Registered Israeli foreign agent has its eye on three churches in Redding
An LLC known as Show Faith by Works, under agreement with its “foreign principal” Israel, is aiming to “distribute pro-Israel information” to American Christians. Representatives of both Bethel and Pathway said they were not involved in the decision to include their organizations in a list of potential audiences for the Israeli-funded marketing campaign.
According to public Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) filings, at some point in the near future, people within the physical vicinity of three churches in Redding — Bethel, Little Country and Pathway — formerly Neighborhood Church of Redding — may receive targeted digital content “encouraging Christians to have a more favorable view of the Nation of Israel.” The three locations fall within a potential digital “geofence” that the San Diego-based LLC Show Faith by Works (SFBW) is hoping to build in Shasta County.
The details of the proposed geofencing activities were revealed by SFBW when they registered as a foreign agent with the Department of Justice in September. Contrary to the image of espionage and spies this terminology may connote for some readers, operating as a foreign agent in the United States is legal, so long as one registers with the U.S. government — as per the requirements of the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA).
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is listed as the foreign principal in the SFBW filings, meaning that this sector of the Israeli government is authorized to, as defined by FARA, “directly or indirectly supervise, direct, control, finance, or subsidize in whole or in major part” the activities of SFBW.
A geofence is a virtual tool that digital marketing companies use to target internet users by providing specific ads within a designated geographic area. As indicated by its draft budget, SFBW’s vision is to create geofences around the boundaries of “every major church in California, Arizona, Nevada and Colorado” as well as “all Christian colleges” specifically “during worship times.”
SFBW’s FARA filings include a list of proposed churches across the nation whose parishioners it intends to target with pro-Israel messaging. The list includes three in Redding.
Asked about their inclusion in this list, Bethel Church relayed to Shasta Scout that they have no connection to SFBW and are not working with the organization in any way. “From our understanding of the legal document,” the church’s media spokesperson said by email last month, “[we] have been added to a list of targeted geofenced areas not by our choosing or request.” Pathway also denied working with SFBW. “If they are using our name, it is without authority,” a spokesperson from the church told Shasta Scout by email late last month. Little Country Church did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
SFBW did not respond to a request for comment sent via an email found on the organization’s website. According to SFBW’s FARA filings, the organization’s registrant is Chad Schnitger who is reportedly the president of California’s chapter of Faith & Freedom Coalition (FFC). A flyer for a political event Schnitger participated in 2022 indicated that he was also a managing partner at a political public affairs firm called Graystone at the time. Neither FFC’s national chapter, FFC’s California chapter, nor Graystone Public Affairs responded to Shasta Scout’s multiple attempts to connect with Schnitger for comment.
Shasta Scout also reached out to three additional SFBW’s personnel listed in the FARA filing for comment — Richard Tuong Do, Melissa Lundie, and Emily Hemingway — none of whom responded.
FARA is a registry managed by the Department of Justice. Its purpose is to “promote transparency with respect to foreign influence within the United States by ensuring that the United States government and the public know the source of certain information from foreign agents intended to influence American public opinion, policy, and law.” Entities engaged by foreign governments to conduct “political activities,” — such as spreading political messaging among American citizens — have been required to declare themselves as foreign agents since FARA went into effect in 1938.
SFBW’s FARA filings denote the campaign’s requested budget is more than $3 million dollars — to conduct a campaign focused on influencing U.S. Christians, contracted and paid for by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The campaign proposal includes both digital and in-person experiences. A slide attached to the filing summarizes SFBW’s goals, one of which is to “increase positive associations with the National of Israel while linking the Palestinian population with extremist factions.”
Other tenets of the proposed plan include social media campaigns, Christian events, outreach on Christian college campuses, hiring staff in “high-density Christian areas,” and a “10/7 experience.”
The 10/7 experience is described as an immersive multimedia exhibit in which participants wear VR headsets to “highlight” the atrocities committed by Hamas fighters when they attacked Israel on Oct. 7. In the two years since the attack, a media ecosystem of similar exhibits, documentaries and TV shows have been produced for American audiences, focused on the Israeli perspective of the attack and Israel’s subsequent bombardment of Gaza.
It’s unclear how, if at all, SFBW’s work will be affected by the tentative ceasefire reached between Hamas and Israel in October — which both parties have already accused each other of breaking several times.
Since the date that both parties agreed to lay down arms, the IDF has confirmed that two of their soldiers were killed near Rafah, alleging that Hamas opened fire, while the Palestinian Ministry of Health counted at least 242 Palestinians killed by Israeli gunfire and bombing, including women and children.
