds of new

media opportunities

have come around.

So we were there

at the beginning using

newspaper and magazines

and then this new thing called

the radio came out

and we had to figure out

how to use the radio

for the gospel and then

then you added TV

and that was radio

plus an image

and you had to figure out

how to not just talk

well about the gospel,

but actually have

a full production team

behind the scenes creating

sets and having producers.

And then we had to figure out

how to use the Internet

and that is a completely new

area of media evangelism

for our ministry.

But here's the thing,

the message never changes.

Even though

the medium might change,

and so we have always

had to adapt with the times,

but Yeshua the Messiah,

He is the same yesterday,

today and forever,

and so we never change

the gospel, we just package it

in new ways and new forms.

And that's what's so fun

about using these

various methods

in sharing the gospel.

Right and honestly

I would add that

when we look to the past,

like Brian said,

we've tried to be

at the forefront

in the history of our mission

in bringing the

gospel in new ways.

As these new ways developed

weather is the newspaper,

whether it's radio,

whether it's television or now

the Internet and podcasts,

and short videos

on the Internet,

all kinds of stuff.

But we're standing

on the shoulders,

not just of those

who went before us

in this ministry,

but even in the scripture

I mean the Apostle

Paul especially, I think of him

in Acts Chapter 17

when he showed up in Athens,

you see him going

into all these different venues

to share the Gospel.

He goes to the synagogues

to reason

with the Jewish people

and with God-fearing Gentiles.

Then he's in the marketplace

and he's sharing

the gospel there

and then he winds up

on Mars Hill and

what was he doing?

He was going

where the people were

and using the

different mediums,

the different platforms

as a way

to communicate the gospel.

And honestly, I mean we really

have an obligation to do this

you know, as a

as faithful stewards

of this gospel message,

that doesn't change.

Like Brian said,

we have an obligation to use

all the means that

that are at our disposal

to spread this message.

And one is not better

than the other, it's

'and' how do we use-

How do we use

all of these methods

at the same time

to be as effective as possible

for that particular method.

Right?

Right

and we always need

to be adapting to

the current situation.

So like for instance

as Robert mentioned.

I mean Paul, he would

actually be able

to go into synagogues

and preach about ushua

from within a synagogue,

and it's probably

not news to anybody listening

that

that is not really a method

that is available to us today,

and so we can't just

look and say, well,

Paul did it

we should do that too.

It's- we have to adapt.

We have to find new ways

to share the message

and it may not be the same

as what was effective

in the 1st century.

Right, right.

And I think the key principle

there from Acts 17

is look at the public square.

Where is it possible

to get the message out?

And that's what Paul was doing

and we look today

and the public

square has expanded.

It is expanded into

the digital realm,

so it only makes sense

for us to venture

into that area as well.

So Abe hearing

about all these

different methods,

do we still

use any of them today?

I would say yes,

you know we still print tracks.

We still print books.

We still do

a lot of the methods

that Brian talked

about the face to

face ministry for sure.

We have our Shalom

New York Outreach, Shalom

Boston, Shalom

Philadelphia outreach.

You know we haven't abandoned

any of those outreach

is because they're

still effective.

You know it's still

important to our mission

to have those

specific outreaches,

but I'll ask you this question,

you know,

let's pretend that

social media didn't exist.

Let's pretend the

Internet didn't exist.

Let's pretend Zoom

didn't exist.

How would the pandemic

have affected ministry

without all of those things?

Yeah, that's rhetorical.

If somebody wants

to answer that.

'cause I don't know

the answer to that, I just know

it would have made

it a lot harder,

so it's almost like

I want to say thank God

for this technology

that we were able

to stay connected

throughout this pandemic.

Who knows what would

have happened to society

had we been cooped up

in our homes for a year

without any sort

of communication

other than a phone call

or writing a letter.

And I mean we would

have been used to it

because Internet wouldn't

have existed, right?

But you know, things

would have been

different for us.

And so thinking about today,

I mean, we just ran stats

for how our digital efforts

have gone over the past year

and we had 80,000

attendees go

to our virtual events.

80,000?

In a pandemic year

where people are stuck at home.

You know

we were able to reach people

that we never thought

we'd be able to reach

because we leaned in

to this pandemic

and we decided, you know what?

We're not going to shy away.

We're going to, we're

going to double down on this,

so we're going to

continue to make sure

that the gospel goes out

wherever it's available

and right now,

all that is available

is the digital platform.

