Jesus Film

On Friday and Saturday nights we set up the cinema screen to show the Jesus Film in the native language of Chinyanja. It has been a while since I have seen this film, and to see it (and hear it) in a different language was really nice. The first night we estimate about 600-800 people were there. By there, I mean the local soccer field. Not a soccer stadium, but just a field in the village where everyone plays soccer (excuse me, football).

During the day, the men would go out in the village distributing flyers which advertised the showing of the film. By Saturday night, after word had spread, we can only guess there must have been over 1000 people in attendance. And most people STAND during the whole film. We brought our camping chairs, but all the adults stood and some of the children sat on the ground.

The first night we arrived early in the evening before the sun set. This gave the guys time to set up the screen and DVD player (which was run by generator). During this pre-show time, Coby and Kelsey drew a crowd - a rather large crowd. They had already made a few friends earlier in the day at the home of the church's leader. But now it was a lot of kids hanging around them. They enjoyed the attention at first, but then after the movie began it became quite bothersome to them. They wanted to sit and watch the movie, but the kids would not leave them alone. Finally, they were exhausted so I put all 3 of them in the car to sleep until the movie was over.

Coby was quite the entertainer (no surprise!) at the home of the church leader. He and Kelsey played games with the children, and then he gathered them all around and told them how to become a Christian. We were so proud of him and his boldness to share. He invited them all to see the Jesus Film that evening.

The second night we arrived to set-up and found a soccer game going on. We had to wait for them to finish their game before we could begin setting up. During this wait time, Lindy told some Bible stories and we sang some songs with them.

At the invitation time on both nights, many came forward, so many we couldn't count. The following days were spent going around the village asking people who made decisions. We asked those who made a decision to meet at the church the next morning, and we had 4 come to be saved. The others made professions of faith at their homes when the leaders visited them. All in all we had about 125 salvations during this trip. It is hard to know just how many made decisions to be born-again, but God knows. Please pray for the ones who came forward.