(Photo courtesy of Jesus Film Project)

Legacy meets a new world

“Our vision and passion is to give every person in the world the opportunity to hear Jesus say, ‘I love you’ in their heart language,” says Holly Newell with Jesus Film Project.

The JESUS film is the most watched film of all time. Newell shares that over the past 45 years it has been viewed 11 billion times, and more than 600 million people have given their lives to Christ.

It’s a God-given legacy, but one they aren’t content to sit back on.  

“Not long ago, we took a look at the world and its growing population, and we said, ‘We’re doing what God has called us to do, but we’re not doing it fast enough,’” Newell says. 

Research led them to two important facts about the world today. One is that the majority of the people who have never heard the name of Jesus live in 12 specific countries. The other is that the world is very young.

“The average age of all the people in the world is 30,” says Newell. ” In some of those top 12 countries of unreached people, the average age is only 18.”

(Image courtesy of Jesus Film Project)

The JESUS Film for the next generation

The new animated JESUS will use much of the audio tracks already recorded in more than two thousand languages for the 1979 film. That means when it releases in December 2026, it will quickly become available for people around the world. 

And then? The global Church will step in. 

“We partner with over 1,800 different mission organizations. They’re the ones who are doing the hard work of showing the film, doing the follow up, building the churches,” Newell says.

“So we just want to take this new animated tool, give it to them and say, ‘Go! Go and reach the people that have yet to hear!’” 

Get involved

Even though the animated JESUS film just finished pre-production and is two years away, Newell invites you to get involved with their gospel tools today. Here are two ways to do that:

(Photo courtesy Jesus Film Project via Facebook)

Keep in the loop
Receive updates and prayer requests for the animated JESUS film. Click here to learn more and sign up for email updates or download the insider app. 

Take JESUS with you
By downloading the Jesus Film App, you can carry the film in two thousand languages in your pocket. And it’s easy to share with anyone in their heart language! Simply search their language in the app, then forward the link to that version with a brief message. They’ll be able to open the link and watch without any need to download.

Click here to find the Jesus Film App on Google Play or the App Store. 

Header photo courtesy of Jesus Film Project.

Bruce Allen with FMI says of Jakarta, “It is sinking eight to 10 inches a year. The city is overpopulated. It was designed to only be home to a few million. It has 10 million [people], and 30 million in the surrounding areas. Traffic is a major headache, pollution, litter, and water issues.”

However, two of the capital project leaders recently resigned, and President Widodo is facing pressure on his legacy project from hesitant investors.

Although the first phase of the new city is only 80% done, President Widodo announced he will start working next month from an office in Nusantara once water access is available.

The goal is for the new capital to be officially inaugurated in August for Indonesia’s 79th Independence Day.

“[President Widodo] would really like to see it finished before he leaves office toward the end of this year. So he’s pushing for it,” says Allen. “But, ‘Is it really going to be ready?’ is the question.”

FMI church planters in Indonesia. (Photo courtesy of FMI)

As construction continues, God has already established His Church for ministry in Nusantara.

Allen says, “FMI has been supporting church planters on Borneo for over a decade. But once it was announced that this new city was going to be developed, our leadership team for partnerships on the island said we need to start church planting in Nusantara now so that by the time this influx of civil servants from all these different islands come to be part of the government in Nusantara, there are Christian churches waiting for them.”

One FMI church partner on Borneo already has 30 congregation members meeting together and worshipping in a home.

“They’re looking to also do construction for a church site,” says Allen. “They have all the permits. But as you might imagine, with all the construction materials being purchased for the government project, how expensive it is for this congregation to save funds from their offerings to buy the construction materials.

“The construction costs for [the church building] materials are about $15,000. While that might not seem like a whole lot for a building for us here in North America, that’s a substantial amount in Indonesia.”

Want to support FMI church planters in Indonesia? Click here to give at FMI’s website.

Then, pray for FMI church planters in Indonesia — especially those preparing for ministry in Nusantara. Ask God to grow their churches and establish a widespread Gospel witness for this young city.

Header photo of a busy street in Jakarta, Indonesia. (Photo courtesy of Adrian Pranata/Unsplash)

Candace Mackie with TWR Motion, a division of Trans World Radio, says, “We believe people of all cultures deserve to hear about Jesus in a way they understand and so, we make animated content that’s used on social media to engage with people who are spiritually seeking.” 

