cover of episode how Jesus Freaks started

how Jesus Freaks started

2024/12/13
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Christ With Coffee On Ice

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Ally Yost
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Ashley Hetherington
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Ally Yost 和 Ashley Hetherington 分享了她们在创作“Jesus Freaks”节目过程中的经历,以及她们对上帝的信靠如何帮助她们克服各种挑战,最终完成了这个项目。她们分享了最初的想法、遇到的阻碍、寻求上帝的指引、以及最终决定独自完成节目的过程。她们强调了在信仰中冒险的重要性,以及上帝会在整个过程中引导她们。她们还分享了在创作过程中遇到的技术挑战、以及她们如何克服这些挑战。最后,她们鼓励听众与上帝一起冒险,因为上帝不会让他们失望。 Ashley Hetherington 分享了她最初得到创作节目的想法,以及这个想法如何逐渐清晰和强烈。她描述了最初尝试创作节目时遇到的许多障碍,以及她最终选择将这个想法交给上帝,并顺服他的旨意。她分享了与Ally Yost相遇,以及她们如何一起决定创作这个节目。她还分享了在创作过程中遇到的各种挑战,以及她们如何通过寻求上帝的指引来克服这些挑战。最后,她分享了上帝如何启示她节目的名字“Jesus Freaks”,以及她对节目的期望。

Deep Dive

Key Insights

What is the concept behind the show 'Jesus Freaks'?

The show follows two girls moving to a new city, following God, and navigating the ups and downs of friendships, relationships, work, and singleness. It aims to encourage viewers to walk with Jesus in their everyday lives.

When will 'Jesus Freaks' be released?

The show will be released on December 28th and will be available to stream on YouTube.

Why did the creators of 'Jesus Freaks' initially struggle to get the show off the ground?

They faced numerous roadblocks, including difficulty explaining the concept to potential producers and investors, and they initially believed they needed a production house and a larger cast. They also encountered skepticism about the show's format and potential audience.

How did the idea for 'Jesus Freaks' come about?

Ashley Hetherington had the initial idea after attending a conference where a speaker discussed Christian film and production. The concept evolved into a docu-series about living as a Christian in modern times, inspired by the need for a show that showcases the Holy Spirit moving in today's generation.

What was the turning point that allowed 'Jesus Freaks' to move forward?

The creators realized they didn't need a production house or a large cast; they could do it themselves with God's guidance. This revelation came after a prophetic word from a church member and a moment of clarity during a beach trip.

What challenges did the creators face while producing 'Jesus Freaks'?

They faced significant warfare, technical difficulties, and the pressure of wearing multiple hats, including producing, directing, and being the subjects of the show. They also had to bootstrap the production with limited resources and no professional experience in filmmaking.

What is the significance of the name 'Jesus Freaks'?

The name reflects the bold and unapologetic nature of the show, emphasizing that following Jesus may sometimes make them appear like 'freaks.' It also challenges the creators to be vulnerable and authentic in their faith journey.

What is the main message of 'Jesus Freaks'?

The show aims to inspire viewers to walk with Jesus in their everyday lives, showcasing the ups and downs of navigating life, friendships, and relationships while staying rooted in faith.

How does 'Jesus Freaks' differ from other Christian content?

Unlike shows that focus on biblical times or scripted dramas, 'Jesus Freaks' is a reality show that shows modern Christians navigating life in the current generation, offering a relatable and authentic portrayal of faith in action.

What role did fasting and prayer play in the creation of 'Jesus Freaks'?

Fasting and prayer were crucial in seeking God's guidance and clarity. The creators often fasted and prayed to surrender their own understanding and trust God's plan, which led to breakthroughs in the production process.

Chapters
Ashley recounts receiving a divine vision for a docu-series about Christian life in 2023, facing numerous roadblocks, and ultimately surrendering the idea to God.
  • Divine inspiration for a docu-series on Christian life.
  • Initial roadblocks and discouragement.
  • Surrender of the idea to God.

Shownotes Transcript

Translations:
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Hello, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Christ with Coffee and Ice.

I am your host, Ali Yost, and today is another very exciting week. Guys, it just gets even more exciting with every week. But today, I have Bestie here. We have Ashley Hetherington with us.

Ash, say hi. Hi. Hi. And we are here to just chat. We are here to give a life update because if you guys are familiar with the episode that we posted a few months ago, we were literally still in our Airbnb. What the freak? We were in the Airbnb, still no home, no nothing. And we were just being honest about where we were at and just the way we were trusting the Lord. We moved across the country. We had zero answers.

And so we thought it would be good for us to update everybody, as in y'all.

and let you know where we're at. We do have some answers. Hey, we have some now. We don't have all of them. Yeah. But we do have some answers. And we have a very exciting life update for you guys as of today. As of literally just a couple hours ago, we finally put something out into the world that was one of the few things that I think was on our minds at the time when we recorded that was just the thing that we were like, this was one of the things that we were waiting on the Lord about. Yeah.

