CEE Story From The Mission Field
JESUS Film in Prague
March 4, 2004
The month of February has seen Prague, Czech Republic saturated with the JESUS Film. Buses, Trams, Metros and billboards have been announcing the showing of this film, which has been instrumental in bringing millions to Christ all over the world.
"Now the name of Jesus is on everyone’s lips for reasons other than profanity,” said Steve Warren, team leader for the Prague Team of IMB missionaries. Steve says that the response has been very high and very positive, with even secular newspapers and TV stations giving coverage.
The result has been that 25,496 have attended the film showings; 6,759 indicated that they had prayed to receive Christ after the film; and 6,461 left contact information (one showing still not reported). The theaters have been full and some have not even had enough seats to meet the demand. Even in the last week of showings, the interest is steadily rising, and this is all despite Satan’s best efforts to undermine the efforts. From technical difficulties with translation and film production to hostilities from theater owners, Satan has given it his best shot, but without victory.
The IMB has missionaries working in Prague with various groups of people. Czechs as well as Russian, Spanish, and English speakers have all been reached. From each group, response will lead to opportunities to begin small groups and Bible studies as well as opportunities to witness in thousands of homes.
Glenda Terrill, one of the Spanish group leaders, reports that during preparations, the Spanish group was bursting with ideas and plans to reach other Spanish speakers in Prague with the film.
"They are so excited and they’re coming up with ideas without any help from us (the missionaries),” she said.
Jerry Barnwell, who works with a Russian-speaking church plant said, “the biggest challenge now is the sheer number of people that we need to reach in follow-up.” The Russian-speaking group is small with only about 30 on average, but the people requesting follow-up exceed 140.
"It’s a huge task for such a small group, but they are excited about the chance God has given them,” says Jerry.
Steve Warren had great response from the showings in Repy, a part of town where he and his family have been plowing ground for some time. “The response has really been good,” he said, ”we’re excited about the follow up and what will result from it.”
Glenda Smith, the pastor’s wife of the International Baptist Church, reported that their English showings were packed out and the response was great. They had students, families, visiting Americans, and even two Catholic nuns! At least 5 people prayed to receive Christ and 15 wanted some kind of follow up with the Church.
The Czech Baptist Church in Prague was responsible for two of the showings and from the response there an Alpha Bible Course will begin in March. This is just one of many Alpha courses that will be held throughout Prague by different Great Commission churches. Just as the film showings were a united effort, so the follow up will be. This event was truly ground breaking in the cooperation and unity that was seen in the Christian community.
Radka, a Great Commission Christian national, said that in her part of town, Cerny Most, one of the largest theaters was used for the film showings. They had so many people that they had to turn some away and tell them to come back the next day.
"This is special,” she said. “It’s hard to believe, really. We prayed and prayed for the Spirit to work, but we really didn’t have much hope that people would respond so positively.” Radka went on to explain that Czechs are usually very reserved people and they don’t like to confront personal issues in public. This willingness for Czechs to actually talk about Jesus openly is something new—and wonderful.
Please continue to pray for each of these different ministries that have resulted from the showing of the JESUS film in Prague, Czech Republic!