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This past Christmas, The JESUS Film Project partnered with four church denominations to distribute a multi-language JESUS DVD. The DVD includes 16 languages, and is designed to facilitate reaching the nations among us for Christ. As a result of this partnership, thousands of DVDs were distributed.

A Persian man living in California received the DVD and watched it with great emotion. He saw that a free copy of the Holy Injil (New Testament) was offered, so he contacted the JESUS DVD response center asking for a free copy in Farsi, his heart language.

People at the response center contacted one of their partner pastors whose church is in the area where this man lives. The pastor was excited to reach out to the man and agreed to send a Farsi New Testament, as well as some information about their church.

A few weeks later, the man contacted the pastor. They had a long conversation in which the man said he was having dreams of Jesus. The pastor was able to lead the man in the prayer of salvation over the phone and then invited him to come to the church, as well as to the midweek Bible study. An invitation to a special dinner was also extended and transportation was set up by members of the church to help minister to this new believer.

A very interesting dimension to this story is that this pastor became a follower of Jesus several years ago through the JESUS film while attending an American university as a foreign student.

Praise God for opportunities to share with people the multi-language JESUS DVD and for partners working in follow-up. You can get more information about ordering a copy of this DVD by clicking here.

We thank God for this new year and look forward to what He has in store for us. We are so grateful for your prayers and support to our ministry. It is through your partnership that we are able to reach people around the world in their heart language through film.

One of the tools Doug’s New Media team developed to help reach this generation is an animé called “My Last Day”. We shared about the release of this film in our April newsletter. This nine-minute movie frames the story of salvation through animé to capture the attention of a new generation. All of the dialogue from “My Last Day” is taken from the original “JESUS ” film.

During a recent Campus Crusade for Christ outreach conference in New Zealand, more than 200 attendees discovered a creative way to reach out to the community. Typically conference attendees reach out to the community where the conference is being held. However, that task would have overwhelmed the small, local community. Therefore conference organizers prepared a room with computers where attendees could participate in an online outreach.

Organizers set up a website, www.watchthinkchat.com, which included a viewing of “My Last Day” followed by a short gospel presentation and an opportunity for visitors to then participate in a live chat with one of the attendees.

Each of the attendees involved in the outreach posted a link to the website, and promoted it through Facebook fan pages. Over the course of an afternoon, 10,000 people clicked on the link to watch “My Last Day”, including visitors from Saudi Arabia and Iran. Two thousand of those who viewed the film were friends of attendees, from which they were able to have 200 live chats about the gospel leading to two people indicating decisions to trust Christ.

The best thing about the outreach was that the vast majority of spiritual conversations that were initiated were with people that attendees already knew and would be in contact with again after the conference. The outreach helped them to initiate those often hard-to-start spiritual conversations with their friends. Praise God for a successful outreach. Pray for attendees as they take part in follow-up conversations with people they connected with during the outreach.

To help address this crucial need for follow-up, Doug’s New Media team developed a five episode series called  Walking With Jesus.  Using narrated storytelling and clips from JESUS, this film-based discipleship series depicts common African life scenarios, modeling committed Christian discipleship. Walking With Jesus strengthens the African church by grounding new believers in their faith and equipping them to become fruitful members of the body of Christ.

Click image to watch a video about Walking With Jesus

On the first evening of a four-day Campus Crusade for Christ outreach program in an African village, many people gave their lives to Christ.  During the following morning’s sessions, workers used Walking With Jesus to follow up with these new believers.

Following one of the Walking With Jesus episodes, the Holy Spirit moved an elderly woman to approach the ministry workers for counseling.  She expressed regret for allowing her dislike for her son’s wife to cause her to encourage him to take a second wife.  She explained that through the film series she was convicted and planned to apologize to her son’s first wife.

Later that day the ministry workers encountered a woman who identified herself as the man’s first wife.  Explaining her astonishment at the repentance her mother in-law demonstrated, the woman began confessing all the ways she had wronged her mother-in-law.  She left the team saying, “I am going to go and apologize to my mother-in-law, and from now [on] I promise to take good care of her.”

Providing discipleship is key to helping a new believer understand their commitment to Christ.  Since joining staff with Campus Crusade , we both have experienced firsthand how discipleship can enlighten a new believer’s perspective of the gospel.  We are grateful for the opportunities God has placed before us.

Pray for Doug’s team as they continue to develop film-based tools that proclaim the name of Jesus to the world.  Pray for all the new believers in Africa who are being followed up with using this film series that they will continue to grow in their walk with God.

