In a world where people like MrBeast has hundreds of millions of subscribers and makes millions of dollars, hitting the 2000 subscriber mark might seem like small potatoes, but it’s actually an important digital ministry milestone.
I’ve been creating content online for a lot of years now and released hundreds of videos, but it’s only recently that I decided to buckle down and create a fully fledged YouTube series that wasn’t something taken from my Twitch channel. I started making “Rethinking Influence” videos in December 2025 and the response has been amazing. I’m only 5 videos into the series and my channel has tripled in size, has been officially recognized as a YouTube partner (after doubling the requirements!), and has garnered over 1,400 comments in just the past 2 weeks!
Why am I telling you this?
In the video, I talked about how influence works in three directions—not just creator-to-audience, but audience-to-creator, and audience-to-audience. That is what happened here. Yes, I’m excited and want to celebrate this milestone with my amazing supporters, but it’s also a huge deal for the impact it’ll have on the digital mission field. “Partner” isn’t merely a badge, it’s a key that unlocks the algorithm by telling the system that my content is worth sharing with new people. To show you the power of what happened, take a look at the follow-up video I did and the comments.
What I want you to notice is how deeply connected the community I tapped into is, how much they long for connection, and how vilified they usually feel. I dropped a video about their favourite creator and while they enjoyed it, the impact was far, far deeper.
“I have to say that I never thought about the role the audience plays from the creator’s pov, and opening a person’s mind to new and interesting perspectives is something only a few can do well. great video man” (@yote5_27)
“You have no idea how much we, as the Swarm, needed this kind of analysis after the last Subathon. You managed to capture the fleeting magic that binds our community into a single collective. You simply understood us the way we see ourselves.” (@atabis)
We appreciate you, kind sir. I’d just like to share that I am especially grateful that you made your previous video as well as this follow up video, because, at least for me, it brought me out of my recent despair and back to being a happy swarm member again! (@Aji-fc5vx)
This stands out to me because it reminds me of how many times that people said similar things while I was doing pastoral counselling. “I never thought of that before”… “It’s nice to feel understood”… “Talking to you made me feel better”. Reading these hundreds of comments was a reminder of the need for a pastoral presence on the digital mission field within established communities.
How You Can Help
I know that most of you are neither content creators nor particularly interested in internet culture, but there are three things you can do to help:
- Engage with the Channel: Subscribing is always nice, but watching the videos is huge. It tells YouTube that people value the content so the algorithm should share it. Important Note: If you only watch a few seconds at the beginning to get a “view” and then leave, it actually signals that the video is bad because you didn’t get past the first bit. So, if you want to help, give the videos a watch all the way through. Leaving a thumbs-up and a comment is super helpful too!
- Pray for Me and the Audience I tapped into “The Swarm” to get the initial push but in order to keep the ball rolling, I need to come up with good videos. Please pray God helps me be not only creative and excellent, but useful and glorifying to Him. Also, pray that any new people who find my channel would be curious enough to join me on my livestream so I can build a relationship with them.
- Pray for Church Partnership: My home church is meeting at the end of the month to discuss if they want to partner with me and that would be a HUGE benefit. First, because they’ve said I might be able to build a local team for a new online Sunday ministry and that they’d help me connect with other organizations. And second, because it would allow me to continue to accept donations through the denomination. Should they choose not to help, I’d need to figure out what to do with donors by the end of March.
- Pray for Provision: As of now, the monthly New Ventures kickoff financial help has ended, so my income has dropped by almost 1/3, which means I don’t make enough to pay my bills anymore. I’m sure God has a plan, but I’m not sure what to do next. If your churches, small groups, or other individuals you know are looking for how to engage the online space, please tell them what I’m up to. I’m happy to meet and “pitch” what I’m doing to hopefully secure some more support.
Thank you for all you’ve done and Praise God for all He is doing!