And so it's just really cool to see that just in a few months, the Lord has just allowed so much. So we are just going to update y'all today. Yeah. And we pray that it blesses you and it gives you hope in the Lord's faithfulness. Ashley, you're going to cry. I'm already starting to cry just because looking back on where we were at when we first recorded that initial podcast, like we genuinely were so excited.

dependent on the Lord and we still are but just looking back to see his faithfulness I'm about to cry and I just pray that this episode gives you hope yes yeah and just glorifies the Lord like we are just living proof that he doesn't ever abandon us or leave us and even just our deep

deepest desires, wants, hopes, dreams, the Lord is so on board with you that he wants those same hopes and dreams that you have. And I do believe that he places these things on our hearts first, obviously, like it was first his dream. And so how do we want to break this in? Should we take, first off, should we take a sip of our coffee? Let's just,

- Before it gets too heavy. - And also that can be kind of where we start off the thing is when God gives you a dream. - Gorgeous, Ashley. - We can kind of share. - Do you wanna start that off? - Yeah. Okay, so it was last summer, end of last summer, and I was at a-- - This is crazy that we're saying this out loud to the world right now.

No, guys, it's actually crazy. We have kept this a secret from y'all for probably a year. We've told very few people like family members, close friends, but that's literally it. But we're so excited. So this isn't even real, but it is real. So it was end of last summer. And mind you, I did not know Allie at all.

Okay, I'm living in Nashville, Tennessee. So this is over a year ago. Over a year ago, mind you. I'm at this conference and there's this guy talking about movies and production, specifically in the faith-based realm. Allie might get a lot of holy zaps as we watch this, okay? She saw me. Just out of the corner of my eye, she's getting a zap. So if you don't know what a holy zap is, it is when the Holy Spirit like

It just like makes you zap. I didn't know that was ever going to happen to me, but it just is. I feel like it's just a way of the Lord being like, no, no, no. If you get holy zaps, if you get a shiver, comment holy zaps in the comments below. If this also is something that you relate to. Okay. So end of summer last year, I'm at a conference. There's this guy talking about Christian life.

film and production. And I'm sitting there listening to him and I've been like vlogging for a little bit at this point. So I'm kind of getting into like production myself. And I just have this thought and it does not come from me because it's so specific. And it was, what would it look like if there was a show about living as a Christian in this day and age?

That dawned on me, just an idea, just popped in my head. And I'm like, oh, that's a fun idea. Wonder why no one's done that. Wonder why no one's done that. But okay, cool. So I just continue to watch this, continue to live my life, go about my days. And then what's crazy is when God gives you a vision, sometimes the vision will just fall. Sometimes it'll be just an idea, just kind of fall. But sometimes God breathes on it.

And then it's like this little idea just becomes this thing. And then it gets bigger and bigger and bigger. And all of a sudden it becomes clearer and clearer.

And it's, you can't even stop thinking about it. Yeah. You can't forget about it. So all of a sudden God over the coming weeks after that conference, God is breathing an idea, like making it so crystal clear about this docu-series, this reality show around living as a Christian in 2024 or in 2023 at the point, because we've seen the chosen, we've seen these shows that show biblical times. They're amazing. But

where do you see the spirit of God moving amongst ourselves in this generation, in this right now?

You know, we have all these shows that we've seen pop off. And aside from like Instagram reels and even podcasts, like even this, it's like, it's great, but there's nothing out there where it's like you're physically watching people walk out their lives hand in hand with the Lord. Yes. Together. Right. And navigating life and friendships and relationships and work and temptations and the world, just living life, living life with Jesus. Yes.

Okay, no one's done this. I'm starting to think, why has no one done this? It's coming in my head. I start writing it down. I bring it to my family. I'm like, I don't know how to do this, but I feel like the Lord wants me to do this. I start thinking about people in Nashville. I'm like, who would be a part of this show? Like, if you were to produce a show, who would be a part of it? Who would want to produce it? I started thinking about all this stuff.

I, and nothing is coming together. Literally nothing's coming together. It is such a good idea, but nothing's coming together. And I'm like, okay, I get so discouraged. I'm like, Lord, this is such a good idea. It's needed. It would actually probably like create a revival in

with people watching it around the world, like seeing how to actually like encounter the Holy Spirit and walk with God in your everyday life. But it wasn't, it was just hitting roadblock after roadblock after roadblock. So then I just surrendered it. And I said, Lord, like literally whatever. I was like, this just might never happen. You're like, I'm over it, God. I'm so over this. I hate that I even have this idea because now I can't stop thinking about it and it feels impossible, but I'm just going to like surrender this. So I surrender it. Okay. I surrender it.