Backpack System

A ministry trip to Asia proved to be a “huge success,” exclaimed a JESUS film team leader from a partner ministry. Using the new technology of a backpack containing a solar-powered portable video system, a collapsible screen, and mini-speakers, he explained, “We presented the film four times (three times in the mountains and one time in the city) and had 325 decisions for Christ.  The backpack was a hit with everyone!”  The team leader continued, “When I did the initial movie presentation to our [Asian] ministry partners …, they wept for joy.  I shared how I was able to partner with [The JESUS Film Project®] in getting the film and backpacks, and they were absolutely astonished at God’s providence.  [An Asian leader] told me he had been praying for something like this for years.” A team of national ministers will continue presenting JESUS in many other areas.

Praise God for using new technology to help reach people for Christ in remote areas of the world.  It is stories like this that Karen has the privilege of passing on to ministry partners of The JESUS Film Project.  We recognize it would not be possible for us to minister without your prayers and support.  Thank you for the sacrifices you are making on our behalf through your prayers and giving.

Please continue to pray for our financial needs.  So far, we have raised 12 percent of our needed funds for our staff conference in July.  Please pray that the remaining money will come in by June 30th, and that we will have safe travel to Colorado and back home.

This is just one of the exciting stories we hear from around the world of people coming to Christ in hard-to-reach places. Praise the Lord for how He is drawing people to Himself through the JESUS film and the ministry’s new media tools.

We have the opportunity to hear more about what God is doing around the world through other Campus Crusade for Christ ministries at our upcoming U.S. Staff Conference in Fort Collins, Colorado this July. For our continued training, we will also be taking a seminary level biblical studies class before the conference begins. We will gather with more than 5,000 Campus Crusade staff members from all over the country to receive great teaching from well-known Christian leaders, to pray and worship God together. It’s always an opportunity to sharpen our skills and to gain fresh vision and passion for ministry.

Campus Crusade does not cover the costs for this required class and conference, but allows us to reimburse all of the expenses incurred for our travel and stay in Colorado for the training. To do this, we need to raise $6,024 above our regular donations. This covers the cost of travel, housing, food, our class and conference fees. Would you prayerfully consider giving a special gift to help with these expenses?

Your consideration means so much to us as in addition we still have a great need for new monthly support. We will be in Colorado for a total of 30 days. The cost per day for both of us is approximately $200. Would you consider giving a gift of $200 for one day, $100 for a half day or $400 for two days? If you are in a position to give, whatever amount you contribute will make a difference.  You can give online or by check, click here for more information.

Thank you for the vital role you play in helping us to remain in full-time ministry. You are making a difference in the Kingdom through your prayers and gifts. May God pour out His blessings on you!

The film team could see Jacqueline’s words captivated her audience, yet at the invitation following the film, no one came forward. Jacqueline rose to speak again, encouraging the crowd:  “I know that many of you have been touched, but you think these people are Satanists, and you are afraid that they will steal your souls.  That is a lie from the devil. He is deceiving you into missing your lifetime opportunity.  These people have come here to bring the gospel in picture.  It’s a rare opportunity, but God wants to touch someone here.  I appeal to you, my parents and my friends, come and let God touch and change your lives the way He did mine last night.”  That night 407 people responded, which opened a door to ministry in Lilongwe.  The following night even greater response occurred.  God worked powerfully-from the mouth of this little girl!

(From The “JESUS”  Film Partnership for Global Partners (Wesleyan church)).

“I am very thankful to the man who gave me a planner. In the planner, I read a lot of good things and also for your movement, for your vision, and how and why you want to help the students to reach their goals. I especially like that you put an emphasis on the spiritual development of an individual. This is something I am very interested in myself. That is why I want to be a part of your movement.”

When staff member Andrei* read the note, he realized he was the one who gave Boris the planner. Andrei shares the rest of the story:

“I was very excited to see such a quick and positive response, so it didn’t take me long to contact [Boris]. We met for coffee, and I shared the gospel with him through the Four Spiritual Laws booklet. When we came to the prayer, he said that it was very familiar to him. He said he heard the same prayer once through a movie he had watched with his mom when he was younger. I shared with him that it was the ‘JESUS’ film that was shown in his town ten years ago. It was so exciting that after ten years, he was now sitting across from me, the one who had shown the film in his town. My joy was even greater when he decided right then to invite Jesus into his life! Now, Boris says that the Bible is the best book he has ever read, and he has on his heart to reach ALL people with the good news of Jesus. I am praising God for Boris and his willingness to grow in his faith. I am looking forward to being beside him to nurture him in this new adventure with Jesus.”

Praise God for the work of His Holy Spirit to plant, water and harvest the seed of His truth!

*Names changed for confidentiality purposes.

