Alicia Snyder’s young friends dreamed of becoming influencers for Christ on social media.
Alicia knew nothing about filmmaking and wasn’t sure she could help them with their goals.
But friends urged her to do what she could and you need to see what God made possible.
Over the past two years, Alicia’s program has helped over a dozen young people find their voice and be used by God through media creation.
Participants are already testifying to how this project has changed their lives.
“I learned I was capable of speaking up and making a difference,” one shared.
Alicia’s dream began in 2018 with the idea of involving young people in creating living metaphors to help them remember the truths of Scripture. When a friend suggested presenting these ideas in video format, Alicia hired a professional videographer to partner with her and the teens.
One of Alicia’s goals was helping kids take ownership of their projects. Students contributed ideas for music, scripts, and shots. Along the way, Alicia mentored the teens in spiritual metaphors and creative topics.
Tackling this daunting idea was not always easy and required finding props, locations, speakers, narrators, brainstormers, and animals.
For some young people, the prospect of sharing their heart with the entire world wasn’t a good fit. But those who stuck with it forged deeper and lasting relationships with God and each other.
For several months, Alicia worked individually with the students to study the topics they would present. Kids learned about accepting others, getting through trials, surrendering control, and finding hope. They also practiced skills like speaking clearly and projecting their voices.
There was a lot of laughter, creativity, and nervousness as the filming date got closer. After months of preparation, it was time for Olivia of Lightshaft Media, the videographer, to do her magic.
She would capture each simple, powerful metaphor about the spiritual life on film – fake snow stood for a blizzard of shame, caves represented the refuge of God, fuzzy chicks reminded of God’s tender care.
Olivia jumped eagerly into every adventure. She followed the team down dusty trails, through muddy rivers, and into caves. Whether she had fake snow in her hair or baby animals in her arms, she captured ordinary moments and transformed them into pieces of art.
After filming day, the students waited eagerly for Olivia to finish the process of editing and polishing the video. When the videos were released, kids gathered around the computer to witness the beauty Olivia had created out of their amateur efforts.
Comments started coming in from viewers who had been encouraged by the students’ artwork. The group of students were touched when they realized their efforts had made an impact.
“This video is beautiful. I was moved deeply by it.”
“It was so heartwarming and sweet, and I will definitely be sharing it with the rest of the team and my friends.”
“I needed to hear this today — that God loves me just because he chooses to, and He is watching out for me even when I don’t feel it, and how often he holds me comfortingly in his tender hands.”
“It’s so touching it made me cry.”
And the teens had their own words of testimony to share.
One participant after seeing her video said, “I felt proud of myself for the first time.”
“I feel honored when I can speak out and people listen,” another shared.
As students pored over the comments, they realized just how much this project was bigger than themselves — bigger than any of the participants. Even though every contributor worked hard, it was God’s hand who truly created these projects.
Alicia shared, “When I saw miraculous demonstrations of mutual care going on between mentors, teens, and adults, I stood in awe. Their love spanned each other’s cultures, languages, and social strata. Only God could have created the love, reconciliation, hope, and generosity that these team players have demonstrated.”
Through this process, participants learned how to use their God-given gifts for His glory.
You can watch these inspiring videos for yourself here.