Then I meet Allie Yost. Okay. Allie Yost, I'm going to turn it over to you. Allie Yost and I are hanging out for the legit second time. Second time. Second time. She moves to Nashville. Okay. We're hanging out for the second time and she makes this comment that makes me say something. But what was the comment? You describe this. Yeah. Well, because Ashley's so good about keeping up with her YouTube, right? Like if you guys are into her Holy Girls diaries and...

and her series, they're all amazing. But I just have never been good about keeping up with my YouTube. I've never been good with... It's just the whole this part, you know? And always having to remember to have a camera on you and to pick it up. And I said to her, we were talking about it, and I was like, I think in this upcoming year, I want to get

better about my YouTube channel, but I just can't. Like, I just wish sometimes, I just wish that I could live life and show life, but someone else could just record it for me. Like, I said, sometimes I wish that there were just cameramen that could follow me around. And that was a real thing that I actually had felt for a very long time, is I'm like, dang, you know, it'd be nice if I was like a David Dobrik where I could just

have like a whole team following me around and I'll have to do it myself, you know? So I was on a, still on a much smaller scale of like YouTube channel, but I wanted a way to be able to show my life, but without having to be the one, like remembering to have the camera out. Also, it's not very authentic. You can't be super present. So anyway, I say that to her. We're like staying, I remember we're standing in my kitchen and I was like, I just wish that sometimes

Someone else could just film me doing it. Well, then I go, oh my goodness, Lord, am I supposed to share this with her? And then I felt the Lord be like, yeah, you totally should. I got the spirit. Like when I feel a spirit, I feel him on my legs. It's so weird. I just feel this peace on my legs. And so I just had this peace to share it with her. So I share her the idea. And then we proceed to watch the hills on her blow up couch.

And we're literally praying over this. I didn't have my couch yet. We're like, we're in Nashville and we're praying and we're saying, we are going to do this. We are going to make a show around following Jesus as 20-somethings, navigating work, relationships, friendships, and we are going to do this. We've known each other for a matter of weeks. No, no. Literally, it's probably the second week. But it was like kindred spirits. Like we just knew that we were put together. Yeah.

And it's so wild, Allie, that we actually came together at the same time that the Lord brought this idea to my heart. So that's so crazy. So then my idea becomes Allie's idea. And it starts breathing on Allie's heart too. And she's starting to get all these revelations. And we're coming together and we're like, okay. Freaking out. We're just, and then it's, we're like starting to plan. So it is like December. We then end up having...

an opportunity to pitch it to a producer. - Yeah. - And how did that go? - I think it went good for what we thought at the time, but there just wasn't a grace. Like they were excited, we were excited and then nothing would happen. And we're like, what God? Like why, like sometimes,

- Nothing. - It's his patience. But we would be like, why are you putting this so much on our hearts? I felt like we were like horses where the thing is still closed and we're just ready to freaking run and go and start racing. And there just wasn't a grace. Like the barn door wasn't opening. And we were like, God, we thought this was our opportunity for the barn door to open, you know? And so we're meeting with people, we're having conversations, we're on Zoom calls. And it's just like, we're just hitting wall after wall. There just is no grace. - Yeah.

And the thing that we were told over and over again, I think a lot of it too was like people were understanding the concept, but they weren't fully understanding it. They were like, so it's a podcast. So it's not a podcast. So it's a reality show. So there's drama. Is it scripted? No, but also there is, but no, there's no drama. Like we're not gossiping about each other, but like the devil is the drama. So there probably will be drama. And it was just hard to explain that to people where we weren't also like really planning anything.

like all the dialogue, you know, we made plans for each episode, but we didn't make plans. It was just hard to explain to people. And so I think a lot of it too was like, people were like, everyone else was just, wasn't getting the vision as clearly as God had given us the vision. - Yeah. - And so- - Even cast members, we're trying to think of cast members in Nashville, Tennessee. We are inviting cast members in Nashville, Tennessee. - Yeah, we thought that the show was gonna take place in Nashville. Obviously I just moved there. I just moved there.

So obviously the show was going to happen in Nashville. Everyone was going to be based in Nashville. It was going to be giving friends, but like Christian, you know, and we had this whole concept of what we thought it was going to look like. And I think we were about halfway right because obviously the other half changed. So yeah, we just kind of kept hitting roadblock after roadblock and we just had to keep surrendering it to the Lord. We would get to a point where we would say, all right, there's a reason your grace isn't on this God. I guess

We're just going to have to trust you. And so I think we got to a place where we just stopped like obsessing over it. Like we never let it leave our hearts. We always prayed about it. We continued to pray about it. We never gave up on it, but we did give, we like stopped white knuckling it. You know what I mean? And we just had to keep surrendering it over and over again.

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So then that brings us to then moving to California. Well, I think that, yeah, that brings us to, yeah, I mean, you keep going. Well, we were surrendered. And then in the surrender is when all the California stuff starts happening. Right, right. No, so after our surrender, then God plot twists.

and shows us that we're not even going to live in nashville and so you know the show's kind of gone over here now and then we're on this completely other like we got it was like we got off of a roller coaster and got on another one and now god's showing us that we're going to be moving to california and you guys know all of that because that was the entirety of our last update together and so we moved to california god did his thing we do live in a house now we have our own home

Thank you, Lord. We're not in an Airbnb anymore. And there's been other things that he's really blessed us with. But yeah, so we rode that whole roller coaster. But in the back of my mind, I'm thinking, oh my goodness. Because as we're in California, the focus is revival. We keep hearing about revival and people still talk about it.