“Anti-Palestinian State” messaging
SFBW’s messaging is divided into two thematic categories: “pro-Israel” and “anti-Palestinian state.” The proposed pro-Israel messaging will focus on Israel’s history including, “its people, its biblical significance in the Christian New Testament”; “Christians in Israel and the Birthplace of Jesus Christmas Message”; “educational messages about [Israel’s] legitimacy as a power in the region”; “historical co-existence between Jews and Arabs continuing into the creation of Israel and the many concessions made by Israel in exchange for peace.”
SFBW’s framing of Israeli history and society does not mention Israel’s ongoing occupation of Palestinian lands — something that’s been designated as illegal by the United Nations. Nor does it reference the Israeli government’s reported sabotaging of peace efforts, and the structural racism and disparate health outcomes long faced by Palestinian citizens of Israel, as documented by numerous studies.
SFBW’s filings include a focus on attempting to “educate Christians on the history of radical Islam in the region,” while making no mention of the thousands of ethnically Palestinian Christians — a group of people which includes some of the oldest Christian communities in the world, who have been the targets of Israeli war crimes in Gaza
The organization’s messaging is intended to “counter new and evolving pro-Palestinian messaging as the global narrative shifts,” the filings state. SFBW also plans to promote the idea that Hamas, the armed group that led the Oct. 7 attack and political party in power in Gaza, is “financially dependent on Palestinian supporters” — stating that the group “could not exist without the Palestinian people’s support, shelter, and to recruit from.” This focal point appears consistent with recent Israeli polling that found that the majority of Israelis believe there are no innocent people in Gaza, amid Israel’s blurring of boundaries between civilians and military targets.
The death toll in Gaza had reached roughly 67,000 people by the second anniversary of Oct. 7. The United Nations has accused Hamas of committing war crimes during the Oct. 7 attack, and a UN commission found that Israel is guilty of genocide in the years following – a finding backed by experts on the legal definition of term.
Nexus of Christian Zionism
The term “Christian Zionism” refers broadly to largely evangelical Christians who believe that the formation of a Jewish state — the nation of Israel — is predetermined by God, as described in Biblical texts.
The movement is by no means supported by all Christians, nor is there one agreed upon Christian Zionist interpretation of history, politics and religious doctrine. What is consistent among many Christian Zionists is political support for Israel — American Christian nonprofits have donated millions of dollars in relief toward Israel since Oct. 7, 2023. Additionally, Christian lobbies have attempted to exert their influence over American politicians regarding foreign policy in the Middle East both since last Oct. 7 and before.
Some of the tenets of Christian Zionism are rooted in a particular theology related to Biblical scripture, focused on the Book of Revelation. This text describes the end of the world, as told by a prophecy. This prophecy states the Jewish people will establish control in Israel, which will be followed by a period of political instability and end in the return of the Messiah.
To varying degrees, the Christian Zionist perspective is popular among the leadership of some major evangelical churches in the U.S., certain members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet, and even the leadership of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The little known private company tasked with feeding starving Gazans was revealed to have connections to anti-Islamic biker gangs, and aid seekers have been reportedly shot at as they approached GHF sites for food.
A spokesperson for GHF told Shasta Scout that “no GHF personnel or contractor have shot at any aid seekers. Period.” In response to their alleged connection to the biker gang, they wrote that GHF “maintains a strict zero-tolerance policy toward any form of hateful or discriminatory behavior.” The spokesperson said the gang’s leader “has not been involved with GHF since August and we are actively reviewing additional allegations.”
As both experts on Christian Zionism and some Jewish people have pointed out, parts of the movement’s messaging have espoused antisemitic tropes in spite of its support of a Jewish state. In one interpretation of the messianic prophecy, two thirds of the Jewish people will be slaughtered after establishing a state in Israel, with the remaining third converting to Christianity and ascending into heaven, although there is disagreement within evangelical interpretation about the fate of Jewish people during Armageddon.
Bethel’s Israel-related activities have included organized spiritual tours of the Holy Land, including Christian holy sites under Israeli occupation such as the Garden of Gethsemane in East Jerusalem. When the war started in 2023, the church prayed for God to release his spirit onto all peoples of both Israel and Palestine.
Similarly, Bethel is scheduled to hold a “Peace in the Middle East” group prayer this December. “We’re praying for a miracle, for God to release His presence into the nation of Israel,” the event page reads. “And for encounters for the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, and for Hamas — that all would come to know Him and that fighting would cease.”