So yeah, it's you know, yes,

we still we still do

those things that we're going

to return to them

you know in 2022,

we're going to go

back to the street

outreach,

which we're excited about.

This year,

we're bringing back our camp.

You know, it's very exciting,

but you know, having

the digital platforms

really, really was incredible

this past year.

So I have a question

for Robert and Brian,

as as we move forward as we

escape this covid

reality that we're in

what can we

learn from our past,

both from the

traditional methods,

our digital methods?

You know, what can we learn

from all of that

and maybe you have some impact

stories in there too.

I think the biggest

thing is that we need to be

reliant on the Lord

for wisdom and creativity

and not get too stuck

on the old paradigm.

It's really easy

when something changes

to be very skeptical

of the change and

to not really see the benefits

of what could be

with the new paradigm.

I'm sure that when TV came out,

all of the people

who were using the

radio for ministry

saw the TV as a threat

or saw it as something

that was scary, saw it

as something that we don't know

how to do this

and we're comfortable

with the radio and we're

getting results on the radio

and so they may not

have seen the value

of using the television.

And the same thing

can go with the Internet.

I think that before

the pandemic there were,

there were many who were

on the fence about

online evangelism.

And that was definitely

my experience 10 years ago

when I first came on board.

We weren't doing

Internet evangelism.

We weren't doing

media evangelism and

so there were very

few people in the ministry

who had a vision for it

or really could even get

their mind around it.

And now, oh my goodness,

we see that this is

this is not 'the future'

of the ministry,

but it is an integral

part of the future

of the ministry.

So one of the biggest things

we need to learn

is to be flexible

to see where the Lord

is leading and guiding

and to have some openness

to be creative with

these new things

that come our way.

Yeah, so I agree.

I think being flexible

and pliable and adaptable

and faithful to the message.

One thing I don't know

if I've learned- but one thing

that's sort of been

in the back of my mind

as we prepare, as

we make preparations now

to transition back into

more of like a hybrid,

partially online

and more in person is

trying to find a balance

because I think some people

have gotten

a little too comfortable

with doing everything online

and I think as believers

we need each other,

we need to be in

each others presence.

We need to be in community.

We need to be a part

of each others lives

and I think it's difficult

to fully experience

that and fully utilized

the gifts

that you've been given

by the Holy Spirit of God

to be used to edify

other believers

and encourage one another

and bear one another's

burdens, it's difficult

to contain all of that

just online,

so as we get ready,

that's just something

that's been in the

back of my mind.

How can we strike that balance

to still encourage

in person fellowship?

Again, not end online

ministry as well

and not at the

expense of each other.

Great point.

Robert, do you feel that

as we

return to our congregations

as we return to being

with one another, do you feel

this might be a

loaded question,

do you feel like

it'll be different

than it was before?

Do you feel like

we need to relearn

what it's like to be

with each other?

That's that's

a great question,

and right away in my mind,

goes back to last summer

when the covid rates

were very down in New York

and we were able to get

together outdoors

as a congregation

for some services.

And I remember

seeing for the first time

a dear brother, you know,

wonderful Jewish

believer, good friend,

and he's very introverted,

and he's always been

a part of our congregation.

And we finally see each other

for the first time

and I have never heard

him talk so much.

It's like he was

so excited to be a face to face

with other people again.

I was like man who is this guy.

Yeah.

So yeah, I think

I think there's certainly

going to be an adjustment

for everybody, yeah.

But honestly, I'm

looking forward to it.

Whatever it's going to be like,

I'm looking forward to that.

It's great.

Abe, hearing all this

I know we put out

a lot of video ads on Facebook

and YouTube over

the past few years.

How are online ads

similar to and maybe Different

from pamphleting?

It's a great question.

They're pretty much like

distant cousins.

You know, one I don't think

one is greater than the other.

They both have their

different purposes.

So if you're handing

out pamphlets

you know nothing

can really replace

face to face ministry

just like that interaction

of being there face

to face with a person

and engaging them.

Seeing who you're talking to.

That is an awesome experience.

So in particular,

when we're reaching the Ultra

Orthodox,

let's say in Brooklyn,

that's a very very

tight knit community,

and if one of them were

maybe to be caught talking

to someone at a book

table, let's say

that would be a problem

for them in particular.

But you know something

that we're finding

that

the Ultra Orthodox are doing is

browsing the Internet.

They're looking at YouTube.

They're on Facebook,

and so it's a little bit safer

for them to watch a video

or look at a Facebook ad.

Or YouTube ad than it is

to speak

to someone face to face.

