Visual Storytellers: Igniting Hearts Through Visual Media

During Jesus’ ministry in Galilee — a small, but densely populated region¹ — he often encountered crowds of people.

The Crowds That Jesus Saw
In Matthew’s account of one season of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, we see him followed by great crowds after he delivered the Sermon on the Mount.² Among those crowds, there was a leper whom Jesus healed.³

In the city of Capernaum, he was being followed by a group of people and had a conversation with a Roman centurion and ultimately healed the centurion’s servant.⁴

Later that day, after he had entered Peter’s house, many were brought to him who were oppressed by demons. He cast out those spirits and healed them.⁵

Later, he told his disciples to cross to the other side of the Sea of Galilee when he saw a crowd around him.⁶ And in the country of the Gadarenes, after he had delivered two demon-possessed men, the whole city came out to beg Jesus to leave the region.⁷

Crowds were afraid when they saw him heal a paralytic in his home city.⁸

Many tax collectors and sinners came and reclined at table with him in Matthew’s house.⁹ While he was there, a ruler came in and begged him to raise his daughter from the dead. When Jesus arrived at the ruler’s house, he found that a crowd had gathered to mourn the child.¹⁰

The crowds marveled when he cast out a demon from a mute man, while the religious authorities accused him of collaborating with the devil to accomplish his miracles.¹¹

Jesus was well-acquainted with crowds. As he moved from city to village to city to village in Galilee and taught in synagogues, proclaiming God’s rule and performing miracles, his fame spread throughout Galilee, even though he cautioned those who were healed and delivered not to tell others.¹²

He knew that the crowds were made up of people who were harassed — they had been bullied and oppressed by their leaders and by the forces of darkness which sought to keep them in spiritual bondage.¹³ They were weary, beaten down, and troubled.¹⁴ They were thrown down and confused¹⁵, “unable to rescue themselves or escape their tormentors,”¹⁶ in other words, they were helpless.

They were like sheep without a shepherd. They were rudderless.¹⁷ They were searching for a shepherd who would guide them and feed them.

“… they flock after Jesus but have no purpose or direction. They are enamored with him but unwilling to make a commitment They have been ‘beaten up’ by the leaders but are helpless to do anything about it.“¹⁸

And when Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion on them.¹⁹

Making Today’s Crowd Visible
There is also a crowd today — over 3 billion people who have not had an opportunity to hear the gospel of Jesus. How will the church see this crowd? How can we make them visible to God’s people?

While the crowds in Jesus’ day generally came from a 2,800-square-mile area (Galilee), today’s “crowd” is spread out over 57 million square miles (the land area on earth). How can we see them in such a way that we will have compassion on them, compassion to move us to act on their behalf?

We Need Missions Reporters
A key lies in the story of the twelve men who were sent by Moses to explore the promised land, observe the people who inhabited the land, and report back to the people of Israel.²⁰

Just as these twelve explorers traversed the promised land and assessed the strength of its inhabitants, we need photojournalists, media producers, and visual storytellers to go throughout the world to document the extent to which spiritual darkness has gripped these regions, and visually present them — that the body of Christ will see.

We need to see — through visual media — the crowds of people who inhabit those regions – their search for hope and peace, their weariness, the oppression they suffer, their desperation and despair, all of which lead them to pray to forces that would do them eternal harm.

It is also necessary to reveal to the church the beauty of their cultures, the places where they live, their way of life, and most importantly, the uniqueness of each individual in this crowd — each one a person for whom Christ died.

And we need to respond to his word and reach those who inhabit these regions for Jesus’ glory, that he might deliver them from their bondage and that his kingdom would be built here on earth.

We need missions photojournalists.

Ablaze Media Productions
Today’s technology enables missions photojournalists to show us today’s crowd spread out over 57 million square miles, to demonstrate to us their great need, and to encourage us to devote our lives to see them rescued from their enslavement to sin.

Ablaze Media Productions, under the leadership of its founder Joshua Chew, is passionate about equipping and moving the church to action through media.

Joshua describes the opportunity before us:

Millennials are poised to use today’s technology – they spend a lot of time online, watching videos and sharing them. This creates an opportunity for them to grow in their passion for the unreached and then to use media to mobilize others. But unfortunately, there is a dearth of missions-related media for those millennials to share. Many Christian media producers are creating evangelistic content. And there are also many videos for recruiting those who already have a passion for the lost to work through specific agencies to reach the lost. But there is not a lot of video designed to ignite that passion.