And in the back of my mind, I'm thinking maybe this is the show is moving to California. Yeah. And starting like starting a revival in a place where there's no Jesus. Yeah. I mean, there is some Jesus here, but not a lot. There's not a ton. But actually, there is a lot of Jesus here. You just got to like really find him. So the concept, the concept kind of changes. Well, we were like, are we going to film the show as we're driving across the country? Yeah.

Like we thought the beginning of the show was like us driving our car across the country. We're like, how are cameramen going to come with us? I don't know. Like we just kept wondering how the heck the Lord was going to do this and when the timing would come. And so obviously we made the move. The show still hadn't started. We also were very convinced that we needed a whole production house.

So I think that's worth mentioning is we were really stuck on that. Yeah. We didn't feel confident doing this by ourselves. Yeah. Can you agree? I made a whole pitch deck like saying, hey, this is the change of concept. And then it just like no one bought it. Like no one was like. It was a very thorough pitch deck.

It was, I mean, I worked so hard on it. The vision was so clear and it just no bite. So then Allie and I were like, okay, we're just going to have to move without any cameras. We're just going to have to do this and trust the Lord again and surrender it again. So we then move. We literally surrender it again. Again. Yeah. Then we're here. Then there was like a couple more opportunities that got us excited. You know, I'm talking to my team and they've gotten in contact with the production house. We're like, oh my gosh, is this it? God. Oh.

And then again, like just hitting another wall, no grace, surrendering it again. I think we did go through a couple more seasons of like thinking we knew who the cast was going to be. We also were fully convinced that it wasn't just going to be the two of us. So we were convinced not off of what God told us. I don't know. We just had these assumptions. This was just our flesh. We were like, we need a production house. We need a team to support us. And we need more than just the two of us because that's boring. We need a whole cast. I also think I had a little bit of fear in me thinking that

like something like this had to just be on us. Yeah. I was like, there's gotta be more people. Like there has to be. So we went to the beach one day. Well, what's crazy is we were fasting. You're fasting. So we were fasting a day before that. And I just remember like the whole day I was like, God, I need your direction on this. Like,

I don't believe that you would give me a dream to just not have it happen. Come on. I don't believe that. And I also don't believe you'd breathe on it so much right now to just have it wait another 10 years. Yeah. And so I just brought it to the feet of Jesus. I was like, I need your direction. Like I need it.

I was desperate. Yeah. And I was like, God, like I need it. Okay. And so we go to the beach that day. I remember us feeling really bummed. We were sad girls that day. I think that was the same time you made that clip where we were like crying about surrender. Yeah. That was the same day. Yeah. We were going to the beach and we went to the beach because we felt the Lord be like, girls, take a break.

and just like rest today and be. And so that's what we did. And we were like so discouraged in so many ways because we had already been in California for like three or four months.

What? Okay. This is for making me remember. This is a miracle. Oh. We didn't even explain. Okay. I'll just explain. Whenever you're done, I will explain. Wait, I want you to just say it. What? So, okay. Before we left for California, we had this, I could cry. We had one of our church, people from church, they were like,

She prayed over us. She was prophesying and she said, it is so crazy you guys, but I see myself recording y'all. I see myself getting my equipment and recording you guys. And I don't know what, but you guys are like putting on things. There's like ministry moments and I'm recording you guys. And God is saying like, he is so excited to pursue this project with his girls. He's saying my project with my girls. She,

She's prophesying over our idea. Yeah, she had no idea. Oh, she had no idea. This was in May, you guys. I don't think she even fully understood what she was seeing. So we're getting... This is before we get sent out to California. This is right before. It was on Mother's Day. Mother's Day. It was the last day we went to church before we moved. Yes, she's prophesying over our show.

And I thought God had forgotten about it, but here she was prophesying over it. There's no reason why a homegirl shouldn't have been knowing about a production and all this that God wanted. So then we're on this beach and I'm listening to the Lord in silence. And the Lord reminds me how he said, my project with my girls. And he was like, Ashley, you can do this. Just y'all two. Yeah.

It is you two girls that I want to do this project with. And I was like, this like light shine. I was like,

Why are we waiting for a production house? Why are we waiting for cast members? Why are we waiting for other people to say this is a good idea when we know it's a good idea? And we have our heavenly father who will give us everything that we need to produce this good idea. So I tell Allie, we're in the car. We're in the car on our way back from the beach, right? Because she was sitting next to me just freaking talking to the Lord. Apparently he's told that we're doing all this by ourselves with him, of course. Yeah.

And we're driving back and she's like, Allie, now listen. She always like, you're always preparing me because you're like, I know this is going to sound insane. You're like, just give me a break. Just listen. Okay. I'm like, what? She's like, so I asked the Lord and he told me sitting on the beach. He said, me and my girls. And I'm like, yeah. And she's like, I think the Lord is actually telling us that it's just us starting this.

