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Celebrating Christ
Winter Newsletter
Convinced to Return Teams Dedication & Gift Challenge
Hands tied, faces and bodies bruised, the team huddled together as best they could inside the dark building. The JESUS Film showing had been stopped hours ago, and their equipment destroyed. They could only wait and pray, now; the village elders said they would be back to kill them in the morning. Two men served as guards, and so the team shared the gospel with them. All night, they did not stop. Right before
morning, the guards decided to untie the team and help them escape! As the team raced away into the night, the guards were sure they’d never return. Several days later, the team walked back into this village. You see, people in that village still did not know Christ and the command of Jesus was heavy on the hearts of the team to reach their neighbors. Upon their return, thirty people responded to their witness with faith in Christ! In this South Asian nation, JESUS Film teams face extreme opposition from adherents of two major world religions. In fact, Christians represent less than 1% of the population. In nearby Sri Lanka, teams face the same tests, with the followers of yet another major religion adding to the persecution of the barely 6% who profess Christ. Sharing the gospel in this region is just dangerous. Yet teams are committed! JESUS Film teams in these two nations have identified
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“They could only wait and pray, now; the village elders said they would be back to kill them in the morning.” new people groups with whom they believe they can have Kingdom impact, and have requested 25 new teams to reach these people. Based on historical averages for the region, this could mean over 55,000 new followers of Christ and over 400 new preaching points in the next year! Five donors have generously given $230,000 and challenge you to give the remaining $230,000 needed to launch these 25 new teams in South Asia for 2015. Equipment has already been funded and delivered into the hands of these teams. They are simply waiting for sponsorship in order to get started! All around the world there are people who have never heard the gospel. JESUS Film teams are ready and willing to change that. Will you accept the challenge to partner with them? To give, please fill out enclosed envelope, scan QR code or go to JFHP.org/GiftChallenge
Carrying the Work Farther
Missional Garage Sale
In February, a group from the Kansas City area visited Haiti on a JESUS Film Ministry Trip. This group worked alongside Missional Zone Planter Absolu and Evangelism Coordinator Formetus in children’s ministries, a JESUS Film showing, discipleship follow-up, and the construction of a new church building.
Hello Jesus Film Harvest Partners,
My wife Sandra and I had the joy and opportunity to join you in Minneapolis this spring for the JFHP World Challenge. Shortly after the event, we decided we would like to do what we could to help raise money towards a solar powered backpack set for a team in South Asia. We decided we would have a garage sale and designate all proceeds for this purpose. By all accounts, the garage sale was a success. We had the chance to meet many of our neighbors, get our unneeded items into the hands of others and share our faith with some. We had free New Testaments available as well as the “Life of Jesus through the Eyes of Children” DVDs. Four visitors took New Testaments and six people accepted the DVDs. One visitor said since we had all this ‘Christian stuff ’ we could pray for her job interview. I let Joanne know we would indeed be praying for her. I feel we were very blessed through these two days, something I did not expect at a garage sale! When the second day of the sale was done, the proceeds totaled $687.40. Blessings to you, Bill, Sandra, Henry & Will The gift from their garage sale helped provide backpack sets for 10 new South Asian teams which are planning to start in 2015. Thank you to them and other Harvest Partners who make this ministry possible
Missiona l January of • Since this year, 194 Harvest Partners have gone on 25 Ministry Trips or were Equipment Angels*, delivering 53 sets of equipment. By going and delivering these sets, it ensures resources get to teams, allowing them to minister. *Individuals traveling on their own to deliver equipment
Amazing things happened on this trip as Americans and Haitians came together to build the Kingdom of God. On the night of the JESUS Film showing, between 210 and 225 people, mainly children, came to watch the gospel come to life on screen. The day after the JESUS Film showing, it was decided the Ministry Trip team would participate in discipleship. JFHP Staff member Daniel describes the experience: “When we first arrived, they rounded up the children outside the church building. They were playing games and singing songs, when all of a sudden the singing got louder and the children began marching! With two openings in the church, they started pouring into the building marching and singing at the top of their lungs. It was pretty chaotic as the children searched for seats, but praise the Lord, of the 200 or so who had come to the showing, 150 had returned for discipleship follow-up!”
Highl ig
hts
• 619 teams presented an average of 2,416 showings per month. • The reported numbers (January to July), 448,757 decisions for Christ have been added to the running tally.
Ministry Trip: Honduras Taken from a recent blog the Courtney family, missionaries to Honduras, wrote about a recent JESUS Film Ministry Trip by a church from Choctaw, Oklahoma.