11.17.25 10:07 a.m.: We have updated this story to include a link to the Show Faith by Works website. 11.25.25 10:43 a.m.: We have updated the story to indicate that SFBW has not responded to a request for comment sent to an email found on the organization’s website.
Do you have a correction to share? Email us: editor@shastascout.org.
Comments (29)
Comments are closed.
Related Articles
Shasta election official Clint Curtis uses board presentation to praise his own leadership, critique predecessors
The county board voted unanimously not to act on requests included in Curtis’ presentation.
Recent flooding closed Cal’s Books. This group of young people is working to bring it back
In December, after Cal’s Books was flooded with two feet of water — and thousands of books were damaged — its owner decided to close the store permanently. Now a team of 20-year-olds has a plan to save the beloved store.
Board majority faces off against Supervisor Plummer on liaison positions, supervisor raises
During the board’s first meeting of 2026, Supervisor Matt Plummer was removed from a number of pivotal liaison positions.
If Bethel is holding a prayer event to (paraphrasing) “Pray for both Israelis and Palestinians alike” why do they only have the Israeli Flag flying; why not fly both the Israeli and Palestine flags – or none at all? Prayers for all or not, symbolism matters and once again Bethel is symbolizing their true beliefs through omission.
I asked this question of Google, ‘Are news organizations like, Al-Jazeera, owned by foreign governments required to register as foreign agents?
Googles Answer:
Yes, but not before September 14, 2020.
While Al Jazeera itself has not publicly registered, the DOJ’s 2020 order specifically targeted the AJ+ network because it was found to be engaging in political activities for the Qatari government. This action was supported by many members of Congress who believe Al Jazeera, being state-funded, should be subject to the same rules as other foreign-government-linked media.
Of course, with a media budget that is reported to be over $1 Billion dollars, they undeniably have much greater influence over public opinion than Israel in the USA.
Can you detail any inaccuracies published by Al-Jazeera?
Churches are either pro-genocide or anti-genocide. Which side are you on? Most xtian nationalists/ziyahnists are on the wrong side of morality and history.
Show Faith by Works is working to strengthen the ties of the Jewish community and Christians. In muslim majority countries people of faith are persecuted for their beliefs, while women and children have little or no rights.
+1
And what ‘rights’ are afforded the Palestinian people? By the grace of US tax dollars, Israel provides free healthcare, free education and free housing for ‘Israeli’s’ as well as the weaponry being used to eradicate the Palestinian people from their own lands. How about focusing on the true teachings of Jesus Christ instead of Zionist propoganda?
“And what ‘rights’ are afforded the Palestinian people?” The right to vote to select Hamas as their government. The same government that recently committed acts of terrorism on Israeli citizens. Polls show that most Palestinian’s supported the acts of terror. “Play stupid games and win stupid prizes.”
Beginning in 1948 the Zionists began the acts of terrorism against the Palestinian people and the world has allowed it because the Zionists and their ‘Christian’ partners have convinced the gullible and ignorant that the Zionists are, ‘Gods chosen people’ and therefore any and all actions the Zionists take, including genocide, against the Palestinian people is justified and sanctioned by ‘God’. Even imprisoning the Palestinian population in concentration camps, starving them with blockades and then bombing them in the, ‘refugee camps’ they were forced into is fair play in the minds of Israel and their following, you. Even today, Israeli settlers, anyone who will profess blind loyalty to the state of Israel, are attacking Palestinian people in their own homes, beating them and driving them from their home while the IDF stand by to make sure the Palestinian people do not resist. With the support of the US ‘Christian’ community and the US government, Israel has killed over 69,000 Palestinians in the past two years, half of those being women and kids and the civilization of Palestine has been reduced to rubble. The ignorance and lies that allow this genocide to continue are the roots of strategic terrorism. Jesus Christ is watching and those guilty of this slaughter will eventually face the truth of who they are.
“The term ‘Christian Zionism’ refers broadly to largely evangelical Christians who believe that the formation of a Jewish state — the nation of Israel — is predetermined by God, as described in Biblical texts.”
This is roughly accurate but leaves out some important variants of this general belief where the “State of Israel” or “a Jewish State” is necessary for the Second Coming. Depending on the particulars, all the Jews of the world will need to go to “Israel” (and The Temple will need to be rebuilt), then either Jesus will return and 2/3 of the Jews will dies (and burn in Hell fire) while 1/3 will “see the light” and be allowed to sit at the right hand of G-d. “Christian Zionism” is deeply antisemitic at its very core.
