EGN NEWS DESK
Nelson Mandela as soon as stated, “If you speak to a person in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you speak to him in his personal language, that goes to his coronary heart.”
Mandela’s quote resonates deeply with our imaginative and prescient at Jesus Film Project, the place we intention to translate the JESUS movie into the guts language of each neighborhood. Our hope is for everybody, in every single place to come across the gospel and embrace Jesus as Savior.
There are roughly 7,000 languages spoken throughout the globe. Just 23 account for over half of the world’s inhabitants. An individual’s coronary heart language is often the primary language she or he is uncovered to; it is the language by which we expect, dream, and pray. That’s why speaking in somebody’s coronary heart language is extra significant and compelling to them than in a secondary language. Sharing the gospel with somebody in a coronary heart language strikes past sharing a narrative; it expresses respect, recognition and worth.
In cultures the place most individuals share a typical language, it may be tough to completely respect how language helps form somebody’s private and cultural identification. The features of tradition we consider first, akin to meals, clothes, customs and festive celebrations, are all tied along with the threads of language. More than a solution to talk, language is an important instrument by which we categorical our values, beliefs and traditions.
In a nation like India, the place there are 121 languages and lots of extra regional dialects, or in Nigeria the place over 500 languages are spoken, an individual’s coronary heart language additionally represents geographical and household ties. This is true despite the fact that many individuals in each international locations communicate two or extra languages.
When it involves sharing the gospel, we align with Jesus’ coronary heart after we prioritize coronary heart language – he died and was resurrected for folks from each tribe, language and nation. And no medium is extra highly effective to share Jesus with folks than a movie primarily based on His life from the Bible. This is true irrespective of the neighborhood or tradition – the true story of Jesus in somebody’s coronary heart language is compelling.
In a rustic recognized to be tough for Christians, a person named Jassa* started a journey that will ultimately lead him to Jesus. In Jassa’s dwelling nation of Yemen, the vast majority of his countrymen and ladies are from a special spiritual background, making it tough not solely to find out about Jesus however to listen to about him within the first place. Jassa needed to know God extra deeply and was decided to hunt after Him.
Jassa’s seek for God led him to Saudi Arabia, the seat of his faith. After driving a 1,600 mile spherical journey, he didn’t discover God, and the vacancy inside his coronary heart was larger than when he began his journey.
Back in his dwelling nation, Jassa had a dream one evening. In it, he discovered himself in a church on a excessive mountain. He noticed Jesus, who stretched out His hand to him and stated, “Follow Me, I’m your Saviour. I’m the start and the tip.”
The reminiscence of that highly effective dream stayed with him, however Jassa did not know what it meant.
Eventually, Jassa needed to flee the turmoil of his nation, looking for refuge in Europe. There, some native believers he had met invited him to dinner and a film. These believers confirmed him a movie about Isa, “The Great Prophet.” Jassa might hardly imagine it! The man from his dream was within the movie. Jassa watched the person, Jesus, carry out miracles, and he heard the Word of God, Jesus’ phrases, precisely as written within the New Testament Gospels.
The God whom Jassa had whole-heartedly sought was earlier than him, portrayed on the display — in love and energy — talking the language of his coronary heart. Finally, he had discovered the One he sought.
Within days of selecting to observe Jesus as Saviour, Jassa was baptized and started his journey of discipleship. The ministry caring for Jassa has shared that he’s so brave and faithfully shares Jesus with others from his nation.
People like Jassa are why we proceed to do the work we do. There are many extra like him who’re looking for the God who speaks their language.
Last yr, Jesus Film Project introduced that the 1979 JESUS movie had formally been translated into 2,100 languages. But we aren’t stopping there. In 2025, we plan to launch a re-imagining of the JESUS movie. This animated household manufacturing will attain new generations for years to come back.
Everyone, in every single place deserves an opportunity to know Jesus’s teachings of their coronary heart language. As we press on towards our mission, you’ll be able to maintain a watch out for our upcoming animated household movie, JESUS, at our web site, Jesus.movie.
*title has been modified for confidentiality
Josh Newell is Executive Director of Jesus Film Project.