And I was like, no, I said, no, what do you just, I said, how is that even going to be interesting? Like, how is that even going to be an interesting story? Just the two of us. But then when we thought back to the moment where we were watching the hills on my blow up couch, I

The story starts off with the two girls, like their best friends. They moved to the city of Los Angeles, which is just eerie. Like that's crazy because it's literally our story right now. And obviously like there's growth and there's more characters that are introduced, but it's, it's the foundation is them and their friendship and like how they navigate their life together out in this city and they're young and whatever.

And I think we were both just in shock. We were like, you're telling me that we've been waiting on all these other people when God never said that. Like, I do believe that he allowed us to be blind because I think his timing is perfect.

but we were believing something that he never even told us. Like he told us that this would happen and that, but he never told us, oh, but you got to wait for a production house. Oh, but you got to wait until somebody, we also thought we were going to have to have investors. Yes. We thought that we were going to have to have people investing in this because there's no way we could do it by ourselves. Yeah. And then the Lord revealed that to us too, that we were like making it way too complex that we could invest in it and we could do it all on our own. We were like, God, what? But he never told us that we needed all those things. Oh,

What he was telling us is that all we needed was him, which is actually quite biblical. That sounds like God to me. That's what he tells us is he says, "All you need is me, that you can do all things through Christ." And so we said, "Okay, period." We actually kind of got excited. We're like, "That means we can start recording now?" There were just so many opportunities that were passing us by and we're like, "Dang, God, we could be recording right now." How many times did we have that?

Like we would make eye contact with each other if we were in a moment, we're like, this could be the show, you know? We just got excited and we had already, because it always has been there, we were already taking mental notes of like people we were meeting that were really gifted in film and photography. And we were like, we actually already believe that the Lord has given us the people that are gonna help us with this.

So we had three, four videographers total that were dear friends of ours that are so unbelievably talented. They probably aren't super qualified because they're not like... Professionals. Professionals in this product. But they did such an incredible job, which also just brings so much glory to the Lord that we all were doing this together. And we low-key probably didn't, like from the outside or from the perspective of the world, we're like...

rookies. All of us are rookies doing this. And then we look at episode one and like, I'm like a writer, you know? I love writing and stories. So I'm like storyboarding. And all the knowledge I have from vlogging, I've brought to this moment. So I'm storyboarding this. We're not scripting it, but I'm saying, all right, we kind of want to touch on this subject. Kind of want to do this. But there is structure to the film. And then Allie, and then

when we start recording, Allie then comes in as like a director. Yeah, I'm like visual. She sees the vision. She sees the visual. She sees when a shot looks so bad, which is also not what I'm very good at.

Which is crazy because I didn't even, it was just cool the way that we were like filling these roles that I didn't even know we would do. But then when we were being like thrown in it, God was like, okay, Ashley, you're wearing this hat. Allie, you're wearing this hat. And it worked. It worked. That was like a producer, like organizing everything. What the heck? Like organizing. And God's given me a gift of organization. So I'm organizing all this stuff. And it's just like, we're all filling these gaps together.

And we literally, it was crazy. I mean, I remember it verbatim. Like we set up all our equipment, we charged all these cameras. We spent so much money on cameras and like freaking mics. It was a lot for us.

And like one night, I just remember we stayed up late. We were just charging everything. There's like every single thing in our house is just being charged. We were using beach bags. Then we used beach bag totes. We're like digging for everything. And then the camera's out of focus here. The audio is not even working over here. We did a whole set.

scene and the audio wasn't working. I mean, guys, when I tell you, we literally bootstrapped. We are rookies. We are. But I know the Lord loves it because it really gives him glory. It does. Yeah. There was a lot of warfare. So much warfare. There was a lot of...

of warfare. Yeah. And it was funny because the Lord really let us think that this was going to be like a cute thing. I mean, we knew the gravity, like we knew the gravity of it. We knew that it was going to be a big deal. Yeah. But I think going into it and realizing we weren't just wearing, like you weren't simply just wearing a hat of a producer and I wasn't just simply wearing a hat of a director. Like we were also literally the subject's

we were in charge of, I mean, we were the investors, we were the bosses, we were the ones employing everyone, we were paying everyone. Like we have had to wear a lot of hats because it was just on us, which, okay, God. So, I mean,

I just don't think we really understood what we were getting into. - No, we didn't. - He let us be slightly naive. - I was like, this is gonna be easy. - This is gonna be great. We planned it all. Ashley planned it all out. She mapped it all out. Even with expenses, she mapped everything out. We're like, "Breeze." - Yeah. - We're just gonna film every week for two months straight. That was a lot. - That was exhausting. - We're like, "Eight weeks, we can do it." Girl, by week six, I think we were like,

Yeah, because the other days were organizing everything. So it wasn't just two days of the week that we were filming, that we were executing this. All my other projects put on hold. Like every other thing I was like, I just felt the spirit be like, you are putting everything into this. Yeah, yeah.

