The Doug and Jon Show’ Teen Website Takes Evangelism to Next Generation
A website is ministering to teens by featuring comedy videos, and videos about issues that concern them, as well as building up friendship and trust online as a lead into the gospel.
The Doug and Jon show engages in Internet Evangelism without being religious, and is willing to walk teenagers through building a relationship with Jesus, one teenager at a time, Christian Newswire said.
Jon Taylor, cofounder of The Doug and Jon Show told Christian Newswire, “Student-age young people are looking for answers, and they’re looking for them on the internet. With over half the world’s population, over 3 billion people, under the age of 25, we must find highly effective ways to meet them and share Jesus.”
The website has successfully put together a community of teens who enjoy the videos, forums and activities on the site. The website also has original comedy videos and cartoons, video blogs, and Q & A’s that deal with common teen issues such as being popular, sex, bullying and loneliness, according to Christian Newswire.
Jon’s wife Kara hosts a portion of the site that caters to girls. Doug, Jon and Kara are also very accessible for teens who may want to initiate online conversations. They see this as an important part of building a relationship with the teen and pointing them to the Christian portions of the website, Christian Newswire said.
The objective is to be upfront about their faith, but not to sound religious, and to give teenagers the chance to choose to accept Jesus into their lives. Doug Hutchcraft, cofounder told Christian Newswire, “In a face-to-face conversation you can usually perceive if someone wants to hear the message of Christ through their body language. We have tried to translate this into the online experience.”
Doug told Christian Newswire that this is not a ‘baiting game.’ “We don’t trick or ‘bait and switch’ anyone into hearing the Gospel. We just create a relationship where kids can share with us what is going on in their lives and we are always ready to share Jesus when asked.”
The website is the product of Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, and was put together when they noticed that there are very few “clean” websites that cater to teens and which offer comedy, Christian Newswire said.
Videos featured
On our visit to the website we see a list of five secrets to having a great relationship with Jesus. The five steps, on the website are: 1) Talk with Jesus, 2) Read what He’s written, 3) Be with His friends, 4) Do what makes Jesus happy and 5) Talk about Jesus. Beside the list is a video which talks about each step, and there is a comment forum where participants can respond and share how they are progressing.
The Life Video Blog section has an interesting collection of videos, some of which use animation. Some topics include “Lonely Facebook Report,” “Born, Breathe Die…is this it,” “Why am I Here?,” “Popularity is Overrated,” and “Bullies…Stop Messing With Me,” among others, a view of the website shows.
While some videos are serious, the comedy videos draw the most attention, including “Lady Gaga ‘Alejandro’ D&J Remix,” “Shark Week Lost Tapes,” and “The Chuck Norris Man Test,” according to Christian Newswire.
So far, The Doug and John show has received visitors from up to 67 countries, which shows that teens and tweens around the world are receptive to wholesome sites that are also conversational, entertaining and educational, Christian Newswire said.
Visit The Doug and John show at www.alrcnewskitchen.com/dougandjon.