An Incredible Film

What film has been translated into over 1,000 languages and shown in every country in the world?

The JESUS Film.

Since it’s initial release in 1979, the “JESUS” film has been shown over 6 billion times and resulted in over 200 million people making decisions to accept Christ as their personal Savior and Lord. The JESUS Film Project translates and dubs the film in order to help all people “encounter the life and message of Jesus in a language ‘of the heart’.”

The “JESUS” film has been translated into Tok Pisin, and I had the chance to show it while I was doing village living.

On the afternoon of November 21, my wasfamili (host family) helped me move the heavy generator, the projector, and other equipment into a grassy area in front of our house, and then watched as I set everything up. We moved the generator a distance away and behind a mango tree, where its noise wouldn’t be a distraction. The family put poles into the ground and rigged up a white sheet in between to be a double-sided movie screen. Before too long the projector, DVD player, and speaker were all set up correctly too and we began to wait for people to arrive.

People started arriving around 6 pm and by 7 we began a short program. I played guitar and led our wasfamili in singing some songs; a church elder prayed in the local language; and we gave gifts of betelnut and green coconuts to all the adults. Julie and I both had a chance to share devotions we’d written out earlier in Tok Pisin. I spoke about the grace of God, using verses from Ephesians 2 to encourage the people that grace is free. (Some of you who heard me speak in churches this spring may remember a story I told about Papua New Guinean’s struggle to understand grace; for this reason, I was especially grateful for the opportunity to share!)

When the program concluded around 8, I started the generator and got the movie underway. By this time, a crowd of around 300 people had gathered in our yard to watch the movie. All present, from little kids to elderly people, sat riveted to the screen for the next 2 hours. When Jesus performed miracles, they clicked their tongues to express their amazement. Because they are a fishing community, they were especially astonished when Jesus provided an extraordinary catch of fish.

After the gospel presentation at the end of the film, everyone started back to their own villages. We didn’t see any immediate impact of the film, but the following Sunday at church, the pastor mentioned the film in his sermon and my wasfamili told me that Sunday school teachers would be sure to discuss the film with the kids in their classes.

Thank God for the opportunity to show the “JESUS” film in Bunabun and please pray that what people saw will continue to impact their lives.

To learn more about the “JESUS” film, visit http://www.jesusfilm.org/.