THE JESUS FILM

Scene from the Jesus Film

While distributing Spanish Bibles in Mexico we heard about The Jesus Film and that it could be shown in any language.  Since our knowledge of Spanish was scant at that time, we liked the idea of purchasing a projector, a generator and a video copy of the film we could show out in the open whenever and wherever we chose.  The Jesus Film was a great way to tell the story, to present Jesus in an entertaining and yet sensitive and caring way.

Many times we loaded up our Jeep with our video projector, small and quiet generator, movie screen and various other necessary equipment for the showing of the video.  We’d drive across the border into Mexico and go into a small obscure neighborhood and begin to set up our equipment.  Sometimes we made plans ahead with a church in Mexico or with someone who had an empty yard, but it was always outside where people could come by an see the film or listen to it.  Many rode their bikes past our gatherings and would stop and watch. Some pulled up a concrete block or a stump to sit on, others sat on the ground or on a blanket, but everyone would quickly become absorbed in the lifelike images of Jesus on the screen. There were times we tacked a sheet on the side of a building and didn’t use the movie screen. More than once we projected the beautiful images directly onto the side of a building, making the life sized people in the film come to life before our eyes.

Here we are tacking up a white sheet so we can show the video.

Because it was necessary for us to wait for sunset to show the film outside, we have few photographs of these adventures. Also, the equipment was complicated at that time, so all of our time was taken up with getting things ready. Now it’s hard to imagine that we went through these procedures many many times, just the two of us! And the film spoke for itself - the life of Jesus - from His birth to His death on the cross - all taken from the Bible account in the Book of Luke.


The most effective part of each showing of the Jesus Film was the narrative. We cranked the sound up as high as it would go until the story could be heard across the streets and yards and out into the fields. People could hear the story and hear the invitation to come to Him for salvation. All that was necessary at the end of each showing was for us to stand in the front and beckon to those who were interested to come forward for prayer.  Even nature responded to the sounds from the film.  At the point in the story when Peter denies Jesus three times, a rooster crows.  And always there would be a response from all the local roosters to that sound!

Scene from the Jesus Film.

There are many good memories of projecting the film life sized against the side of a snow white building, making it appear as if the people in the story walked among us. Always the children present would sit on the ground nearest the film and once one little girl begged her mother to let her go join the Bible characters as they opened a door and seemed to walk through it. We heard her say, “Mama, can I go in there with them?” The experience was made so real, especially because the rocks, the plants and even the ground in the film resembled that of Mexico. And everyone wanted to be with Jesus!

We lost count of how many people came to know the Lord when we used the Jesus Film. But there were many. And there were surely many who did not come forward, but whose lives were touched by seeing and hearing the film. We had many requests to come back and show it again, or someone would say, “Come show the film in my yard.”  There were never any problems with authorities, we never tried to get permission to hold a meeting, we just showed up and set up the equipment. And the people would always come.  We went into areas that were probably unsafe for us, but we always felt welcome. Our pass into any area was the Jesus Film!

“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” John 12:32

ON THE RIVER

Church service in an empty lot.

Someone told us there was a group of people who lived near the banks of the Rio Grande River in Matamoros.  They said they were very poor and their dwellings were makeshift and their roads unpaved.  They said they had started out by camping in whatever location seemed the best with whatever means they had. These were people we knew would need food, blankets and Bibles.

 As usual, we had few directions to this colonia by the river, and could only start out at the international bridge to search for it. We made a left turn after crossing into Mexico and proceeded down the roads closest to the river until we found what seemed to be the newest and most humble neighborhood around. This had to be the place.  We met a few of the people, gave out the gifts we had brought, prayed for the sick and made our way back across the bridge into the United States.  Lloyd had one comment about the people so near the river - they needed a church.

Each week more people gathered in the empty lot.

