Dear Friend in Christ,

 “LORD, my God, You have done great things: marvelous works and your thoughts toward us. There is no one who compares to you! I will try to recite your actions, even though there are too many to number” (Psalm 40:5, International Standard Version).

 It is my privilege to pass along these wonderful reports to you and every valued partner of JESUS. Thank you for all you have done. These accounts confirm His love, His power and extraordinary creativity, and your generous partnership.

Hearts awaken when unreached people experience His Word—the gospel, heard in the language of their hearts for the first time through JESUS.

I can’t mention the name of this country. It’s very dangerous—a culture that is openly hostile to Christ and His followers. Every day a JESUS film team based here begins their ministry with a prayer: “Holy Spirit, where should we go today?” As He leads, they go.

While walking, seeking His guidance, the team heard the voices of children. Following the sound, they entered the gates of a compound. Inside, the yard was filled with children. Boldly, they began talking to them about Jesus.

But when the police heard what they were doing, they aggressively moved in and arrested the team. Before being hauled away, a team member had the presence of mind to reach into his backpack and turn on his NewLifeBox™ and leave the backpack behind.

Then came the onslaught. At the station, the authorities subjected the team to threats, beatings, torture and challenges: “How dare you? … you are spreading lies … you are teaching heresy … you will stop at once!”

After some time and thinking they had intimidated the team enough, the police let them go. Though some might think it unwise, the film team made their way back to the compound to retrieve the backpack. To their amazement, hundreds of children were now quietly sitting in groups, intently watching their smartphones … but what?

As the team got closer, their best hope was confirmed. The children were watching the film JESUS! You see, these battery-powered NewLifeBoxes create a Wi-Fi hotspot that appears on everyone’s smartphone for anyone within 150-foot range. They see a Wi-Fi link entitled: “Watch a film about Jesus.”

To the team’s amazement, of the 672 children present, most were engaged with the gospel story. The children began asking many questions about what they had seen and heard. Then the children asked ... “Can you help us tell our parents about Jesus?”

But God had one more surprise in store! The team learned that the compound was actually a training center, the main school for children of wealthy militants where they were being taught their religion, their holy book, to resist infidels and even to die as martyrs.

I’ve not yet heard the latest from the team, but I know that they are diligently following-up. I look forward to sharing the continuing story with you as we hear more from the field. We can be sure that many young lives, and perhaps their parents, were touched. They met Jesus through the most unlikely of circumstances, through the leadings of the Holy Spirit and a simple device, a NewLifeBox.

And all this happened in a place hostile to Christ. To Him goes the glory! Though the doors here are closed to missionaries, they are wide open through digital evangelism.

Let me give you another example. A ministry partner* who uses JESUS and these same devices tells of a man in West Africa who had accepted Christ and was being discipled. When he tested positive for COVID-19, the man went to the government hospital’s COVID-19 ward, the safest place for him to receive treatment. He had been given a NewLifeBox. Every one of the 15 days he was in the ward, he would turn the device on.

Having been made new in Christ and with a zeal to share the gospel with others, he walked through the ward, asking the 200 patients if they were able to connect and watch. Most patients eagerly logged on and watched the JESUS film.

But when the hospital released him, the administration required that they keep the NewLifeBox “since it might be infectious, having been exposed to the virus.” Even after he was discharged, they kept using the device, daily turning it on, transmitting to everyone in isolation the gospel message in their heart language!

And here’s one more amazing report. At another hospital, a cancer hospital in Eastern Europe, a JESUS film team came visiting patients. They went from room to room, ministering in the name of Jesus. The team came to one room where they found a lone little boy. Mariq was but eight years old, sad and despairing, terminally ill and awaiting death. Depressed, Mariq told the team. “The doctors told my mother I was going to die in two weeks. She left me and is not coming back.”

Moved with compassion, they prayed for Mariq and gave him a DVD, The Story of Jesus for Children, the version of JESUS for little ones. “We want to give you this DVD. It will tell you about God, that He loves you more than any mother or father could. He can save you forever.”