And what's crazy is we're doing this and we have no idea what the results are. We actually still don't. Even in this moment of recording, we have no idea what the results are. So we're making all these sacrifices and we're doing all these things, gladly doing it because it's worth it for the Lord. But we also are like, we don't even know what we're investing in God. We're hoping that we're investing in something that's like really iconic because it was your vision and your dream and anything that you dream and envision, Lord, is iconic. But we don't really know. Right.

We don't really know the results. But that's where risk comes in. Yeah. Which also was prophesied over us. Yeah. There's a sweet man who knew nothing about us that said that he had saw us at one of these worship nights and...

And he gave us this insane prophetic word from the Lord. It was only from the Lord. This man did not know anything about us. He didn't even know our names. Didn't know our socials. Oh, it is the most, I think about it every day. It's the most beautiful prophetic word that I have ever received. And it was so beautifully like described of just like what our friendship is.

and who we are to each other and who we are to the world and how the Lord really uses our friendship to minister to people. I'm just so grateful. And the only reason I ever, I even know how to be a good friend is because of the Lord. I boast in him alone. But one of the things that he said in that was to take risks. He encouraged us in taking risks with one another.

And I was like, this man doesn't even know. And that was what, like maybe a month? It was in July. When did we start recording? We started recording in September. So it was two months before. So it was like two months before we even started recording. Which is just insane. Yeah. Yeah.

So I know he was prophesying over the show as well. Yeah. And so it was just like, it was about creating together and taking risks together. And in the back of our mind, we're like, this is literally like, Oh, that sounds like J freaks to me. And we got to tell the name of it too. Yeah. I said J freaks. Yeah. The name of it. Y'all we just today, we just launched the trailer. Okay. So we've been sneaking it for a couple of weeks by now. Yeah. But today we launched the trailer.

And so look it up. It's on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, all of the things. But it's called Jesus Freaks is the name of the show, which Ashley fully got a download from the Lord. You told me that very early on, very early on. You were like, I know the name of the show. Because people were like Jesus Revolution, Jesus people, all this stuff. I was like, I was praying over it. Allie and I were praying because we were just desperate surrendering it. Right. And then the Lord just said, Jesus Freaks. I was like, period. So I just prayed it out loud.

- That's iconic. Jesus freaks, same. Literally, I mean, when you watch it, you'll know. We do. It's funny because I felt the Lord like challenging my boldness even throughout the show of just, you know, the vulnerable things that we share and the moments that we have and stuff. I won't give too much away. But he was like, "You do know that it's called Jesus freaks."

Like, so you're probably going to look a little bit like a freak, which is okay. Yeah. It wasn't about being safe because it's literally in the title. Like a cute Christian. Cute. It's cute. It's safe.

It's not controversial. It's like, no, we are literally... Yeah. Yeah. So it's called Jesus Freaks. It's all about following Jesus. Yeah, let's tell you. So what is it about? It's about two girls who move to a new city, following God and navigating the ups and downs of friendships, relationships, work, success.

Singleness. And everything in between. And we hope that it encourages you to walk with Jesus in your everyday life. That is the whole purpose of it. Yeah. And it comes out what day? December 28th is when it goes live and you can stream it on YouTube. So, and there will be opportunity to binge. There's going to be more than just one episode that launches. And so... We're launching the whole season. Yeah. Yeah.

one in the same day. Yeah. Oh, man, guys, we're really nervous.

And I really encourage you guys to schedule watch parties with your friends. Please. Like we actually saw that in our minds, like a group of cute girls. I don't know who you are. You must be listening. I know you're out there. Yeah. You're in your cutie pie pajamas. Like you guys have planned this. You're like, guys, December 28th, we're getting together and get the popcorn out. Get your Twizzlers. Just have like the cutest. We just pray that this is also a really sweet opportunity for people to come together in community. Yeah. That makes me want

Yeah, it is. I think it's just so cool to remember that like this is actually going to be such a beautiful opportunity for people to just come together that maybe never would have come together. Like whether it's a church group or something or friends from school or yeah, I just love that the Lord is going to use it for memories. Like people are going to have like such sweet memories attached to this. Yeah.

And I just love that the Lord used us to create that. There's just so much fruit from this that I'm just so excited to see aside from the show in itself, but like the way he uses it in just bringing people together is so sweet. Yeah. So please watch it with your friends.

and family and also the day that it goes live was fully picked by the lord too yeah he told you yeah he said this would be a great time of the year you just you you literally heard december 28 yeah i did and i was like okay period it's a saturday it's a saturday i said period lauren

But I think what's good for us to share is we also have no idea what's coming after this. And so I'm sure knowing the Lord, we're going to hop on here on another podcast and we're going to have updates on what the Lord wants to do with it going forward. But we do believe there's going to be more seasons. We do believe God's going to breathe on it. This won't be like a one and done thing. Yeah. I know that there's going to be more. We're just getting started. And something that I think

you can hold on to with taking risks with the Lord is oftentimes when we step out in faith, like we want to know what we're getting into before we do it. We want to know what's going to happen before we even start. And God leads you as you move with him.

