The Faith & Freedom Coalition, one of the nation’s most prominent Evangelical grassroots political advocacy groups, says it has “no knowledge” of a plan involving the leader of its California chapter to track and target churchgoers for the purpose of serving them pro-Israel digital ads.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry has contracted a San Diego-based firm Show Faith by Works, LLC to launch a $4.1 million marketing campaign targeting Christian communities in the western United States, according to a Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) filing last month.
Under FARA, federal law requires public disclosure obligations from any person representing foreign interests, including state actors.
The campaign, described in the Sept. 27 FARA filing as the “largest Christian church geofencing campaign in U.S. history,” will use digital ads to promote pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian messaging.
Signed by Chad Schnitger, a Christian conservative activist in California and president of the California chapter of the Faith & Freedom Coalition (FFCCA), the document names the FARA registrant as Show Faith by Works LLC, which is identified in the filing as a foreign agent of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
When asked about whether Faith & Freedom Coalition founder Ralph Reed or Faith & Freedom was involved with Show Faith by Works LLC or other activities listed in the FARA filing, a spokesperson for Reed told CP he had “no role in and no knowledge of” Schnitger’s activities.
“Chad has undertaken this effort in his capacity as a private citizen,” spokesperson Julie O’Brien told CP. “While Faith & Freedom strongly supports the state of Israel, we have no involvement in the campaign.”
Reed and the Faith & Freedom Coalition were instrumental in President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign to return to the White House, spending a reported $62 million registering Evangelical voters across 125,000 churches. The initiative marked a $10 million increase from Faith & Freedom’s efforts on the 2020 campaign.
The filing lists Eran Shayovich as the “official with whom [Show Faith by Works LLC] engages.” According to his LinkedIn profile, Shayovich is the chief of staff at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel. CP emailed the Israeli Foreign Ministry for comment on Wednesday.
According to the filing, Show Faith by Works LLC contracted with the Israeli Foreign Ministry on Sept. 18 for the purpose of “Christian outreach through various grassroots and digital targeting of Christians in the western US,” including plans to “create a mobile museum to display at churches, Christian colleges, and Christian events.”
The filing adds: “We will target and distribute pro-lsrael information online and through targeted geofencing and digital online tools. We will have teams of people reaching out to Churches and Pastors and possibly even Christian social media influencers, some of this is still undecided and fluid, but these are the outlets we have planned and proposed.”
A separate short-form document identified GOP consultant Richard Tuong Do, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Vietnam, as the manager of Show Faith by Works LLC. In that document, Do states he will engage in political activity to “encourage Christians to have a favorable view of the Nation of Israel and to consider Israel as a destination for tourism purposes.”
On Sept. 18, Show Faith by Works LLC received $325,881 from HAVAS Media, a Tel Aviv-based media group, for the purpose of “Christian outreach” in the western U.S. The filing also includes an invoice from HAVAS for $3,258,961 payable in five equal payments of $651,792. The invoice identifies Schnitger as the sales contact person.
A detailed budget and planning strategy from Graystone Public Affairs — an organization based in Beaumont and registered under Schnitger’s name, according to California state records — describes a “grassroots organizing” strategy to boost Israel’s image among Evangelicals. This includes employing Christian staff in “high-density Christian areas” including Arizona, Nevada, California, and Colorado; “physical staff present” at Christian colleges, seminaries and churches; “‘Pastoral Resource Packages’ with Pro-lsrael support and educational materials sent to EVERY church in these regions”; and a “a top-of-the-line Mobile pro-lsrael display with October 7 themes” to be displayed at Christian events.
The documents also outline a plan to approach high-profile Evangelical pastors and influencers as “possible Christian celebrity spokespeople,” including actors Chris Pratt and Jon Voight, former NFL player Tim Tebow, NBA All-Star Stephen Curry, and pastors Mark Driscoll and Rick Warren, who the document labels a “retired megachurch pastor with influence.”
Pastor Greg Laurie, named as the “de facto leader of the Calvary Chapel Movement,” is also named.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the websites for both FFCCA and Graystone were password-protected. CP reached out to Schnitger at FFCCA on Tuesday for comment, but did not receive a response.
The archived “About Us” page of the FFCCA website features an undated image of Schnitger with Reed, FFCCATreasurer Matthew Dobler and FFCCA Secretary Pastor Tye McClain.
Despite its multimillion-dollar price tag, the Show Faith by Works campaign is just one of several foreign-agent registrations in recent weeks linked to Israel’s Foreign Ministry. Among them is Brad Parscale, former campaign manager for President Trump, who registered Clocktower X LLC as a foreign agent hired by the state of Israel on Sept. 18 to create digital outreach campaigns targeting antisemitism as part of a $6 million contract.
