Katie Kerekes, FISM News
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The Chosen, a crowd-funded television series about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, is now made available to those incarcerated within the American prison system.
According to Church Leaders, the show will be made available by way of a “collaborative effort” in part by the Prison Fellowship organization. The announcement came via Prison Fellowship’s Facebook page earlier this week, in celebration of the tens of thousands of prisoners who will be granted access to the show which has captivated millions of people across the globe.
“We are thrilled to announce a partnership with the Come and See Foundation to stream The Chosen—a multi-season series about the life and ministry of Jesus—into more than 300 prisons across the United States,” the Facebook post reads.
The show is free to stream directly on its self-titled the Chosen app, but the women and men incarcerated in the prison system do not have access to streaming services, according to prison chaplain Paul Neilson.
“In most prisons, there is no internet and we’re not allowed to stream. But we can show DVDs and the guys can have DVDs in the cell houses,” he commented under Prison Fellowship’s Facebook announcement.
But this all changed with the creation of Floodlight ®, a closed-circuit video streaming service created and developed by Prison Fellowship during the pandemic. Because of this, prisons across the country are now able to stream or order a DVD copy of The Chosen free of charge.
“This life-changing television series that has become a phenomenon around the world will soon be available to tens of thousands of incarcerated men and women on the Prison Fellowship Floodlight platform, thanks to the Come and See Foundation,” said Prison Fellowship’s President and CEO James Ackerman. “Our prayer is that it will impact the lives of those currently incarcerated by bringing healing and a deeper desire for Jesus!”
The Chosen, a multi-season series created and directed by Dallas Jenkins, has been viewed by over 1 billion people worldwide, with its first season smashing the record for the highest crowd-funded entertainment project of all time. According to the show’s website, it raised over $10 million from over 19,000 people.
As previously reported by FISM, it is now set to be translated into over 600 languages worldwide.