Kayla Schlipf, art director for Journey to Hope, illustrating a scene from the episode about the fall of humankind. (Image and caption courtesy of TWR Motion)

Trans World Radio is all about reaching the last, those forgotten and cut off from the gospel. Today, TWR Motion is partnering with a ministry in Thailand, this time to reach Buddhists. 

“We started to work with them to understand Thai people in particular, but also just broadly trying to understand Buddhism,” Mackie says. 

There’s been a steep learning curve. In recent years, TWR Motion created a video series called “Share the Story” presenting the gospel to Muslims. That was an easier process than this new series has been. 

“Islam is a little bit closer to what we’re used to. There’s a lot of bridges to the gospel with Old Testament prophets. Sacrifice is very much something that they understand,” Mackie says. “But for Buddhist people, it’s been really tricky to understand their worldview, because it’s just so different than ours.”

For example, Mackie says animism and spirit worship are common among the Thai people.

Illustration from Journey to Hope, an animated Bible story to share the gospel with people with a Buddhist worldview. Adam and Eve in the garden. (Image and caption courtesy of TWR Motion)

“It’s a very different context. We’ve kind of taken a deep dive into this, to produce 20 episodes of Bible stories,” Mackie says. 

The “Journey to Hope” series should be completed in 2025. (Learn more about it here.) Between now and then, Mackie says there are ways you can help bring it to the finish line.

“I would definitely ask for prayer for us as we develop this series. For the Lord to work out some of the challenges that we have in our workflow.”

If you are a church planter who could use “Journey to Hope” in a language other than Thai, reach out to TWR Motion. They have worked with dozens of other teams to translate their video resources into new languages to spread the gospel.  

Header photo of a church planter in Thailand talking with a local man in a village courtesy of TWR Motion.

Candace Mackie with TWR Motion says they often partner with church-planters who use social media to reach spiritual seekers. “We’ll work with them to develop original videos that they can use that reach their culture with the gospel in their language.” 

A church planter in Thailand talks with a local man in a village. (Image and caption courtesy of TWR Motion)

After creating a video series for the Muslim world, TWR Motion has now partnered with a church-planting ministry in Thailand. The new 20-video series will cover creation, the fall of man, Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, plus many other stories in between — all of them geared to reach into the unique worldview of Buddhists. 

“The whole series theme, we’re trying to show that Jesus is our ultimate hope. So we’re trying to present Jesus as the person who can bring hope to their lives and that they can know for themselves,” Mackie says.

Mackie says the trickiest part has been learning to understand the worldview of Buddhists. Their partners have been essential in developing the content.

“They [ministry partners in Thailand] actually worked with Wycliffe Bible Translators as well. So the base of the scripts came from Wycliffe,” Mackie says. “We made some adjustments and spoke into it at different points to help [with] thinking about it from a video perspective. But [we] really trusted them with the content that needed to be in there.” 

Illustration from Journey to Hope, an animated Bible story to share the gospel with people with a Buddhist worldview. Adam and Eve eating the fruit. (Image and caption courtesy of TWR Motion)

The series Journey to Hope should release in the Thai language in 2025. Between now and then, would you pray for and support the team? 

“There’s a lot that goes into the artwork and the way that we tell the stories. [Pray] for wisdom, and clarity, and energy, stamina,” Mackie says. 

This video series is meant to reach beyond just Thai communities. It’s an ongoing project that you can support. (Learn more about “The Crew” behind TWR Motion here.)

“The goal — and what we’ve done with our other series — is that any church-planting team who would like to use this can come to us and we’ll work with them to translate it and produce it in their language so that they can use it in their contexts,” Mackie says. 

If you could use Journey to Hope to reach Buddhists in another culture or language than Thai, reach out to TWR Motion here. 

Header photo: Kayla Schlipf, art director for “Journey to Hope,” illustrating a scene from the episode about the fall of humankind. Photo and caption courtesy of TWR Motion. 

Spoken Worldwide’s oral Bible translation teams in Sudan, Myanmar and Nigeria have felt this challenge keenly.

