Jesus film
helps plant churches
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In June alone,
five new churches were established in rural communities following
a screening of the film by the Bible Society
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For a team planning an open-air screening of the Jesus film that night, the situation looked bleak. Who would want to leave the shelter of their comfortable homes to sit outside in mud to watch a film? Their despair increased as the downpour continued throughout the day.
They needn’t have worried, however. In rural areas, a film show is a novelty, and hundreds of people braved the uncomfortable conditions that night to watch the life story of Jesus. Eighty were so moved by what they saw that they decided to become Christians. A short time later, representatives of the AME Zion Church, one of Ghana’s mainstream denominations, arrived in the village to support the new believers, and have now established a church there.
This is just one example of how the Jesus film – and the Bible Society – is playing a key role in the Church Planting Project, an annual initiative co-ordinated by the Ghana Evangelism Committee (GEC) and supported by the Global Mission Fellowship USA (GMF). Five of Ghana’s mainstream churches – the Anglican Church, the Methodist Church, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, the Presbyterian Church and the AME Zion Church – are key players in the project, establishing churches in villages where many people have responded positively to a screening of the Jesus film.
In June alone, five new churches were established in rural communities following a screening of the film by the Bible Society.
Support
Through the project, hundreds of new believers in rural communities have the guidance and support they need to grow in their faith: the fellowship of a church in their home village, and regular access to Scriptures, supplied to the new churches by the GEC, the GMF and the Bible Society.
Without a doubt, the Jesus film is a very powerful tool in initially attracting people to Christianity, presenting the Gospel message in a very powerful way. It is even effective when shown to people in a language that is not their mother tongue.
Second Coming
In the village of Beahu, following a screening of the film in the Fante language, an old woman, delighted and intrigued by what she had seen, approached the Bible Society team to ask about the Second Coming. She also told the team that they should produce a version in her language – Ahanta – because “we wish to hear Jesus speak in our native tongue.” Nevertheless, despite the language difference, about 500 Ahanta people decided to become Christians after watching the film, and the village now has its own Presbyterian church.
The screening of the Fante version of the film in the village of Agona Nkwanta, where most people speak Ewe, drew the largest audience of all, at 800 viewers. Hundreds of people responded to the altar call after the film, and a thriving branch of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church has been established in the village.
The Bible Society’s annual participation in the Church Planting Project forms part of its regular distribution and promotion program. It has produced such positive results that the Society decided to develop its own separate but similar project with funding from Opportunity 21. The project, called Greater Impact, uses the Jesus film and the Faith Comes By Hearing (FCBH) program to reach rural communities with the Scriptures in seven major languages.
Like the Church Planting Project, the
Greater Impact project is designed to attract people to Christianity
and help nurture them in their new faith by setting up FCBH listening
groups and by providing Scriptures. The project has so far had a very
positive effect in villages in the Northern Volta, Nzema and Ga Districts,
strengthening local churches and boosting the numbers of people attending
FCBH groups. (WR 380/6 - 10.03) 