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It’s hard to tell a story in four minutes, especially when your vehicle for narration is a music video, but that’s just what the Australian Christian band Newsboys did with their recently released “I Speak Jesus.” The video, which features a beautiful story of a couple struggling to grow their family, is likely to pull on your heartstrings, so best to get the tissues ready.
The lyrics of the song present the listener with a simple prayer, almost a litany, that asks the Lord for peace and hope, for overcoming depression and anxiety, and for Jesus to be ever present in our lives. All the while the music video progresses through home footage of a couple who can’t seem to get pregnant no matter how much they try.
Each scene is accompanied by a time and date, so the viewers get to watch them as they meet with doctors, get injections, and comfort each other in their failures. This struggle goes on for seven years, with footage beginning in 2013 and ending in 2020, and watching them fail again and again for so long is heartbreaking. It is a powerful way to tell a story that invests the viewer to a point that we nearly cried out in cheer as they finally looked at a positive pregnancy test, after all those years of trying.
This true story was such a surprise to see in a music video, and a very personal witness of an enduring faith and trust in God. Newsboys explained that the couple, Trent Nicholson and Claudia Jordana, are actually friends of theirs, who were happy to let the band share their story with the world.
“Our friends Trent Nicholson and Claudia Jordana walked through seven years of faithful prayer, and the video tells the story of their journey speaking Jesus over their family year after year,” Newsboys share. “The lyrics of 'I Speak Jesus' are a declaration of the name of the King of Kings over every aspect of our lives. Our prayer is that it encourages you to speak the name of Jesus over your own families, your sorrows and heartaches, and your fears and worries.”
Path to life
In the music video, there are several shots of Claudia undergoing clinical fertility treatments. While it is not clear what types of treatment the couple sought, it should be noted that there are certain paths in the infertility struggle that align with the Church's respect for life, and others that do not.
Notably, the use of IVF is contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church for various reasons, including that usually new human beings are created and then frozen for an unforeseen future. Others might be aborted to "reduce" the number of children in a pregnancy. As well, as Caitlin Bootsma wrote for Aleteia:
While IVF may result in new life, it does so without the benefit of a husband and wife coming together in a loving sexual union. (Note that regardless of how a child is conceived, he or she has equal dignity in the eyes of God). IVF is a slight (however unintentional) to the dignity of that child.
VeggieTales music
Newsboys is an Australian Christian band from Queensland that has been around in one form or another since 1985. While they are possibly best known for their music appearing in the hit kids show VeggieTales, they have been very successful in the industry, garnering four Dove Awards among 30 nominations. Follow Newsboys on YouTube to hear more.