“All these places are where there’s high probability of persecution, logistical challenges,” Ed Weaver with Spoken Worldwide says, “whether in Myanmar, for example, (where) the internet has been shut down by the government; in Nigeria, where you’ve got kidnappings, and uncertainty and fear that runs unchecked among Christian leaders; and the war in Sudan that’s caused the diaspora.”

Weaver says their U.S.-based staff is working on how to best support their partners, whose hearts are to share the gospel. But it’s a time of danger and displacement that calls for God’s wisdom.

(Photo courtesy of Spoken Worldwide)

“We can as Westerners kind of dissociate from the risk and say, ‘Well, we’ve got a project to accomplish,’” Weaver says. 

“Or, we can come at this with a very compassionate heart and say, ‘Look, you’ve got to take care of your family, and we have work to do. How do we get it done?’”

They have found that if they can help a team member protect his or her family, that eventually leads to a place where they can reestablish ministry connections. 

“We really are being called, in watching these events transpire around the world, (to) say, ‘Okay, God, where are You at work in this? Can I focus on that, not my specific ‘need,’ but on what You’re doing?’” Weaver says. 

As several Spoken Worldwide ministry projects are put on pause, there are no clear-cut solutions. Would you pray for these brothers and sisters caught in war and unrest? Learn more below. 

SUDAN

• For Sudanese that have had to flee their country, pray for peaceful transition. Pray for quick resolution of any necessary paperwork for them to be established as official refugees in these particular countries.

MYANMAR

• Some of Spoken Worldwide’s teams in Myanmar are staying put despite dangers. Pray for their protection, safety, and courage from the Holy Spirit. Pray that they will be able to share recordings of Scripture with their friends and neighbors.

NIGERIA

• Pray for courage and wisdom as Nigerian believers ask questions like, “Lord, how long do I hold fast here in my village? Is there a point where I do need to move? And if I go, where do I go? How can I continue to reach back into this region after I’ve resettled in a new place?”

Header photo is a representative stock image courtesy of Nambasi via Pixabay.

But FMI hopes to change that. FMI recently partnered with another ministry to translate 50 Bible stories into the Eastern Balochi dialect in Pakistan.

Nehemiah* with FMI says this Eastern Balochi Scripture translation project is a profound answer to prayer.

“Even before this project, we had been praying for years and years specifically for this region [in Pakistan] because this region is so significant. This region has great geopolitical importance because it’s so diverse.”

(Photo courtesy of FMI)

Unfortunately, Nehemiah says this province also has significant challenges. “This province is always a target of terrorism and ignorance by the state of Pakistan. It has so many different and difficult problems.”

This translation project could take up to two years to finish. But once they are done, Eastern Balochi speakers in Pakistan will have access to 50 Bible stories from the creation account to Revelation.

FMI is working with accomplished local translators who are committed to serving the Lord – even at the risk of their own lives.

For example, Nehemiah says, “We have a supported partner in this province who speaks more than 11 languages and he has planted 10 churches in this province. He travels 100 miles to cover different ministry sites. He is an incredible person and he is leading this project.

“And we have different brothers and sisters who are helping to translate this project. Some are from university backgrounds. Some are Ph.D. scholars.”

You can learn more about FMI and support their ministry to Pakistan here!

Also, Nehemiah asks, “Please pray specifically for the translators. They understand the risk of this project. It can be life threatening for these translators because they understand the sensitivity of the translations. As I told you, this is a highly persecuted province.

(Photo courtesy of FMI)

“And I request everyone to pray for FMI so we can [spread] this Word. Translation is one thing that we understand. But the next step is how to take this translated material into different areas of this province. It’s still a big thing so I want to urge and request everyone who is listening, support FMI and this cause.”

*Name changed for security purposes.

Header photo courtesy of Ahsanization via Unsplash.

International Media Ministries already has some experience learning to remember history well. Their Heritage Project chronicles the lives and stories of early Christians. The docudrama video series tells the stories of Cyprian, Tertullian, Perpetua, and other early believers, especially those from North Africa. For the most part, Christian history in North Africa has been forgotten or discarded.

“We can… see things that could be significant to our future if we examine what has occurred in the past,” says Denise Godwin of International Media Ministries. “It’s really intriguing when you start digging into the past to recognize how history of course repeats itself and how much we can learn from that.”

It’s not just about avoiding mistakes of the past; Godwin says we can find hope in stories of God’s persistent support and working plan. Even the most painful experiences often yielded spiritually amazing results.

