From Edie: See how one TikTok post about faith and redemption reached nearly 1M people. Discover why TikTok is a powerful mission field for Christian writers.
TikTok As a Powerful Ministry Tool Part 2: How God is Using Writers on TikTok to Spread His Word
by Samantha Evans Tschritter @LoveSamEvans
Run, God, Run!
Remember the football scene in Forrest Gump when Forrest’s teammates tell him to run with the football? He runs beyond the endzone, beyond the stadium, and just keeps going. That is what God is doing with my creative non-fiction story The Prodigal’s Son. And He’s forwarding His message through TikTok.
If you haven’t yet, be sure to read yesterday’s blog, Part One of “Why Does TikTok Have Such a Bad Reputation?” in which I refer to TikTok as the Samaria of social media and allay various fears regarding use of the platform such as:
- “We can’t post on TikTok! China will steal our identity!”
- “I don’t have time!”
- “There are too many spammers and bots!”
- “TikTok posts reels with ungodly content!”
I also posed the question, “What if I could prove to you, by the end of this article, that the TikTok fields are ripe for the harvest and reaching one million people with the gospel of Christ is possible?” In this post, I will prove TikTok has potential to be an invaluable ministry platform.
Proof of the Harvest
For the last five years I’ve faithfully posted to my TikTok followers, encouraging them in grief and laughing with them about my idiot husky. On August 6, 2025, I was at 619 followers—nothing that would impress a publisher, but I daily reminded myself that wasn’t the point.
Faithfulness. Obedience in sharing the gospel.
I’d written a manuscript called The Prodigal’s Son: Crackhead to Jesus Freak and felt strongly that Jelly Roll should write the foreword for the book. I knew it was a long shot, but as I discussed the project with Andrew Hamilton at the 2025 Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference, he encouraged me to record a reel asking Jelly Roll to write the foreword. “People love that stuff,” he said.
I put it off.
At the very end of July, I called my mom, whose cousin happened to be visiting her from Nashville. When he asked about the book I joked, “Well, I’d love for Jelly Roll to write the foreword, so if you happen to bump into him in Nashville, let him know.”
“Actually,” he said, “Two people in my master’s class are connected to him. Send information about the book, and I’ll pass it along.”
I recorded the reel, planning to use the TikTok link as a way to share my story, and left it in my “drafts” to be edited. Slept on it.
On August 6th, I prayed two dangerous prayers. First, “God what do you want to do today?”
“Post the reel,” I sensed Spirit saying. I shook my head and opened my mouth to argue the reel needed more edits. Closed my mouth again. Arguing with God always has the same result—He wins. I posted the reel and in the description I typed my second dangerous prayer. “I served. God’s ball.”
On August 6th, with 619 followers, I posted the reel. “Dear Mr. Jelly Roll, sir, my late husband died a pastor and a felon. May I have a moment of your time?”
I expected two hundred views and eight or nine likes, which is about how well it did on Instagram. I wasn’t posting the reel for my TikTok followers, but as a simple way to share the link with my relative. I thought nothing of the reel and went about my day.
The next day, my eyes popped out of their sockets. 79,000 views.
Today is August 22. Sixteen days have passed.
- 962,800 views
- 79,500 likes
- 8,803 saves
- 6,234 shares
- 8,065 comments
- 16,500 followers
I passed the ball to God and He took off like a bullet train. I’m gripping the back railing of the caboose and holding on for dear life. By the time you read this blog, the reel will have over a million views. In response to the high level of interest, I scrambled to include the first three chapters with newsletter sign up. My newsletter numbers more than doubled.
The Responses
Now, I need to tell you the coolest part. Well, let me just show you what’s happening on TikTok, instead. These are just a few of the comments viewers shared on the reel.
- “Mine was going on four years clean and relapsed. It's been a hard journey but I won't give up on him. He's got so many stories of an abusive father and how it all started with the pills. He feels everyone leaves and I just want him clean again. I missed the man I know.”
- “Welcome to the life of us addicts! Not as easy to stay clean as people think!”
- “I battled for two years to get clean from crack, cocaine, and meth. Only by the grace of God can I sit here and write this to you proclaiming 24 years of being clean.”
- “I am the addict in your story. On May 27, 2025, I relapsed, grieving my wife’s death from cancer. I am 85 days sober and fighting for my three girls, fighting for my life, and fighting for the call of Jesus.”
- “Husband and father of my only daughter is addicted to crack and has been for 22 years. The struggle is real."
- “Jelly Roll, please for all of us that don't know how to put words together but have a story to tell.”
- “I would love to read your story, and I’ll have my son who is an alcoholic read it too.”
- “My mom lost her battle of addictions when she was 40 and I was 15. I would love to know more about her struggles."
- “I know what that first hit feels like and when I couldn't achieve that same feeling afterward I didn’t want to be addicted to cocaine.”
- “I had a family member we lost from addiction. I'd love to read this story!”
Thousands of people are sharing their stories of addiction and their need for help. I scrolled past one comment of an addict openly struggling with an addiction and an addict five-years-sober responded with encouragement and support.
If you could reach ten people on TikTok with the hope of Christ, would that be worthwhile? One hundred? TikTok is a mission field and the fields are ripe for the harvest. People on TikTok need us, reflecting the Light of the World, to shine hope into darkness.
Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Matthew 9:35-38 NIV
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Don't Miss the Other Part of This Valuable Post on TikTok
Multi-award-winning author S. E. Tschritter (pronounced Shredder) specializes in articulating grief and loss, leading grievers toward hope and healing. Whether poetry, fiction, or non-fiction, Tschritter writes content that will stick with readers long after they close the cover. Her 20-plus years of ministry leadership experience and contributions to over 30 books enable her to serve others, speaking truth with transparency, humor, and love.
Tschritter currently resides in Simpsonville, South Carolina with her husband, their three teen and preteen daughters, cats named Pitter and Patter, and their Siberian husky whom she lost the vote to name Onomatopoeia. Nothing refreshes Tschritter’s soul like gardening. She gardens to work through plot holes, writer’s block, character development, and book ideas. Tschritter spends a great deal of time gardening. You can find her on social media at Linktr.ee/LoveSamEvans.
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