A few days later they returned and paid Mariq a visit. Instead of finding a sick, despairing little boy, they said his face was almost glowing. He was changed. “I watched the movie you gave me, sometimes four times a day! Whenever I watch I feel joyful, peaceful. I feel better.”

And he was indeed better. Seeing improvement, the doctors called his mother with the good news. In shock she rushed to the hospital and demanded to see the doctor in charge. “Two weeks ago, you told me my son was dying. I couldn’t bear to watch and left him. Now, he is getting better?!” He answered, “We don’t have any answers. But he is getting better. His organs are fighting the cancer.”

A month later Mariq was released, healed. He told his mother about The Story of Jesus for Children, about how he had become a follower of Christ. Seeing the miracle before her she said, “I want to follow this Jesus, too.” Today, they are new creations in Christ, attend a church, and are growing in their faith.

NewLifeBox™ kits, DVDs … also video tablets, portable backpack sets, live streaming through the Jesus Film® app—these digital tools are sharing Christ in closed, difficult nations. They are reaching people in cancer hospitals, office buildings, bus stations, in slums, in airplanes, in rural villages, on mountain trails, in jihadi schools and camps. The gospel is breaking through all the barriers. Hearts are being transformed for eternity as they see and hear the Word of the Living God in some 1,900 different languages. The Holy Spirit is rescuing His elect, calling them out of spiritual darkness into the kingdom of God.

For your part in providing these barrier-breaking digital tools, for your faithful intercession for the workers who use them in the difficult places, thank you. Today I come to you with a special opportunity and need. Workers in several nations of Southeast Asia have submitted urgent requests for 1,000 video tablets, 130 Church-Planting Backpack Kits, and 30,000 microSD memory cards. They say that hearts are open, that hundreds of thousands could meet Jesus and understand the gospel for the first time in their lives through these tools. Would you feel led to help send them?

To encourage your gift, a generous couple has sent the first gift. They are providing the initial 20 Backpack sets through a Challenge Grant of $64,800 ($3,240 each set). They invite you to follow their lead, perhaps through a gift of $250, $500 or $1,000.

They hope to possibly encourage your greater influence, according to your financial ability, perhaps inspiring you to provide a complete Deluxe 10-inch Video Tablet Set for a gift of $570. These sets are preloaded with gospel films, short and follow-up films, and come with Bluetooth® speakers and a solar-charging panel. The tablets can present JESUS to eight people at a time, in a private setting. You can also equip a worker with a video tablet for a gift of $380. As COVID-19 continues to ravage some parts of the world, tablets are essential tools to reach people in places like South Asia.

Or you can place 12 microSD cards into the hands of an evangelist/church planter for a gift of $120, or 75 cards for a gift of $750. Each memory card contains JESUS and other films in several languages, often with the complete audio/digital Bible. The memory cards are often passed from person to person, phone to phone as news of the gospel spreads. You can also provide a waiting film team with their own Church-Planting Backpack Kit containing a bright, compact projector, speakers and solar technology for a gift of $3,240. Each kit can present JESUS to 200 people at a time and over three years, up to 30,000 people, while planting many new churches.

I invite you to refer to the enclosed sheet for more information. You have always been generous. For your intercession, I am most grateful. May God bless and prosper your continued partnership, to His glory and your joy.

Until everyone sees Jesus,

Josh Newell
Executive Director
Jesus Film Project®

P.S. Staff and ministry partners report that because of COVID-19, not only are these tools already very effective, but they are even more so now that people are looking for hope during these uncertain times. When offered a film about Jesus to watch in their heart language privately or in their homes, most readily agree. As they watch, despite the resistance, the Holy Spirit declares to their hearts that all they see and hear is true. Because hearts are open now, these tools are needed as soon as the funds can be raised. To donate today, please click the “give a gift” button. If you would prefer to donate by phone, please call us toll-free at 1-800-918-9929.