This past week, I had the privilege of helping to film the French narration of the first six episodes of The Heritage Project! Translating these episodes into French is a huge step for IMM. As exciting as it is to watch and listen to them in English, it will be an even greater victory to share the stories of the early church in North Africa with the people of North Africa. French is spoken in several North African countries, so having Heritage in French will facilitate translation into North African languages.
For me personally, the lights, camera, mics, and staging are enough to get excited about. I love the technical elements of film production. I love that God can use the niched, seemingly unspiritual skills of lighting, attention to detail, and script continuity to advance His kingdom! But beyond my geeking out, there was something else very special about this shoot.
As small as it was, our ragtag crew of believers represented such a broad spread of places we had lived, types of families we’d grown up in, cultures we’d experienced and assimilated to, careers we’d had, age, and languages we’d spoken. It was incredible to see all of us come together from our varied backgrounds with a unified vision and passion to put Jesus on every screen.
It amazes me, even more, to think about how each of us had our own story of faith, of experiencing Jesus and building a personal relationship with Him. Some of us had generations of missionaries in our family tree; some of us had generations of substance abuse in our family. Some of us were serving in church before we could even spell “church.” Some of us had traveled across continents to serve on missions trips, while some of us had gone through tremendous internal journeys to find purpose and answers in the midst of questions and doubts. No two of our stories were the same, but we had all found that we needed something beyond ourselves, that His name is Jesus, and that He is so good we need to share Him with others.
Another dynamic which I didn’t expect was the major presence of North Africans in the part of France we were filming in. Some of them wore very conservative Muslim garb; most did not. But it was so poignant to see the immigrants from North Africa and their descendants --the very people we want to reach--right here in Europe! I know my life has looked so much different than theirs. They didn’t grow up hearing Bible stories of flawed characters encountering a merciful God. They probably weren’t raised by parents who would pray with them before bed or when they were scared. They weren’t led to believe that God is a loving creator who knows them intimately and who they can have a personal relationship with.
It breaks my heart to think about the vastly different picture of God that’s been painted for them, but how wonderful that the projects we’re working on will not only share the truth with them but shed a light on believers in their own land of origin. They are the reason we do what we do. That all may hear. That all may know. No matter where we were born, what family we were born into, what cultures we know, what we’ve done, or what we’re doing, there is a God who loves us each deeply and whose heart cries out that each of our stories would encounter His. Would you pray with us that The Heritage Project will reach many and draw them closer to the Lord? What a privilege we have to be a part of the greater story God is writing!