So I think there are different

methods that can be used

at the same time, you know.

And again, it's

not one or the other, it's

just how we're using it.

And so I think that's just

been, the benefit

is particularly in

Jewish ministry, where just

the thought of believing in

Jesus is so controversial

for Jewish people,

and they can't even talk

to their family about it

because they will just

either be disowned

or kicked out or whatever.

Jewish people don't want others

in their family to know

that they're seeking,

so that's really

where the digital side

of things comes in

and I believe that's why

we're seeing so much success

on the digital side

because we're able to kind of

penetrate physical walls.

You know,

we're able to actually meet

people in their homes

as opposed to waiting for them

to leave the home

to speak to them and I just

I just think it's

been really awesome

watching how we've

advanced over the years

in the digital

advertising space.

Yeah, and I remember

maybe about two years ago

where we ran a little test

with a Jesus film

with a clip from the

Jesus film in Yiddish.

And we ran a test

on Facebook, right?

Can you share a little bit

about that because I remember

hearing the results

of how many people

watched that video.

Yeah, we ran

this test two years ago.

I don't remember

the exact numbers,

but I do know that it was over,

it was hundreds of people

who watched the video.

Now everyone listening

is probably saying

hundreds of viewers,

that's nothing.

Well, listen to what we did.

We targeted

zip codes that we knew where

majority Ultra Orthodox.

We also ran the ad in Hebrew.

We couldn't- sorry, no,

we ran it in Yiddish actually.

We ran it in Yiddish

targeting Hebrew speakers

because most of them

know Hebrew and probably have

their Facebook pages in Hebrew.

So we know that people

who watched the majority

of the film understood Yiddish

because the film

wasn't Yiddish, and

so that tells us

that your speakers in an area

where there's Ultra Orthodox

watched the film 1 + 1 = 2.

Ultra Orthodox were

watching the Jesus film,

and that

was incredibly encouraging,

and so we're taking that data

and we're coming up

with some plans on how

we can expand on that

and continue to reach

in the digital space.

Brian:

Those hundreds are so exciting

because whenever we do

anything online in English,

we know as a team

that we're probably going

to get 10 to 20 times

the response from English

speaking believers in Jesus

than we will from

Jewish people who don't yet

believe in Jesus.

Well, how many believers in

Jesus know Yiddish or Hebrew

and are watching a

Yiddish language

version of the Jesus film?

I mean, this is such

an exciting thing

that those hundreds, those

are probably the vast majority,

if not all of them

not yet believing in Jesus,

and so that is a very

effective campaign

to reach them with

the message of Jesus.

So now imagine

you know

if you're driving a van

through North of Ultra

Orthodox community

trying to play the Jesus film.

That might not go too well.

I think you'll

upset a lot of people

and we always want to bring

the gospel with respect.

But if we are instead

providing that over

let's say Facebook

or YouTube, now this brings

it back into the anonymity

of the web, right?

And we always say this.

What Satan is using

to intend for destruction.

God is using for his glory

and for his edification.

And so that anonymity, though

it can be a little dark

for depending on how you're

using the Internet,

we're finding that

it's helping spread the gospel,

and so that's just

very encouraging.

Yeah,

I found in nine years

in being on

the ground in Brooklyn,

just my heart being broken

because of my inability

to really figure out

how to have a sustainable face

to face ministry

with the Ultra Orthodox

and I just like you said Abe,

I am very

excited and passionate

about using the Internet

to reach the unreached

to to penetrate those walls

that the sociological barriers,

those those barriers

that we just can't

get through with the gospel.

The Lord is giving us new means

primarily through the Internet.

There are other ways as well,

but we're really seeing that

the Internet is

a very strategic means

to reach the unreached.

Yeah, and Brian,

I remember going back again

to the Isaiah 53 campaign,

and sort of observed

observing and watching

how the Lord was working in

your life in particular

and really using

that whole campaign

as a transition

for our ministry

going more digital,

but also for you in particular,

do you want to share

a little bit about

how the Isaiah 53 campaign

and the online forum

that was on the website,

how that fits into your story

and what you're doing now.

Yeah, thanks Robert,

it was a huge huge

part of my story.

So as part of the

Isaiah 53 campaign,

we decided that we wanted

to have some kind of

online presence.

Well, up to that point,

we hadn't. This was 2013.

We didn't really have much

of an online presence

before that,

and we definitely weren't

running social media campaigns,

so we decided to

buy isaiah53.com

and we installed a discussion

forum as a section on the site

and that enabled

anybody but primarily

unbelieving Jewish people

to register an account

and to respond to different

questions and answers

that were posted on the site.

