He who beats the drum…

By Jerry | Published: June 15, 2010

The production team for OTB French

“My people have a proverb…” I heard this phrase many times over the ten days that my African friend, Pastor Philemon Salam Saba, spent with us here at IMM recently. Over the past few days, I had learned to listen carefully to the words spoken by my new friend because of the years of wisdom behind them. “He who beats the drum does not know how far it goes.” Those words are still ringing in my ears weeks after hearing them for the first time.

Pastor Philemon Salam Saba is the lead pastor of a congregation of 2,000 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. He came to IMM to help us record a French version of “Open the Bible: The Gospels”. Within six weeks of his coming we completed a version for the 115 million French-speaking people in 31 countries of Africa.

OTB DVD for French Africa

OTB DVD for French Africa

When I asked him why he was willing to invest his time to participate, he shared with me how important this project was for introducing people to Jesus through media and having these kinds of quality programs for the Bible schools and churches. As we talked about the importance of IMM in partnering with French speaking countries he shared this proverb. The meaning needs no explanation.

We give ourselves everyday to the task of “beating the drum” at IMM. We beat the drum with hearts of faith that the sounds will fall on open ears and hearts. You too are beating a drum with your life! You just don’t know how far that influence will be carried. Know this, your influence is reaching to the nations of French-speaking Africa because you are standing with us as faith partners. Thank you for your faithful part in telling the story that changes lives.

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Three Thousand is too small

By Jerry | Published: March 5, 2010

Three thousand, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! It took a minute for the impact of that number to sink in. Three thousand is a very respectable number if we are talking about the number of people in a church. It is an excellent number if we’re talking of new churches planted last year in most countries of the world. But what I was being told was that the nation of Turkey, with a population of over 72 million people, has just 3000 known followers of Jesus. JUST 3000.

The Blue Mosque in Istanbul

The Blue Mosque in Istanbul

Gwen and I recently returned from Turkey where we had the opportunity to see, first hand, the challenge being faced by Christian workers on the ground. I can tell you, our AG personnel are doing a stellar job! We were able to meet with a very courageous crew of media people who are producing and BROADCASTING Christian programming 4 hours a day in the Turk language. Among the programs being used are “The People Who Met Jesus,” one and two, programs produced by IMM. I am also pleased to tell you that, within the next month or so, two more of our programs, “The Parables of Jesus” and The Path of Jesus,” will be aired in Turk all across that country and Europe. While Turkish talk shows proclaim Christianity to be a polytheistic cult with 4 holy books, our partners there are telling the story that changes lives.

Thank you for standing with us this past month in support and prayers. Together we are shaping hearts and minds to consider the message of Jesus Christ. Believe with us that one day 3000 will be the number of thriving churches gathering to celebrate Christ.

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Media is hitting the mark

By Jerry | Published: February 8, 2010

I sat in utter amazement as these people shared their experiences of social and physical persecution, imprisonment and in one instance, death, all because of their witness of Christ and his power to change lives.

Gwen and I were in meetings last week for a consultation of ministries working in North Africa and the Middle East. I can tell you God is doing a very special work among the people of these nations! While radical religious ideas are motivating this persecution, for a multitude of others there is a spiritual hunger, which will not be denied!

What I was particularly pleased with through these reports was the repeated expressions of thanks for those doing media and broadcasting “the story that changes lives” into this region of the world. Time and again, references were made, by national leaders, of how media was making an impact. People are becoming open to hear the gospel of hope and love and salvation because the seeds of faith are reaching them via the Internet, satellite broadcast, and DVD distribution.

Samir Youssef, one of our media partners, used “The People Who Met Jesus”, “The Parable of Jesus” and “The Path of Jesus“ to illustrate 32 “It’s Time for Miracles” programs (Gospel focus). Currently, these programs and others are aired on four different channels over 40 times a week! Samir reported the following responses in 2009:

Response Type

# of Responses

Top 6 Countries

# of Responses

Email

20,684

Egypt

10,348

Phone

10,892

Saudi Arabia

8,416

SMS

8,754

Algeria

8,034

Letters

6,071

Sweden

5,034

MSN

2,633

Tunisia

4,709

Morocco

4,297

Other

8,196

Total

49,034

Total

49,034

We are thrilled to partner with people like Samir and we are grateful to God for the opportunity to work with a team here at IMM who are creating these video segments to “tell the story that changes lives.” We are also grateful to each of you who are standing with us in prayer and support. We simply could not do it without you!

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