The 1979 film “Jesus” has continued to reach people all across the globe to introduce them to the Son of God or to bring folks closer to the Savior through on-screen entertainment. Now, the film has been translated for the 2,100th time and is now being shown in over two thousand languages so that it may reach people all across the globe from all sorts of different cultures.
This translation holds some special meaning, as it is the language of a small tribe in rural South Africa that was in news stories back in 1956 after Christian missionaries were killed during their attempt to spread news of the gospel to the remote tribe. It is fitting now that the very same group will be able to watch the story of “Jesus” in motion picture as it is broadcast in their language.
The folks over at The Jesus Film Project pride themselves on bringing free and accessible content to people all over the world, regardless of the native tongue that they speak. That is why, over the years, the group has continued to translate “Jesus” into dialogue after dialogue, even if the new translation may only reach a few hundred people.
All the way back in 2012, as the film approached 1,000 translations, the Guinness Book of World Records named the movie the most translated on-screen film in the history of the world. The Jon Heyman film that did not have a stellar domestic release back in 1979 is still chugging along and reaching audiences at an astounding rate today.
Josh Newell is the executive director of The Jesus Film Project, and he sat down with the Christian Post to explain why he and his colleagues have decided to go to great lengths to translate “Jesus” into so many languages. Beyond the most common languages like English, Spanish, and French, Newell and his cohorts have begun finding obscure and not-commonly-spoken tongues to bring the movie to next.
Newell said, “Our mission is to reach everyone everywhere with the good news of Jesus. The way that we do that is through translating ‘The Jesus Film’ into heart languages and partnering with the body of Christ to show ‘The Jesus Film.’ We work together to evangelize people and to see new churches and fellowships established as a result of that missionary activity.”
Newell continued, speaking about the impact that the film has had. While to many, it may just be a movie, the “Jesus” film has brought many people to Christ. He said, “There’s a lot of stories that come around from people who share the story of Jesus through ‘The Jesus Film,’ and incredible results and stories of people who are hearing about Jesus for the first time.”
For nearly 50 years, the “Jesus” film has been making an impact on the world in ways that so few movies can. The staying power from the movie is something to be marveled at as folks from all four corners of the globe still watch the movie and find their faith in the action on-screen.
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