Photo courtesy of International Media Ministries

“People were martyred, people were challenged, and yet with Christ, all of these things are bearable. All these things have a significance that we cannot achieve as simple human beings,” she says.

Christ’s involvement in our story can push us to show fruits of the Spirit, to trust in His plan, and to cling to the hope of the Gospel in everything we do.

And right now, the hope of these stories rings particularly strong. Even though International Media Ministries continues translation programs, they’re worried about the effects current events around the world might have on their work and their staff. Believers around the world also struggle with encroaching fear, and it’s easy to put prayer and hope on the backburner.

The Heritage Project says differently. The Heritage Project drags these stories to the forefront of our imaginations and teaches us that God’s not done.

“God is at work and he is powerfully using all these strange things in the world to bring people to him right now. It’s an extremely important time that the Holy Spirit is at work changing lives all over the world.”

Photo courtesy of International Media Ministries

Pray for the continued translations efforts of International Media Ministries. Pray for persecuted Christians searching for stories of hope like these ones. Pray for the success of online sharing platforms for the Heritage Project. And pray that God would continue to tell His story through the lives of believers around the world.

Ask God to use you for His will. Maybe someday, your story will be the one Christians tell to inspire one another.

Find out more about the Heritage Project right here.

Header photo courtesy of International Media Ministries.

Right now, Helen Williams, Freight Shipment Coordinator for World Missionary Press, says 115 million Scripture booklets are on backorder. Right now, they can only produce six and a half million every month; that means that even without any new orders, it would take over a year and a half to catch up to current orders.

Some of these ordered booklets have already been produced, but printing isn’t enough to call a shipment “finished.” According to Williams, “Some of them have been produced [and] are sitting in the warehouse waiting to be shipped, and that waiting is just on logistics of getting a boat, getting a booking, [and] getting all the paperwork ready.”

Stalling Ministry

With so many logistics keeping booklets from reaching World Missionary Press distributor partners, on-the-ground locals sometimes have to make by without the resources they need. That’s especially a problem for some partners who rely heavily on these resources because they don’t have the training to pursue other evangelistic projects.

Photo courtesy of World Missionary Press

“When they have to send out these evangelists with either not a full box or just a minimal amount, that limits their effectiveness,” Williams says. “It’s a little discouraging for them.

Among other things, Williams works with coordinators to account for this backup. She tries to remind distributors to contact her before they’re out of materials so they don’t have to wait quite as long for new resources. Still, the list keeps growing, and World Missionary Press is hoping God will present answers.

“We’re asking the Lord to help us increase production,” Williams says. “If we can get to 10 million a month, we can get it down to almost a year. We can cut half a year, six months, off of this backlog, and even if we started right now and could clean this off, I’ve got enough coming. They keep coming in and coming in and coming in, so this is just kind of the level at which we’re working now.”

Spreading the Word

This is about more than filling orders: “This is a way that they can reach all the way around the world and… be part of fulfilling God’s last command to us.”

This is a way of exposing people to the mercy and saving grace of God.

World Missionary Press needs your help. If you want to donate or find locations to volunteer, we’ll connect you right here.

Want to pray? Williams says “Prayer is the commodity that we need in abundance and that we need new every day.”

Pray for wisdom when it comes to applying resources, resources to fill orders for shipments, and patience for World Missionary Press and for their distributors.

“We have the infrastructure here, we have our teams set up,” Williams says. “We believe that we are poised to go to a greater extent, so we’re just waiting on the Lord to provide the funding and trying to do our best with what we have now.

“Whoever prays and whoever gives, we are grateful and thankful and we praise the Lord for you.”

Header image courtesy of World Missionary Press.

Jesus Movie

(Photo courtesy of Deaf Missions via Facebook)

The pilot gives people a taste of what the full-length film will be like once completed. It is also the first step in producing a movie which offers Deaf the chance to encounter Jesus through their heart-language.

“The heart-language, it’s related to a person’s identity. For a person to see something in their heart-language, that really will capture their heart, and they’ll feel, that person will then, will feel like ‘Oh my goodness, they’re actually communicating to me. This is my language’,” Entinger signs while communication through a translator.