Soon to reach its 1,000th translation, the “JESUS” film remains the most translated and widely distributed film in cinema history. With more than 6 billion exposures globally, “JESUS” tops Oscar greats such as “Gone With the Wind,” “The Sound of Music” and “The Wizard of Oz.”

Shortly following the film’s United States premiere in October 1979, requestspoured in from around the world for additional translations, as people yearned to hear Jesus speak their heart language. Using stopwatch technology, Campus Crusade for Christ staff produced the first 30 translations of “JESUS” in 1980. This began the film team strategy, a major evangelism thrust for Campus Crusade, which continues to the present time.

In 1986, the completion of the Tok Pisin version for Papua New Guinea marked the “JESUS” film’s 100th translation. At this time, merely seven years after the film’s release, more than 315 million viewers worldwide had watched “JESUS.” When South Africa’s Tsonga “JESUS” film premiered in October 1991 as the 200th translation, a local dignitary introduced the film by saying, “We are proud as a people that the film is now in our language, so that it will go to the heart of our people, [to] teach them the real condition of life.” India’s Kashmiri speakers received “JESUS” in their heart language in 1994, marking the film’s 300th translation. This monumental accomplishment nearly occurred without Rahim*, a Kashmiri Christian businessman. Several weeks before he planned to help dub the Kashmiri “JESUS” film, terrorists abducted him and sentenced him to death for his faith in Christ. On the day of his scheduled execution, they told him that he could go free if he would renounce Christianity and return to their religion. Rahim replied, “I hold nothing against you, but I cannot renounce my Savior, my Lord Jesus. Even if you kill me now, I don’t lose anything. I will go to be with my Lord forever.

Even as he spoke, word arrived from the group’s leader to release him. Thirty days after Rahim’s miraculous release, he helped record the “JESUS” film into his heart language. Rahim’s amazing rescue and ensuing faithfulness to help record the film paved the way for thousands of Kashmiri speakers to hear the good news. Circling the globe to West Africa’s Ivory Coast, the “JESUS” film’s 400th translation into the Cebaara Senoufo language enabled the 862,000 primary speakers to hear the gospel in their own language. By April 1997, global cumulative viewership increased to more than 870 million, of whom 47 million trusted Jesus. Two years later, the Karamojong people—tucked away in Uganda’s remote villages—watched “JESUS” in their heart language. In 1999, the film’s 500th translation penetrated this aggressive tribe of warriors with the peace and love of Christ. Viewership reached a new milestone in 1999, topping 3 billion cumulative viewings, as decisions to follow Jesus skyrocketed to more than 108 million globally. Clearly, the Holy Spirit was at work. In June 2000, the completion of the Kiyombe “JESUS” film for Democratic Republic of Congo’s 684,000 primary speakers marked the 600th translation of “JESUS”, followed shortly by the 700th translation—Beembe—for the neighboring country of Congo in March 2002.

Those who worked on the Beembe translation of “JESUS” did so amid civil war, evacuation and loss of their personal possessions. Two Congolese Christians, who would eventually provide their voices for the recording, began translating the script in 1997. Soon after they completed the script, civil war broke out in the capital city of Brazzaville, forcing them to flee. When they returned, they found all their possessions stolen—except for the “JESUS” film script, which they had wrapped carefully in plastic and buried in the ground. Many Beeme speakers who suffered the turmoil of war and loss of earthly possessions would gain heavenly treasure through salvation in Christ. India’s 65,000 Bhadrawahi speakers received the 800th “JESUS” film translation in August 2003, as cumulative viewership exceeded 5 billion, and decisions for Christ soared above 188 million worldwide. During the recording of the Bhadrawahi “JESUS” film, the Hindu voice actor who played the role of Jesus placed his faith in Christ.

October 2005 marked the completion of the 900th translation—Arifama-Miniafia—for Papua New Guinea’s 2,147 speakers. During the 19 years between the 100th Tok Pisin translation and the 900th Arifama-Miniafia translation, the people of Papua New Guinea experienced God’s grace and transforming power as 165,000 of the 722,391 “JESUS” film viewers prayed to receive Christ as Lord and Savior. As the 1,000th translation milestone nears, more than 6 billion viewers throughout the past 28 years have watched the “JESUS” film, and more than 200 million people have indicated decisions for Christ. With the completion of the 1,000th translation, India’s more than 1 million primary Ho speakers will have the opportunity to hear the gospel in their heart language. By the grace of God, “JESUS” film leaders plan to continue producing the film in additional languages, focusing on those with more than 100,000 speakers. As the day of Christ’s glorious appearing nears, we praise God for the privilege of participating with you in the amazing task of preaching the gospel worldwide through the “JESUS” film.

*name changed for security reasons