So we don't know what's going to happen, but we know that God is going to lead us as we move with him. So once December 28th rolls around and we see, we will be led as we walk with him. But we don't know right now. And I'm so glad we can share that. We legit have no idea, you guys. We've been clueless.

What's going to happen after this? But we know that the father is faithful and he would not lead us this far to just drop us. Yeah. So we can't wait to share the story of how he leads us to what is going to happen with this. Yeah. Yeah. That's so good, Ash, because I think it's something we definitely need to remember that I think we just

all want to know what's going to happen when we do scary things because it's scary. But I just think like what we talked about in our last week's episode about God's grace and mercy is that he does tell us what's going to happen next in the sense of where he's at in all of it.

And so I think remembering that God has always promised us, maybe we don't know the little details of exactly how it's going to pan out, but what we know for sure, for sure, for sure is that God is with us every step of the way. And that on the other end of this, whatever that looks like, we are not abandoned or left alone and that he is physically with us, carrying us. We're under his wing. We're protected by him. And so like last week when we were talking about Jonah and being swallowed by the giant fish,

You know, it's like Jonah didn't really know what was going to happen with the scary thing. And so instead he ran away. He was like, I'm not doing that God. He didn't have trust in the Lord. He didn't believe that. He didn't believe that God had him maybe, or maybe he felt he was incapable. We had a lot of temptation of that too. Of like, are we even, can we even do this? Like, this is a really big, scary thing, God. I don't even know if we're qualified. We were not, we were not. We were not qualified to do this by ourselves. It's only by God's power and grace and just his guidance that we were even able to do it.

But what God has always promised us, just like he always had promised Jonah and everyone else in the Bible, is that he's with us every step of the way. And so we might not know, Jonah might not have known what the outcome was of doing that scary thing, but he had God even through his disobedience. You know, God never leaves us.

And so we just have to be satisfied with that alone. Is that like, no matter what happens, I still have God, which is like the biggest W we could ever have. The results is not the W. The feedback is not the W for us. The W is not, you know, the prosperity or maybe opportunities or things that could come from this. It's like,

it's the fact that we still have our Lord and he's proud and he's saying, well done. And we did it for him. We did it for him. We were obedient. Because it was scarier to say no to him actually, you know, not in a way of like, he's going to frigging smite us with lightning, but I just would never, ever, ever want to risk doing something that really could have also just impacted a lot of people. And I said no out of my own selfish fear. What? That pride is so ugly. Or you wanted just, you know, to save your money. Yeah.

Yeah. Right. It's not even my money. It's his. So who am I to even do that much? You know? Yeah. So I do think that even through this process, it's really allowed us to grow closer to the Lord and to just realize more and more of what his heart actually is, which is just so kind. Like his heart is so kind.

kind. He hasn't given up on us at all through this process, even through the warfare, even through the frustration. Like he literally has been with us every step of the way. When we were truly clueless, we were in a land that we weren't from. It's foreign. We're on

foreign grounds right now this isn't where we're from and then we're just doing something like this yeah it's crazy yeah so God is kind and he's good and he's your friend he's our friend and he wants you to take risks with him because he won't let you down yeah like he won't encourage you to take a risk and then let you fall that's just not his heart yeah so

So December 28th. The cat is out of the bag. Oh, it feels so good to say that. Lock in. Jesus freaks coming to YouTube December 28th. And make sure you follow along on Instagram. You can watch the behind the scenes, some fun clips. We have so many fun bloopers and stuff that we're sharing on the socials. Y'all definitely want to look. It's so cute. Cutie pie photos. And also we have the link to watch the show online.

On the Instagram bio, we also are going to have it in the show notes for sure. Yes, yes. So it'll be linked everywhere. We'll also be sharing like little clips of scenes before we actually even really go live. So there's good fruit to following the socials. We encourage you all to do that. But we are going to have Christian reality TV. We are going to have current Christian shows that are also speaking to the world that people from the world can actually watch. And it glorifies the Lord. Yeah. Yeah.

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So we're going to do that in our society now, and I cannot believe we haven't yet, but we're going to do it now. Apparently this had to be the first. I don't know why, but I don't know why. Okay, Lord. Ash, thanks for doing this episode with me. I think that people needed to know. This was so fun. They needed to know. This was the biggest. We have other updates, obviously. Ashley will keep coming on the pod if she wants to, if the grace is there. I would love to. Please keep coming on. We do everything together. Yeah.