I cant believe that in 2025 religon has this much influence over the civilised world, it simply amazes me
Today’s state of israel is not what the Bible is telling us is God’s people. Today’s state of israel is evil
I welcome a group promoting the Jewish community in Redding. We need to remember that Isreal is our strongest ally in the middle east. Isreal’s enemy’s also mean harm to America. Also, Hamas (the government in Gaza) is labeled a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department.
Amazing research well done and as always free Palestine. Zionism has no place in those who have an actual relationship with Jesus.
Yes, free Palestine (from Hamas).
Tax exempt status should be revoked immediately.
Based on the facts and their responses, these churches likely were not involved in the decision to target their parishioners at all. I think its really important for folks to remember that.
As someone who CHOSE to read the Bible as a kid, I am all too familiar with why it promotes Israel as the chosen people.
However, I’m also all to familiar with all the times the Bible spoke of when Israel took an evil path.
The Bible also clearly rebukes Israel when they did evil.
Contrary to popular belief, the Bible does not just ask for pure, blind faith. It asked for followers to be wise and discerning.
So if you’re reading my message, be wise and discerning.
If you believe the Bible, be wise and discerning. As the Bible says. Not as I say.
The Bible has never claimed that you should follow those who claim that they know what is best for you and for everybody else.
Nevin. Your research and reporting are a breath of fresh air. You are incredible. Thank you for your labor on this. Such important work. F*** “Israel” and free Palestine, Sudan, and Congo
Palestine was free until Islam moved in. The Temple on the Mount is a now a Mosque built over a Temple.
Hamas, which represents orthodox Islamic teachings, is supported by the ME Muslim oil rich monarchies. Their desire is to destroy the Jewish state.
It is entirely fitting that Israel be able to present their point of view since the main stream media won’t do their jobs.
Nevin Kallepalli, when will we have the same kind of in depth reporting on the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood allied organizations in the USA promoting Islam? For you to be taken seriously, you have to report on that as well. Otherwise, you are merely another propagandist disguised as a journalist.
Stewart: Let us know when you see evidence of an Islamic government using geofencing to influence Shasta community members at their places of worship.
Thank you for your reply. Geofencing may sound subversive, but it’s just another way of saying ‘targeted advertising’. Al-Jazeera engages in the same thing. This is from their website announcing activities surrounding their election coverage in 2024.
Objective: Increase awareness of Al Jazeera’s US election coverage
Goal: Achieve mass reach and engagement across the MENA region and the US
Creative types used: Hashmoji, Conversational Cards, Video Ads, Live Broadcast & Takeover
Geo targeting: MENA region, US
The campaign generated over 100 million impressions, significantly boosting awareness. Viewership surpassed 26 million, with more than 4 million engagements, demonstrating deep audience involvement. The interactive approach was particularly successful, with 26,000 unique users—many of them Arabs in the US—posting over 48,000 times using the hashtag in just one month. These results underscore the campaign’s effectiveness in reaching and engaging key demographics, particularly those in the US.
So Israel is just trying to play catch up. I can’t blame them.
Stewart: If we learn that Shasta locals are being targeted in some specific way with this messaging due to their location we’d be interested in reporting on that.
Annelise:
I gave you an example of Qatar targeting the entire USA. What more do you need?
Why moderate that factual information?
Stewart: As you can see I had simply not logged in to moderate comments in the last 12 hours.
I could cite the World Trade Center attack but there are enough atrocities committed by Islamic governments that you could easily reference. Do you have any clue how the population in Islamic countries are monitored and the potential risks of disobeying Islamic law? America and Isreal both are much more tolerant.
Liddy, do you also understand that there’s a difference between religion and government?
When you allow religion to take control of government, you get exactly what you see in those Islamic countries.
If we allow religion to take control of our government here in the US, then we will see similarities in our country and their country.
Ah yes. Stewart H who has also spread misinformation (aka actual, blatant lies) about others in our community.
Pure propaganda.
Baloney. Independent thinkers, I challenge you to discover for yourself why this person speaks in propaganda.
Which ‘State’ is being destroyed ? ‘Israel continues to expand their occupation and control over Palestinian lands, Israel continues to drive Palestinians from their homes by violent attack, Israel has taken complete control of the water supplies of the Palestinian people and controls all movement of the Palestinian people and still you promote the lies that Israel is the victim . You know this, you support it and this is who you are as an individual.