The team was able to share from a discipleship book and seemingly every topic was covered—Who is God? What is sin? Who is Jesus? What is salvation? Why is the Bible important? How do we now grow in our faith? The kids were enamored with the follow-up and the questions they were asked. One of the main reasons JESUS Film teams are able to do discipleship follow-up is because of the equipment they have been given. Solar Powered Backpacks allow teams to travel much faster—and easier—than before, giving them more time in each area to show the film and disciple new believers. It also provides access into areas where the name of Jesus may otherwise never be known. People who have never before heard the name of Jesus are not only being welcomed into the Kingdom but now are being taught how to grow in their new faith. The Solar Powered Backpack is wonderful. It helps us take the gospel to very difficult places where people don’t have access to TVs or electricity. Because of this tool, many people come to Christ. They learn the story of Jesus through the film, the evangelism soccer ball, and pictures on the evangelism cards. They become convinced the Savior was innocent, and because of His great love, He died so we may have eternal life. The solar powered backpack is the complete tool to help bring the gospel to everyone.
The goal of a typical JESUS Film team: show the film where there is currently no church presence and create a new preaching point. However, there’s more to do than just showing the film. The Choctaw team spent three project days working in a local community. [The first day], the team went doorto-door and shared the gospel using the EvangeCube, inviting people to the film that night. Eight people accepted Christ during this time of evangelism! That evening, ten more gave their lives to Jesus during the film. By the end of the second workday, another ten committed to Christ. The third and final workday, the group found a local school in need of a fresh coat of paint. The director of the school allowed the leaders to share the gospel with the students using the EvangeCube. The team went to every room, and every child heard the Good News! Seeds were planted, as twenty more accepted Christ at the final JESUS Film showing. God used this team for His Kingdom!
There are still JESUS Film teams around the world in need of solar powered backpacks. If you would like to donate one of these sets, please contact Rusty Robbins at 913-663-5700 or RRobbins@JFHP.org.
• By the reported numbers (January to July), 4,364 preaching points have been added to the running tally.
• 85% of equipment sets for Launch 147 have been delivered to waiting teams.
Want to see JESUS Film in action? Want to help reach the lost? Scan QR code or go to JFHP.org/MinistryTrips for more information.
To learn more about JESUS Film Harvest Partners and how we can help you to share God’s love with the lost to fulfill the Great Commission, please go to JFHP.org/about or click the button below.
About JFHP (click Here)
To help support the JESUS Film teams around the world, please go to JFHP.org/donate or click button below.
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JESUS Film USA
Harvest Partners Show the Film Did you know God is at work in the U.S.? He is making His name known, and Harvest Partner Julie Alexander, of Ephrata (PA) is one of the voices He is using. Each month, Julie and JESUS Film USA show the film in front of a local Mini Mart with permission of the Buddhist owners. They are working with a local organization fighting human trafficking, hoping to one day show the film with those rescued from slavery. It goes beyond Ephrata, though. Plans are in place to show the film next year on an Indian Reservation in South Dakota. They recently
traveled to Bridgeton (NJ) to show the film at a local VBS where 12 children came to Christ! They have written brochures, distributed in Austin (TX) and areas of California, on how to share the gospel, and have hosted several fundraisers for JFHP. “I became involved with JFHP because it works; Jesus works! He is calling us to spread His Word, and that Word is spoken during this film.” We know Julie is not the only Harvest Partner who works hard to share the gospel in their community. We are so thankful for the witness each and every one of you Harvest Partners have. To God be all the glory!
Stories
Casting Cares Aside
From the Field Village Leader’s Plea
Some young people came to the JESUS Film showing and began to angrily accuse us: “You have come to ruin our faith in our own gods and goddesses. Leave this place immediately! You must show us true evidence if we are to believe in Jesus.” We prayed for wisdom, and to our surprise, “If you a leader of the village don’t watch the film, stood up and how can you know about Jesus?” addressed the young people: “If you don’t watch the film, how can you know about Jesus?” This silenced them! After the show, one of the young men kept saying, “Jesus is the Almighty, True God. Why couldn’t we recognize Him before? He is my Savior, and I will worship Him my whole life!” -Testimony from South Asia
Redeeming Relationships
My name is Awilda. Before I met Jesus, I felt depressed. I had problems at work, and I was worried. I am a single mother with a child, and I have a lot of financial burdens. One night, the JESUS Film team came to my neighborhood and showed the film. After seeing it, I felt something inside me change. I now trust Jesus and know He will provide for me and my daughter!
I have suffered a lot because of my disobedience to my parents and God. I am addicted to cigarettes, and it has caused constant fights with my parents. It also kept me from finding a job. One day, a friend -Testimony from Dominican Republic invited me to church. As the pastor preached, it seemed as if the pastor knew about my life. God was talking to me! I prayed and am completely different now. I have of all assets are new friends and everything is improving. I have asked non-cash items God to help me and my Contact Ken Roney family so I can make restito learn how to turn your tution for the damage I have non-cash items to generous giving to missions with JFHP. caused them.
90%
-Testimony from Peru
kroney@cnfoundation.org 1-866-273-2549 CHRISTIAN NETWORK FOUNDATION
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