Joshua — through Ablaze Media Productions — serves the worldwide church by documenting the plight of the unreached and equipping workers to do the same — so that believers will see the crowds who have no Shepherd.

In addition to his work documenting the plight of the unreached, Joshua provides missions media training to equip believers to capture effective photographs and video with budget equipment for use in furthering the proclamation of the gospel. In other words, he trains visual storytellers.

Through their sister ministry, Project Ablaze, the Ablaze fellowship provides a network platform for young people (millennials and gen Z) who have a heart for missions but are not sure where to start — to connect, encourage, and pray through online fellowships — and thus serve as a catalyst to mobilize and raise up workers to evangelize unreached people. In other words, they send visual storytellers.

Finally, Joshua also provides quality media productions to workers, agencies, and organizations. Over the past few years, he has documented or produced for various ministries, including Wycliffe / SIL, Global Frontier Missions, SIM, Asia Pacific Theological Seminary, Visual Story Network, EMDC, and many others. By presenting the people of the world in photographs and videos, Joshua’s efforts serve to humanize the unreached and reveal their plight to the global body of Christ. His work enables us to see the crowds like Jesus did, which leads us to have compassion for them, and in turn to take action on their behalf.

Click here to view more videos produced by Ablaze Media Productions.

And click here to understand more about the media support provided by Ablaze Media Productions.

Join the Ablaze Media Productions Team
If you’ve read our pillar articles (which can be reached through the tabs at the top of the site if you are using a desktop or the three-bar/”hamburger” menu if you are using a mobile device), you know that our conviction is that all believers should be part of a team seeking to reach the unreached. Some will go, some will pray, some will provide financial support, some will provide logistical support — but all are called to give their lives to reach the nations.

By joining Joshua and his efforts through Ablaze Media Productions, you can play a part in spreading the gospel throughout the world. Here are seven ways you can be a part of his work:

1. You can pray for Ablaze and for the workers they are mobilizing on an ongoing basis.
2. You can share the social media graphics and videos produced by Ablaze Media (https://projectablaze.weebly.com/productions) / (https://www.facebook.com/ProjectAblaze2016) to create awareness online — so that your Christian friends see the crowds and have compassion for them.
3. You can support Joshua and his ministry, Ablaze Media Productions, financially by giving via PayPal. For other giving options, please contact Joshua at Ablaze.Media.Prod@gmail.com.
4. You can benefit from Ablaze Media Production’s training to learn how to use budget equipment to create effective media for use in furthering the proclamation of the gospel. Click here to learn how you can host a training.
5. If you are an organization or ministry seeking quality media to recruit workers and raise finances, you can commission Ablaze Media to produce for you.
6. You can join the Ablaze monthly missions fellowship — contact them for an invite.
7. If you are a pastor or missions leader in your church, we would encourage you to get in touch with Joshua to see how you might benefit from the work of Ablaze Media Productions and Project Ablaze.

Note that all images and videos in this article are used by permission (via personal correspondence).

WORKERS IN THIS ARTICLE: Joshua Chew

¹ Carson, D. A., Tremper Longman, and David E. Garland. 2010. Matthew. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 312.

² Matthew 8:1

³ Matthew 8:2-4

⁴ Matthew 8:5-13

⁵ Matthew 8:14, 16

⁶ Matthew 8:18

⁷ Matthew 8:34

⁸ Matthew 9:1-8

⁹ Matthew 9:9-10

¹⁰ Matthew 9:18-26

¹¹ Matthew 9:32-34

¹² Matthew 8:4; 9:30-31

¹³ Carson, Longman and Garland, Matthew, 550.

¹⁴ Arnold, Clinton E. 2008. Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan, 518.

¹⁵ Arnold, Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, 518.

¹⁶ Carson, Longman and Garland, Matthew, 550.

¹⁷ Arnold, Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, 518.

¹⁸ Arnold, Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, 518-519.

¹⁹ Matthew 9:35-38

²⁰ Numbers 13
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²¹ Dimock, Michael. “Defining Generations: Where Millennials End and Generation Z Begins.” Pew Research Center, January 17, 2019. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/01/17/where-millennials-end-and-generation-z-begins/.