In this YouTube video, Rick Lee James announces the upcoming release (August 16) of a new music video for his song "More Than the Watchman," drawn from Psalm 130 and part of his album Hymns, Prayers, and Invitations. He explains that the video uniquely incorporates footage from Nazarene Compassionate Ministries to spotlight the global refugee crisis, highlighting over 11 million displaced people. James emphasizes that he personally funded the video's production, investing two months of his income, and clarifies he is not seeking monetary donations. Instead, he issues a volunteer-driven call to action, urging viewers to share the video widely across social media platforms (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Reddit, etc.) using the hashtag #refugees and tagging @RickLeeJames, with a suggested copy‑and‑paste message. He provides details on where the video will be hosted (youtube.com/rickleejames, facebook.com/rickleejames, rickleejames.com) and invites further promotion via blogs, podcasts, and other channels. The video’s purpose is framed as raising awareness and compassion for refugees, not just promoting the music. James thanks collaborators—including Lifeway Worship, Agape Media, Jason Elam, and Nazarene Compassionate Ministries—for their contributions.
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Good afternoon everyone there on Facebook. Pay no mind to the Spider-Man happy birthday banner behind me. I'm actually not here to talk about my birthday. I wanted to update you, and sometimes the video is the easiest way to do this. I've been working very hard to get the word out about this, and in this last year since I released the album Hymns, Prayers, and Invitations, we released about 3 music videos and and thankfully they have been very warmly received. We've had thousands of people view the videos through things like Facebook and Twitter and YouTube and Vevo and just all kinds of different outlets. And I wanted to make one more push, a big announcement, because on Wednesday, August 16th, just 2 days from now, I'll be releasing a new music video for my song "More Than the Watchman," written from Psalm 130. And it's exciting for me to share a new project like this, and it's always exciting for me to share a music music video, but this one in particular, it means a great deal to me beyond the music itself because this video, I'm hoping that we can bring a fresh look to the refugee crisis that is affecting us globally as human beings. Um, it's not really just about the music. The song is sort of, um, the message that we are using to tell the story of refugees, and Nazarene Compassionate Ministries has been gracious enough to allow us to use footage from their recent work in refugee and with refugee camps in other parts of the world, in places like Syria that people have fled from. And the footage is beautifully shot, and I think the video is really going to do a great job telling their story. And as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, and the video is well worth more. I'm saying it poorly. The video is, is well beyond what we could do with even a word or a snapshot or anything. And there are currently more than 11 million refugees refugees who have been displaced, 5 million living as refugees outside of their home country. The men and the women and the children that you're going to see in this music video, they fled their homes due to violence and persecution. And so I'm asking for your help on this, really from all of you, from anyone I can get. With your help, I think we can share their story through this video and we can do our best to make a difference in their life. So before you listen any further, I'm not asking you for money, okay? I promise, it's not what I'm here for. But I need you to know, I just want to tell you this in advance because this is how close it is to my heart. I have invested in the making of this video around 2 months of my income to get this made, just out of my own money. I haven't asked anybody for any money to do that, and I'm not asking you now. I'm just trying to tell you my heart on this project and what my hopes are for this project. Videos like these are meant to be seen and heard, and so what I'm asking of you is if you can help me make that happen. I need as many of you as I can to help me share this video on Wednesday when it releases, and I just am looking for volunteers to do that. You can share it from— it'll be on youtube.com/rickleejames, it'll be on facebook.com/rickleejames. You can probably— I'll have a I'll have it up on my website too at rickleejames.com. I'll plan to have it there. And you may have some questions for me about what am I supposed to post or where could I post it. You can post it on your Facebook page, you can post it in Facebook groups you're a part of that it may be relevant to. If you have a blog, you could maybe post it on your blog site for people to see. If you use Twitter, you could post it on Twitter. You could tag me in it @rickleejames. You could use a hashtag. We're trying to use the hashtag #refugees, so when you post it on Twitter, you can use that hashtag #refugees. If you use Tumblr, put it on there. If you use StumbleUpon, Reddit, Digg, if you have a podcast, I am happy to come on your podcast and talk about this video. I'm seriously, I want to get the message of this out and to do all we can to help refugees. So, um, Share it as often as you like. It does actually better if you share it more than once, maybe once a day for a while, especially in that first week. But the more visibility we get, obviously the more it's seen, and by more people sharing it, it will be seen. And what should you say when you share? Well, there's a link I'm putting in this video. You can go to my website at rickleejames.com, and I have a direct link actually, and it has a little message you can just copy and paste when you're sharing it. And the message says, together we can help millions of refugees who have been forced from their homes by violence and war. And then there's a hashtag refugees and @RickLeeJames. So you can share it with something like that. I'll make sure and have that up on the site. The link is already on this video. And, um, and so that's it for now. That's all I'm asking. I'm just asking you to go to the link that I have in this video and just read about this. It's basically what I've just told you. There's a little preview of the video on that page. But this Wednesday, and I know I've tagged many of you in this video to watch this, and I want to thank you for your time. I try not to over-tag people on things like this, but this video is really, I think it's something that's much more important than the music itself, and we're really trying hard to get the message out. So if you can, just take time to click that link and help us out on Wednesday. And I'd just love to hear from you, maybe if you even just want to reply to this message and just say, "Hey, I'll help you out, Rick, and we'll share this on Wednesday when it comes out." And even if you share it once with people in your group, that would be so wonderful. I don't think you're gonna be disappointed. Jason Elam and Agape Media have done a wonderful job cutting this all together, filming some beautiful footage, and then we have this amazing footage from these refugee camps, from train stations where they're in transit trying to find a place to stay. There are these beautiful families and children and people who have been forced out of their homes, and we really want to tell their story. So if you can help us at all, please do so. So visit the link in here. Thank you so much. God bless you. And thank you, Lifeway Worship, for publishing this song. Thank you, Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, ncm.org, for your generosity in sharing the footage that we have for this video. And thank you, Agape Media. And thank you, all of you who are helping to make this video, um, be seen as far and wide as we can make it be seen. Thank you so much, and thank you for listening in for these few minutes. God bless you guys. Take care, and the peace of Christ be with you.