And I was one of

several staff members

who was tapped to be

a responder on that

discussion forum

and after a month

or two of the five of us

being on the site,

the other four weren't

that interested in internet

forum ministry and that was

what was getting me up

every single morning.

I just wanted to get up,

I wanted to get on that

forum, I wanted to see

who was responding to me,

what their objections were

if I didn't know what

they, how to respond.

I was going and researching

and then I'm writing

all these posts and

I absolutely loved it

and my passion for online

evangelism and apologetics

was really birthed out

of administering

and writing on that

discussion forum,

and that became my

primary ministry

for about two and a half years.

And just

just absolutely loved it.

So tell us why?

Why did that end?

Why did that forum

eventually come to a halt

and how did that transition

to what you're doing now?

Yeah,

so the forum was really great

in that it enabled us

or me in particular

as the only Chosen

People staff member

administering it,

it enabled me to respond

to Jewish objections

to the gospel

and to make positive cases

for why Jesus was the Messiah.

But I was the only staff member

who was really on the forum

and there were other users

– Messianic Jewish

and Christian users

who helped me some.

But there were so many

Jewish users on the site

and many of them

would write like crazy

or they would copy

and paste things

from other places

on the Internet.

They would go off topic,

they wouldn't respond

to the original post.

They would try to

hijack the post and basically

the forum was not designed

to have a good control system

for keeping the

messages on topic

and to actually have

a conducive atmosphere.

A lot of discussion forums

there built around

the entire audience.

Having a common love,

a common theme.

You know you got a car forum

or you got technology forum

you got- it brings together

people with a common interest.

Well the discussion

forum on Isaiah53.com

it brought together

believers and unbelievers

in Yeshua,

and there was not commonality

and it brought out

a lot of bad things.

Actually on both sides.

And it was not a very

productive way or sustainable

way of online evangelism.

Even though I loved doing it,

I knew that there

was a better way

to go about online ministry.

Yeah.

It's interesting you say that

because we're seeing

some of that energy

kind of

in our Facebook comments,

not so much Instagram,

but really Facebook where

we have to monitor.

Kind of those conversations

that are happening

between believers

and unbelievers.

You know, I think if there's

anything that people

here today, it's just again

share the gospel and love.

If you disagree with someone

on social media, do it in love.

You know

you never know who's watching

and they're going to see that

and think you represent

all Christians, right?

Right.

And so it's

just so important to

to do all of that in love.

And speaking of social media

and Brian we'll come back

to your current project

in a little bit.

Nicole, can you-

so we're actually talking

about pamphlets before, right?

And handing out flyers

and things like that.

And I see social

media, social posts,

Instagram posts, Facebook

posts,

kind of like those pamphlets

getting passed around, right?

So social media really started

picking up for us.

I would say around 2014,

but in the last couple of years

it's really blossomed

into into something wonderful

and a really really great

communication tool.

So how are we using

platforms like Facebook

and Instagram to reach Jewish

people, and also Christians

because part of our mission

statement is to encourage

believers to pray for,

evangelize, disciple and serve

the Jewish people as well.

Yeah, so it's

definitely a dual

function for sure.

We do get some pre-believing

Jewish people on

our social media accounts

in our comment sections

and their comments range from,

you know,

curiosity to sometimes

they don't like

what we're doing,

and so we try to just give

everybody the freedom

to say what they want to say

as long as you know,

like Brian said,

as long as

they're not hijacking

the conversation,

and sometimes sometimes

even the believers

you know sometimes even Gentile

Christians will hijack

the conversation and you know

it becomes

a very personal thing.

And so we have to kind of tone

down those comments

but most of the time

people are pretty respectful

and Well, what I like

about what we do

with social media

is that we get to show

the Jewishness of Jesus

to our audience.

We're educating the church

about the Jewish

roots of the faith.

But we're also letting Jewish

people know that

Jesus was Jewish,

and that you know

he is their Messiah.

We get to tell people

about Israel's

role in the Bible

and how important

that is today.

We also get to do on

line events as well

on our social media platforms.

So it's just been great

to see the.

response

that we've been getting,

and we also get

to educate people

about antisemitism

within Church history

as well as today,

and I think

the Jewish community

really appreciates

the fact that even though

we're a ministry,

we take a stand

against antisemitism,

and we want to support

the Jewish community,

whether they're believers

or unbelievers.