A few weeks later we took two ladies with us and returned to the colonia by the river. One of the ladies was a Spanish woman we had just met.  She was an evangelist who liked to preach out in the open. Soon a crowd gathered around us in one of the empty lots near the center of the colonia.  We had a short worship service and then the evangelist preached God’s word. The empty lot was full of people who were hungry to hear her message.

We went back to the colonia by the river several times that winter, sometimes by ourselves and sometimes taking a speaker with us. It was evident the people wanted to have a church they could attend regularly, there was always a crowd in attendance.  And Lloyd continued to say, The people in the colonia by the river need a church.

A small church had been built.

It was almost a year before we were able to make it back to visit the people on that street. But we prayed and asked the Lord to make it possible for a church to be built in that location.  We were  surprised and delighted when we turned the corner and saw a small humble metal building standing in the formerly empty lot. The words identifying the building as a church were printed across the front!

Sunday School was held in the street.

Later we learned that the owner of the empty lot had donated her land for a church. With help from others, they had erected a small one room building there.  And already the building was full and running over with people.  The morning we were there, Sunday School for the children was conducted out in the middle of the street because there were no classrooms.

Children enjoying songs with actions in Sunday School.

God had answered our prayers.  And Lloyd was right, the people in the colonia by the river needed and wanted a church!

Acts 2:47

"And the Lord added to the church daily 

such as should be saved."

KJV

CHILDREN OF THE DUMP

Children playing in a pile of caliche gravel at the city dump in Matamoros, Mexico.

The city dump outside Matamoros was an enormous place with mountains of smoldering trash rising over the landscape.  Birds constantly hovered over those mountains and flocked around the garbage that always lined the perimeter.  People were also around the heaps of trash as they dug through the discarded items looking for things they could recycle for a few coins.  In fact there was a small colonia situated at the base of the dump and it was called Colonia Bermuda.

Many families lived in Colonia Bermuda. There were lots of children who lived there and played there.  Even though the surface of the ground was littered with glittering broken glass, they ran barefoot between their dwellings laughing and playing.  It didn’t seem to matter to them, life was peaceful at the dump.

We found the city dump one day when we were driving around looking for people who needed  Bibles, food and clothing.  And we were attracted to the people we met there along with their beautiful but dirty children.  Soon we were making regular trips to the city dump.  We saw that there was no electricity or running water into Colonia Bermuda, so we also took candles and matches as gifts. These were very much appreciated because when the sun went down it was dark inside their makeshift dwellings.

The picture above is one of our favorite families.  Maria and her 10 children.  I'm holding Baby Maria.

We always prayed for the sick, and because of the polution there were always sick people. Many babies were born deformed or brain damaged from the continual smoke from the refuse. Our hearts went out to these people, and many times we wondered what circumstances brought people to this lowest of places to live.  We did learn that migrants from the south often found themselves stranded at the border. But they could always camp out for awhile on the edges of Colonia Bermuda.

One season we took a group with us each week to visit the city dump. On these occasions we would all gather in a central place, usually near the tiny Catholic chapel near the entrance to the colonia. The leader of the colonia, Miguel, would ring the bell and everyone would come running.  Actually there was no bell - Miguel would strike a tall empty metal LP gas tank and it sounded exactly like the most beautiful bell from the top of a cathedral!  And for a time that’s what we thought we were hearing!

Someone would light a bonfire, one of our group would bring out a large metal container for popcorn. Someone else brought from our vehicle either hot chocolate or some other drink. Then we all gathered around in the light of the fire while we visited together, sang and prayed together and had a time of worship.  These visits to the dump were great times for us to share God’s love to the men, women and children who lived in the humblest of places and in the poorest conditions.  But we all enjoyed these times, the people of Colonia Bermuda gave back to us with their love.  We’ll never forget the children playing in the moonlight, running up and down the dirt roads while the bonfire lit up their surroundings.

David was playing with two long sticks.

