Aaron Hostetter AKA Zealous
Zealous, a graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio (majoring in Catechetics), is a full time youth minister in Norfolk, VA while continuing to evangelize through his music. With experience performing and speaking @ the Proud2BCatholic music festivals, Fan The Fire youth rallys, Catholic Underground, countless retreats, and in Catholic High Schools from Cleveland, OH, to West Palm Beach, FL, he brings an entertaining show with a strong message of faithfulness to the Church. His goals include answering John Paul II's call for a "new evangelization" through his music, upholding the sanctity of marriage, family and life, and setting teens on fire for the faith. For more info, visit his website www.zealousrapmusic.com
His first release was "Refocused" in 2004. His albums since are "Battle for Souls" (in 2008 - recorded and produced by www.phatmass.com - recommended by Ruth in January :-), "Refocused: the remix" (in 2009) and "The Theology of Zeal" (in 2010). His track 'God has a plan' has just been released on 9th June 2010. All are available on itunes.
Mission Trip to Zambia
OPEN LETTER - Dear Friends, Family, and All,
I am writing you due to an extraordinary series of events that has taken place over the last several months. As many of you know, in addition to my primary work in high school youth ministry, I have been writing and performing Catholic rap music for the last 6 years (www.zealousrapmusic.com) under the stage name “Zealous”. A man named Joshua Phiri in the African country of Zambia found my music back in January, and he emailed me. I had never heard of Zambia before that, so it was very surprising to hear that someone there found and liked my music. I began emailing him back and forth almost every day, talking to him about God and Catholic rap music, since he told me he is also aspiring to write Catholic rap. After a while, I sent him one of my newest songs to listen to “God Has A Plan”, and many of his friends loved it. One of them goes by the moniker “DJ Spin”. DJ Spin is on a college radio station in Zambia’s capitol city. Without me knowing it, DJ Spin played my song on the radio during his hip-hop show, which had never played religious music before. People were very surprised and started asking for it to be played again and there began to be much interest in it and the message that is behind it. They contacted me and asked if I would do a radio interview, so I called using Skype and did a live interview. In that interview, DJ Spin suggested that I come to Zambia and perform a concert for my fans there.
That began a huge process that is now involving many, many people in Zambia. I have since done several radio interviews with various stations in Zambia, religious and non-religious, and am in contact with magazines and newspapers there as well regarding this trip. Organizations and priests, including the Bishop of Lusaka, are working together to try to organize and fund some concerts and speaking for me to do in and around the Lusaka area in mid-August (in the 13-21st time frame). At this point it has evolved to include not only performing, but speaking to thousands of young people, AIDS victims in hospices, radio and television interviews, and a conference at the end of the week that will include myself and my counterpart, Cory Heimann, speaking to many local artists and aspiring musicians about making quality media and using their talents for the glory of God. The many people I have talked to believe this trip will be a catalyst for mass conversion in the country, as they do not see many Americans, and the young people idolize American hip-hop stars. My good friend Cory Heimann is a very talented videographer (www.likeableart.com), and will be coming with me to video document this story so that we can bear witness to the Gospel being proclaimed through the use of media throughout the world.
We are in need of financial assistance to make this great work happen! The people in Zambia are working daily to gather funds to help pay for the plan tickets, which cost roughly $2000 per person ($4000 for myself and Cory combined). They are not an incredibly rich country, so while there has been growing support throughout the country, there is not an abundance of riches to go around. We need to secure plane tickets by the second week of July, so if you can help in this way please pray about how much God may be calling you to contribute to this.
In addition to this, I believe the video documentary is an essential part of what God wants from this mission trip. It is the part of the mission for everyone else in the world to take part in, bearing witness to God’s work and inspiring many people to use their gifts in the media for the greater good. To cover production costs, it will cost us $3,000.
Donations can be sent via Paypal to my account under the email zealousrapmusic at yahoo.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Please title it “Zealous in Zambia” to indicate that you are donating for this trip. You can make checks payable to: Aaron Hostetter, and have it sent to my parish mailbox 155 W. Government Ave Norfolk, VA 23503. A link to donate is on www.zealousrapmusic.com.
Remember that God will never be outdone in generosity (Mark 10:29-30). By helping fund this trip, you will be playing a vital part in this mission that has the potential to impact thousands of lives forever!
Finally, I ask you all to please pray for this trip. For something as significant as raw evangelization to a country with very little contact with American missionaries, combined with the fact that the form of preaching the gospel is somewhat revolutionary (using hip hop), this is something that requires the faithful prayers of many people. For centuries, saints in the Church have adapted the Gospel message to reach people all over the world in ways that met them where they were at, and brought them to the Truth in ways they could understand. I take this trip with great gratitude that I am found worthy to live out my call to “go and make disciple of all nations” (Matthew 28:19) as so many have done before me. When it is all said and done, it will be amazing to see all the lives that were touched by God through this.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly at zealousrapmusic at yahoo.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Everyone who donates will receive a DVD copy of the final video documentary, which would be released potentially in October or November.
Thank You and God Bless, Aaron Hostetter (Zealous)
The song that inspired the Zambian people on their radio stations is called “God Has A Plan” & it has just been released on itunes.