Many Deaf feel that the triune God is only for hearing people. This sentiment exists because of the numerous amounts of resources churches tend to put towards ministry work for hearing people. This movie translation challenges that concept and is an investment in Deaf ministry and discipleship. It also communicates to the Deaf community that they matter to not just Christians, but to God.

“We really believe that God can and will use the movie in sign-language to reach Deaf people,” Entinger signs.

Production is set to take at least three years, possibly four years. The pilot video is the launching point for this project. Plans for fundraising is in the works to finish raising the complete financial resources needed for the pre-production, production, and post-production phases of this project.

Deaf Ministry

Entinger signs the Jesus Movie has many ties to Bible translation, especially Bible translation for sign languages. There are still entire countries that have not had the opportunity to start Bible translations for their local sign languages. Entinger hopes the Jesus Movie will help connect people and give them a launching point for their translation efforts, too.

(Photo courtesy of Deaf Missions via Facebook)

“Then the Deaf community can get excited, and they’ll see the impact of the Jesus Movie in their own sign languages. And then, the people who were involved in making that movie in their own language will develop additional skills and confidence from that experience to then change to this Bible translations,” Entinger signs.

Along with asking for financial gifts, Deaf Missions is also asking people to pray for this project.

“Pray for people who will come and be involved with the production. It’s a really big project. And it’s going to require creativity, a lot of time, a lot of energy, to make this successful,” Entinger signs.

Pray for the project’s funding, too. Ask God to meet the needs of this project. Finally, pray for God to use this project to reveal himself to the Deaf community on a larger scale, and to equip others in translation work.

To help financially support the Jesus Movie with Deaf Missions, click here!

Header image photo courtesy of Deaf Missions via Facebook.

(Photo courtesy of Jesus Film)

TWR’s Brandon Neal tells us a bit more about the project.

“A lot of people in the world has seen The JESUS Film, but not a lot of people have heard the message of Jesus. So, they took the audio track out of the film, and then they added in what was necessary so that it made sense as a full stand-alone audio product,” Neal says.

“What that means is they would add in things like…sound effects for people walking or things like that…so that it makes sense to a listener.”

The Story of Jesus

The whole audio drama of The Story of Jesus is about a ninety-minute listen. TWR is airing the audio drama to hundreds of millions of listeners worldwide in 69 languages via shortwave, AM, FM, and satellite broadcasts. The audio drama is also available to stream online. Play it on your device for those long travels to visit family this holiday season or listen to the audio drama on Christmas day!

(Photo courtesy of TWR via Facebook)

In its three years, TWR and Jesus Film are already seeing the fruits of their labor across the world.

“This actually came from a European broadcast in [the] Polish language. And this person wrote in and said, ‘I’m a blind person. Your programs are irreplaceable to me. The soundtrack of this Jesus movie that you broadcast this week is the most precious gift for Christmas and New Year’s’,” Neal says.

“This person who could have never seen The JESUS Film is able to hear the content from The JESUS Film, which is essentially the Gospel of Luke. And this person is able to be encouraged; they’re able to draw closer to the God that made them. They’re able to hear how much God loves them through what Jesus did during His life, His ministry, His death, burial, and resurrection.”

Pray for Listeners

Along with listening to The Story of Jesus, will you pray for God to use this audio drama to reveal Himself to listeners?

“Pray for the people that are listening to The JESUS Film audio drama in their language, and also for the teams on the ground who are answering their questions,” Neal asks.

(Photo courtesy of JESUS Film Project).

In many locations, TWR staff asks questions at the end of the drama. These questions dig into people’s thoughts and ask if they want to know more about Christ. Then, the audience has the opportunity to respond to these questions through letters, texts, phone calls, and emails. When listeners reach out, TWR staff connect with them directly to answer questions and respond to comments.

During Christmas of 2018, when TWR broadcast The Story of Jesus, TWR heard back from over 4,700 people. At least 43 of those people decided they wanted a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Pray God continues using this audio adaptation to draw people closer to Him.

“That’s why we do what we do. That’s why we’re in media missions, is to see people come to faith in Christ, to be encouraged in their faith, and to essentially go from a position of doubt to a position where they can make a decision to where they’re in a discipleship relationship with someone, with another believer,” Neal says.

To stream the audio drama The Story of Jesus, click here!

Explore more of TWR’s work here.

To learn more about Jesus Film, click here.

Header photo courtesy of TWR.