There were always things to play with at the dump, children found old broken toys in the piles. But besides that, there were sticks, old pieces of board, old bottles, all sorts of unusual castaway things that were interesting. And to our dismay, they also found things to eat!  Once we watched as toddlers passed around and drank from an old bottle of hot sauce they’d found in the dump.

One family in particular had many children who were all filled with personality. We grew attached to David and his little sister Maria.  They would run to us and want to be held. There were 10 children in that family.

We met one young couple whose baby was born with problems. The 18 month old infant had some type of paralysis and he was always very stiff in my arms.  Baby Ricardo died that winter, leaving the young parents and the grandmother devastated. The baby was another victim of the polluted smoke and fumes from the city dump.

Above, I'm holding Baby Ricardo a short time before his death. His young mother stands nearby with Lloyd.

Several years have passed since those visits to Matamoros city dump.  We understand conditions have changed in that area and that Colonia Bermuda no longer exists at the foot of the mountain of trash. New regulations between the United States and Mexico have quelled some of the smoke that drifted northward across the Rio Grande River and into Brownsville, Texas.  But we often wonder what became of little David and Maria and all the others who were our friends in Colonia Bermuda.

But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 19:14

DUSTY ROADS AND LOST CHURCHES

Winding, dusty road going across the mountains in Mexico.

Someone once said we were always driving down some dusty road looking for a lost church. And that really describes our activities in Mexico for many years. Having Spanish Bibles to give away  to churches, we found ourselves in a dilemma.  There was no directory of churches in Mexico! We couldn’t punch an address into our GPS and be guided right to our destination. Sometimes it was even hard for us to find the town we were looking for with a map.  So we would load up our Jeep, pray for guidance and start off in one direction or another, always driving down a long, winding dusty road looking for a church.

Once we actually forded the Rio Grande River at a shallow spot because we had heard there was a small town on the other side. There was no bridge across the river and the only way to access the town was through the water.  After crossing the river, we drove almost 20 miles on rocky roads before reaching the town. The only way we knew there really was a town ahead was the fact that there were telephone poles and electricity wires leading the way across the hills.

Small town across the river. The only signs of life along the 20 mile long road were the poles and lines taking electricity to the isolated place.

When we reached a town, we’d drive up one street and down another scanning the side of the road for anything that resembled a church. Sometimes all we saw was a small sign, or painted words over the door saying “IGLESIA” which is Spanish for “church,” or TEMPLO. There weren’t steeples or tall spires or stained glass windows that beckoned to us, but mostly humble little buildings that had been designated a house of worship.  So it really was a challenge for us to drive down those roads and it was very satisfying when we would actually stumble across a church.

The next challenge would be to find the pastor or someone in charge where we could leave Spanish Bibles, Sunday School literature and gospel tracts. Many times these churches would be locked up with signs posted giving service times. Rarely did the pastor live on the premises, but once in a while a neighbor would give us directions to the pastor’s home. A few times in our years of travel we came across a church that was actually in the midst of a service. It was a special privilege to distribute Bibles directly to these small and friendly congregations.

Very humble church made from cardboard and wooden pallets outside of Ciudad Acuna in Coahuila.

It was always a surprise to these churches when we stopped to visit and share with them. There was no way to contact them, no appointments were made.  The common question was, “How did you find us? How did you know we were here?”  It was clear to all of us that we were guided divinely.

Church along the Gulf side of Mexico.

The matter of denomination wasn’t important to us. If we found a church and they would accept our gift of Bibles, we were glad. We carried mostly New Testaments, but also some full Bibles. Only once that we remember did a church decline our offer because their denomination used a different version of the Bible.

Over the years we drove through almost every state in Mexico with Spanish Bibles. And we distributed approximately 10,000 Bibles and many cartons of Sunday School materials directly to the churches.  We didn’t have a directory of churches or a list that we could use to help us. But we had something much better. We had God’s  Global Positioning System (GPS) to guide us.

You said to me,
“I will point out the road
    that you should follow.
I will be your teacher
    and watch over you.  Psalm 32:8 CEV