Fewer than one percent of the people in one South Asian nation* are Christians. Nazarene leaders there saw a window of opportunity to share the JESUS film in an area where people are ardent followers of another faith.
The local leadership obtained 10 solar-powered backpack projection systems from JESUS Film Harvest Partners, a lay-led ministry formed through a partnership between the Church of the Nazarene denomination and Campus Crusade for Christ International (which changed its name to Cru in 2012). The 10 new teams began hosting JESUS film showings in August 2011.
The first reports are in, with 8,396 men, women, and children wanting to know more about Christ in this South Asian nation.
Following is a report received from one team:
All glory and praise be only to our Lord God the Almighty. Accept our greetings and love in Christ on behalf of our team members. We thank God for His immense love. We are blessed by His grace and wonderful opportunity to render His work through our JESUS Film ministry.
We journeyed to a village where the people worship many imagined gods and goddesses; they even adore trees, the sun, and the moon. Even though they don’t get any response from those gods and goddesses, they continue to pray, worship, and present offerings to them. This is where we conducted our JESUS Film presentation.
People were willing and eager to watch the film. After the film show was over, some came to us saying, “We have never experienced this sort of film in our life. It is different and made us think about the true God to worship.” Another said, “The miracles Jesus did are remarkable.” We were filled with joy to understand they had a seed for Jesus planted in their minds.
We prayed and went back the following day. When we met together, they began to share that Jesus died for them and brought new life for them. One said, “Jesus has brought redemption to us.” They offered their willingness to have Jesus as Lord and Savior. We continued to meet with them, teaching them more about God. As a result, many are ready to be baptized.
Please give thanks to God for the people of this village as He has shown them His way. Pray for the people to keep their faith in Jesus and witness to others in the village. Additionally, ask God’s blessings on the village leaders to continue to direct the people toward the Lord and assemble to share Jesus’ love among them.
The 10 teams have submitted their first reports. The first quarter report indicates the teams have presented the JESUS film 171 times, with 28,351 people viewing the film, resulting in 8,396 responding to the love of Christ!
* Some details omitted for security reasons.
