Spreading Hope through Videos
With the rise of social media, leaders and speakers are meeting their audiences where they are in this day and age. Bluefield College junior James Dick is doing just that with his ministry through the use of weekly videos on his YouTube Channel.
“Why I started making videos was to spread hope,” Dick said.
On Mondays, he spreads hope with motivational videos as a way of encouraging people who may be starting a busy work week. On Wednesdays, his videos are more Bible study related with a hint of theological questions. They address “things churches do not often have time to address because either it is hard or people do not want to talk about it,” Dick said.
His inspiration for the video ministry came from his own personal experiences viewing the works of Clayton Jennings, an evangelist in Indiana, and Steven Furtick, founder and lead pastor of Elevation Church. Both provide videos to the public with teachings and messages from the Bible that spread hope in the world.
Local youth have also inspired Dick to make videos, since watching vlogs and spending time on social media is highly popular these days. Dick said he noticed that not all, but much of the content distributed within the media was often very negative and discouraging to viewers.
“None of it was really positive for Christianity or making a difference for the community,” Dick said. His intentions are to provide something for his students and others that is positive, influential, and helpful toward their lives. As a result, his video ministry YouTube channel has grown noticeably within the past few months.
“I started out with about two subscribers, and now I am at about 54,” he said “It is not huge but it is encouraging.”
In addition to his video ministry, Dick wears additional hats in the community. He ministers to local youth as the youth minister for Highlands Fellowship in Bluefield, VA. He also organizes camps, leads high schoolers through clubs, and teaches a Bible study for the Bluefield High School football team.
“I am helping with the Baptist organization for Virginia,” Dick said about his involvement in the Baptist General Association of Virginia’s annual summer youth community service program called Impact Virginia. “About one-hundred some kids will be going to fix homes, do community work, and then come back to worship.”
But his video ministry is his greatest passion, and at the beginning of his channel journey, Dick’s videos mainly contained himself. Now, he said he collaborates with students or anyone willing to help with the videos, whether it be sharing stories, testimonials, or acting to help share the message.
His immediate audience came mainly from his friends and family on Facebook. Even though he said he “cringes” at his first-ever video, he said he has been encouraged by the number of views it received. What has been very helpful throughout this whole journey has been the love, support, and kind words from his peers and audience. He said that others’ feedback has been really encouraging.
“Even though I have a purpose behind it and I am doing work to glorify God, it can still get tiring,” Dick said. Encouraging feedback like, “I made this decision in my life because of this video” or “this made me look at my life in a different way,” he added, is what keeps him going.
Dick mentioned potentially rebranding in the near future and said he is very excited for the many opportunities heading his way to continue to spread hope and the love of God.