I'm basically Allie and Allie is me. We had a conversation with somebody the other day and they were like, yeah, so I know that you guys do like a lot together and that's great, but what do your lives look like? Separately. And I said, yeah, so I do have my own personality and I am my own individual. Okay. But we actually don't have, like, we are very, our lives are...

especially now that we're in LA together it's just like we live together we work together we have all the same community we just started you're just my partner and we're on this journey together and I hope that it encourages you in the show like we are on this journey together yes you can be on this journey with us yes following Jesus yeah how sweet it's precious

Thanks, guys. Thanks for being excited for us. We really hope that it blesses you. We're very proud of it. And we're so grateful to the Lord for the opportunity. Aside from the project, though. Any other updates? That we touched on in the last episode that God has fulfilled now. Okay, so we literally have a house.

and that alone i'm like we have a roof over our head thank you god like guys when i tell you when you surrender something it comes well we were prepared to get another airbnb because we were coming close to the end of our whatever with the airbnb we were in so i i remember we were like maybe a week and a half out from having to get out of that airbnb and we still hadn't found a house yeah ashley likes to say that the lord always comes in at the 11th hour which is so very much god even with

this project going live three days before the year ends. It's so God core. He's so like tee ha ha. He just comes in right, right.

He does. On time. But he really tests our patience and our faith. But anyway, that was kind of the situation with our home too is that all of a sudden your mom is sending us a link. We toured it and in the same day that we toured it, it was ours set in stone. We moved in like just a few days later. It was crazy. It was insane. It is the most perfect house. We love it. And I had a dream last week.

January of a room and it literally looks like my room. That's crazy. And this is before moving to California, but it looks like my room. Yeah. And I thought there were three windows, but looking back on it, it could have been mirrors because I have mirrors on my... Yeah, you do. So anyway, like...

The Father is so faithful. So that was just huge. Another thing is church. Yeah. We have a church. We have a church. Okay. That was crazy. We love it. What I've seen continually with the Lord is like when you seek him, you will find him and you will find his wisdom. Yeah.

every time we just got on our faces and we fasted and we prayed and we just like surrendered for us is fasting and praying. And you cannot expect God to lead you if you're holding on to how you want to be led. Yeah. Like you cannot expect to receive answers from the Lord when you feel like you need to cling to your own understanding. It is when we said, God, we have no idea where we're going to live. God, we have no idea where we're going to go to church. We have no idea who our community is, but we need your guidance. Yeah. Like we need your guidance. Yeah.

- And so the moment we would surrender, but we would like be so desperate, like seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened. Every time we would like desperately seek him,

He would answer. Yeah. Guys, it's crazy. It's like 100% will always work. Whoever's watching this, if you need his answers on what college to go to, who to hang out with, who to date, you know, if you should move here or there, if you should take this job or that, like if you are confused and you are stressed out, you got to let go of your own understanding. That is point blank period, first step. And then the second step is you got to seek God in everything. And I am telling you 100%,

This will always work. He will always tell you what to do. He will. He will always tell you. So. Ashley needs a podcast. I'm just sitting here and I look at the way you just go. You're like popping off. You're like, trust the Lord. Stop leaning on your own understanding and just freaking trust him. Like, where's her podcast? Ashley needs a podcast, which is funny because a lot of people thought...

That we were starting a podcast together. Which is totally far off. Because some moments are giving like legitimate conversations in the show. But that was not it. A lot of guesses that we were starting our own podcast together. Yeah. But this is actually better. This is actually kind of cool.

Because like we're having conversations. It's new. It's also just new. It's innovative. Yeah. And it's from God. Us starting a podcast together is too predictable. It is. Yeah. A lot of y'all did not guess this. There were a couple. But I'm telling you, it's like on one hand of how many people were actually able to successfully be like show? And they're really prophetic ones. Movie question mark. I'm like, you're prophetic, girl. Yeah.

No, someone commented on mine. They were like, okay, wild guess. A show? I'm like, you prayed. You literally asked the Lord and he told you. Oh.

Like that is dope. Like you're going to literally hear back and you're going to hear about this. You can be like, oh, I hear from God. Oh, I do hear the voice of God. Honestly, that's really cool for them. I love that for them. Me too. We're so excited for you guys to watch and we love y'all so much. We love you so much. It wouldn't be possible. It wouldn't be possible without the people who already follow us. That's so true. We realize that too, that the Lord just even gave us so much leverage with the fact that we

like are starting this from ground zero, but not at the same time. Like he's already given us so many people who we know will enjoy it. Yeah. So glory to God. Praise Jesus. Praise the Lord. Hey guys, we love you so much. Let's all thank Ashley Hetherington for being on the show again. Thanks. We love her. See you guys next week. I'm kidding.

We'll see you when we start our podcast together. Just kidding. Anyway, y'all, can we do something cool today? Let's collectively do it together as a family. Let's do something cool and show somebody how cool Jesus is today. Let's walk more like the Lord. Let's act like him. Let's be as much like Christ as we can be and just spread his love and kindness. We love y'all. I love you guys. Thank you for tuning in. We'll see you soon. Bye. Bye.

Are some of y'all still listening? Okay, if you're still here, that means you're a real one, which is why I'm about to share this with you. If you've already caught up on all the episodes so far and you don't want to wait until next Friday for a new one, I have really good news for you. Subscribe to our Patreon to get early access to the episodes every week, early access to merch launches or any other exciting news, and receive personalized encouraging messages or Bible verses from us. Subscribe to our Patreon at www.patreon.com backslash c.

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