YOUNGSTOWN, STRUTHERS Videos about Jesus will be distributed

An evangelism project is costing someone $180,000.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR RELIGION EDITOR
YOUNGSTOWN -- Some 72,000 copies of a video about the life of Jesus will be delivered to area homes starting Monday.
An anonymous donor has provided funds to distribute the videos.
The videos will be mailed in the 44471 ZIP code, which is Struthers, and in Youngstown in the 44502, 44503, 44504, 44505, 44507, 44509, 44510, 44511, 44512, and 44515 ZIP codes and hand-delivered by a church in the 44506 ZIP code, according to Cyndye Harmon, the Dayton-based regional coordinator in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana for the Jesus Video Ministry.
Friends House Chapel, 192 Hazeltine Ave., which is pastored by the Rev. Lillie B. North, is the church distributing the videos by hand.
Harmon said the donor is an individual, not a church or organization. She declined to provide any information about the donor.
Harmon said each video with postage costs $2.50, which means the mailing costs $180,000.
Background: Over 13 million of the videos have been delivered to homes in the United States since 1993 through the Jesus Video Project, an arm of the Campus Crusade for Christ, according to the project's Web site.
The Jesus Video Ministry is a distribution group separate from the Jesus Video Project, according to Harmon.
The Jesus Video Project wants to distribute the video to every home in the country. The video has been distributed in some local areas in the past.
The movie was produced in 1979 by Warner Brothers at the request of Campus Crusade for Christ. It's based on the Gospel of Luke.
Area churches have been asked to be in prayer for their communities, Harmon said.
The video is clearly aimed at winning Christian converts. There is a conversion prayer at the end of the video and a mail-in card requesting more information.
Timing: The distribution comes during Advent, the Christian time of reflection before Christmas. It also comes during Ramadan, Islam's holy month of fasting and prayer. Monday is the first day of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival celebrating religious freedom.
Some recipients in other parts of the country have complained that past distributions were offensive.
Harmon said, "The gift is not meant in any way to offend anyone of differing beliefs, but is offered as a presentation of the heart of what Christianity embraces."
Residents in each ZIP code won't get the video at one time. Because of the bulk of the videos, it will take several days to mail them, she said.
wilkinson@vindy.com