One thing

I really appreciate so much

about the social media posts

and Nicole

you do such a wonderful job.

I just want to make

sure that we all acknowledge

that and say that.

Beat me to it.

But one thing I

love is

how they are really such

a good tool to drive people

or to invite people to

some of our other websites

like ifoundshalom.com

or even again what

the project

that Brian is working on.

Well,

I love aboutmessiah.com.

I feel like it's our, it's

like our savvy older brother

who like knows everything

and there's so there's

so many great articles

on their website

on that website

and you really keep it up

to date.

So, yeah Brian

tell us a little bit more

about About Messiah

and about

Chosen People Answers.

Yeah,

so About Messiah and Chosen

People Answers are

our cousin sites.

They both have the same purpose

of sharing the gospel,

evangelizing Jewish

people and dealing

with objections to

believing in Jesus, but

from two different angles.

The aboutmessiah.com site

is for Jewish people

who are curious about Jesus.

Maybe they've heard that

He has this Hebrew name.

Yeshua.

Maybe they have a

Christian friend

that has been inviting them

to church,

but they don't really know

if that's

okay for them to go to church

because they're Jewish and

but they've got this curiosity

and so aboutmessiah.com

is for Jewish seekers answering

very down to earth questions

about what it means to be

a Jewish believer in Jesus,

and we're trying to build

aboutmessiah.com

into being an online library

of a vast majority of different

articles on different topics

and so that site

is going to be growing

and I would encourage you

to go there and check it out

and to see the approach

that we're taking with Jewish

people

the tone that we're taking

and to apply that

in your own evangelism

and then Chosen People Answers

that is for Jewish people

who want to think

through the issues maybe

a little bit deeper.

Maybe they are a little bit

more hostile to the idea

of Jesus being the Messiah,

have more questions,

they want to

go into the history,

they want to go into the Hebrew

and so Chosen People Answers

goes more in depth

on very similar topics.

So maybe we have

a prophet or two here.

What do we think

will be the next

new type of media

that we will use for ministry.

What's next?

Hologram.

Tick Tock.

I was going to say

cryptocurrency somehow.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

VR Messianic services

with dancing.

There you go.

Virtual reality tours

in Israel – follow

Jesus' footsteps.

Brian:

I think the prophecy is strong.

You know we're giving

people too many ideas.

We should keep some of

these for ourselves.

Oh man, so

how do we come up

with fresh ideas

for sharing our message?

How do we avoid

trying to replicate

what others are doing?

What would you say?

Maybe somebody who's listening

is into digital media

for their ministry

for the organization, whoever,

what is it

that we can do to come up

with like a fresh new idea

for communicating

your mission statement?

Or in our case, our message?

Invite the young

people to the table.

You know one thing

that I've noticed,

and I've had the privilege

of being a part of Camp Kesher

for like the past six

or seven years now,

and I think there's

even studies about this,

but middle schoolers,

middle schoolers like

ten, eleven, twelve year

olds are at the forefront

of the latest trends.

Right.

It's

just, it's how it is,

so I think it all goes

back to what we've

been talking about.

Being open, being

flexible, pliable,

being willing to think

outside the box.

And I mean one example

that comes to mind

is one of our younger

Israeli staff

members has developed

a gaming channel

where he shares the gospel

as he's on there on Twitch,

playing these video games

and this is like a big trend

among young people right

now, specially Gen Z

where they'll go online

and they'll watch other people

play video games.

So as he's on there, he's

engaging with the people

who were chatting

and and asking him questions,

and he's sharing the gospel

through gaming online.

I missed my calling.

I I should have done that.

Yeah, but I

mean, who would have thought

that that would be

an effective means of ministry?

That's awesome, it's funny

because my 10-year-old niece,

I tend to ask her

what what technology

she's into and things like that

just to get an idea

of where things are headed

and the other day

she told me she lost

interest in Tick Tock

and meanwhile

she was using Tick Tock

like crazy for the whole year

and now she's lost interest

and I'm like

something's coming.

What's next?

Yeah, what's next?

Exactly!

Yeah, listening to

the young people is huge.

Robert and I would also agree

that you need to

surround yourself

not just with young people,

but just people who are always

thinking outside of the box.

They are not content

with the status quo.

They're always convinced

that there's more

for the Lord to be

doing in our midst.

That what has happened in

the past is not necessarily

what we're limited

to for the future

and not throwing water

on the little embers

of little ideas that could be

fanned into flame.

Again, you've always

got the skeptics who say, yeah,

we've never done

it that way before