Honoring a Legacy of Training

Henry was a great visionary and had great foresight of the significance of the Media in the Kingdom of God.

He was a pioneer in mobilizing the media in the Church in South Asia.

We had the great privilege of having him in Sri Lanka to conduct Media seminars and train many people in this ministry. He was instrumental in producing Open the Bible in our languages in South Asia.

We praise God for his humble and exemplary life and ministry.

Michael Dissanayeke; Former Superintendent of Assemblies of God Sri Lanka

We honor Henry and his legacy by continuing the vision of training and multiplying the gospel in media to every nation, tribe, and tongue. Throughout his years of ministry, Henry Marsh devoted countless hours to growing relationships cross-culturally: many times for the purpose of training in media ministry, but mostly out of his heart for connecting with all people in a personal way. 

As a team, we carry the mantle passed to us by training not just the next generation in media ministry, but also reaching into the unreached places, planting seeds, and meeting the needs of the local church and community. Pray with us that the Lord would use IMM and our team to multiply his gospel in places missionaries can’t reach through the strategic tool of media ministry. In this way, we honor Henry’s legacy and build upon the foundation he left us: a platform for reaching the lost through genuine, Christlike relationships.

Henry Marsh (right)

Somehow One

One of my favorite parts about getting to do what I do is the people I meet from all over the world.

When I first got here it was intimidating. Meeting Ines, Abdel, and Lily*. I remember asking Ines and Abdel, two presenters who frequently show their faces on camera in Christian programming, “How come it isn’t as dangerous for you two to put your faces on camera like it is for some other people from Morocco?”

Their response was basically, “It’s dangerous for us too. But that’s a risk we’ve decided to take.” Instantly I was humbled. I knew I’d led a privileged life in the states, especially when it came to religious freedom. So I always felt inferior. I figured God was probably saying, “You need to learn from these people. Look how much holier they are than you.”

And I certainly have learned a lot from them. But the more people I work with, the more my insecurities wane. What strikes me every time I encounter a believer from a new country or culture is not our differences but our similarities.

A couple of months ago I had the opportunity to talk to Rahim*, a young man from Morocco who gave his life to Jesus about four years ago and acted in one of our videos. I got that same urge to feel inferior. But as he told me why he decided to follow Jesus, he said, “My life didn’t really have a purpose. I was just going from one thing to another, and then I met Jesus. He gave my life purpose and freed me from addiction.”

As Rahim spoke, rather than hearing how inferior I was, I heard God saying, “Listen to how he talks about Me. It’s as if he’s speaking about the same God you know. Six thousand miles away from where you grew up, he found Jesus – the same Jesus you know, love, and serve. And in the same way that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever, I am the same savior to people from the United States as I am to people from Morocco, France, Australia, Nigeria…”

Even though we come from different countries, our love for Jesus and what He’s done in us often looks the same. The way Rahim talked about Jesus, His role and power in his life, and the things He had done for him sounded a lot like what He’s done for me.

Unity is not something that “just happens”. We live in a divided world. Conflicting opinions exist everywhere. Even among the body of believers, sometimes we’re so different that it stresses me out. But one thing that encourages me is the people I’ve met who come from vastly different countries but have been loved by the same Jesus I’ve been loved by.

The beauty and otherworldly unity of the Church speaks to the beauty of God Himself. His love is powerful enough to transcend our distinct countries, languages, cultures, upbringings, and not to mention, personal struggles. This one God brings us together, gives us new life, adopts us into the family of Christ, and somehow makes us one.

*Names changed for security reasons

Tiny Swords, Bigger Faith

One of the things I love about International Media Ministries – even where we are located in Spain – is the history. I wasn’t the kid who loved history but living where you see where things happened has really changed my perspective. I’m sitting near a plaza called Holy Children Plaza (Plaza de los Santos Niños). Two kids, young people, volunteered to stand for Christ at the cost of their lives during the Diocletian persecution in the Roman Empire.

At the 40th-anniversary event, we used a tiny sword to symbolize and help us remember the story of these two boys. Justo and Pastor were initially beaten to discourage their boisterous claim of Christ since they were only 9 and 13 years old. But they wouldn’t give it up. Angered by their display of bravery, local Praetor Daciano sought permission to have them killed, and the sentence was carried out secretly, away from the public. Some fellow believers in Christ found their bodies and buried them where they fell in the area where the local Cathedral is today.

Christ is close to the persecuted and so often their prayer request is to pray they stand firm. Justo and Pastor believed they could stand strong as much as any adult could and they did.

Volunteering to stand for Christ in such a dramatic way is not required of most of us today. We know parts of the world where it is. But with you we want to get the same message of hope out that makes people bold and strong in the power of Jesus Christ.

I imagine you know people who would be excited about putting Jesus on more screens and pushing back the darkness and lies of the enemy. Our tiny swords symbolized persecution, but they also illustrate the Word of God and how it quickens hearts and speaks about our creator and our souls to bring salvation. Could you be an ambassador for IMM by sharing our mission with someone who can pray, give, or volunteer?

We need people willing to volunteer. It isn't always comfortable to step outside of our normal lives, but God does amazing things when we do. IMM is stretching to do voice-overs for Iran and Ukraine, even as we continue with other projects for other parts of the world. We know that what we do is big in God’s hands and it’s impossible when we look at ourselves. Lives are being changed day by day and screen by screen as we join together with the sword of the Holy Spirit to share hope.

Full Circle

In 1990, Doug and I began our lives as missionaries, serving with IMM in Belgium for 10 years. Even after we changed assignments and moved to the Netherlands, we remained a part of what we fondly call the IMM Forever Family. We’ve stayed in touch or reconnected with many members of this family over the years, including IMM’s current President, Denise and Creative Director, Kerry. So, when we felt God was moving us on from what we’d been doing for the last 15 years, our first thought was to return to IMM.

And now we’ve come full circle, although IMM’s location has changed. We arrived in Spain three months ago, and it’s exciting to be a part of this amazing ministry again. One of the projects we’ve all been working on recently has been reorganizing the many costumes that are kept in the attic. A lot of them were made or acquired in the ‘90’s for programs IMM produced about the life of Jesus. We even wore some of them, first with Doug as Joseph and me protecting our son Nathan from Herod’s soldiers in the program about the birth of Jesus (https://vimeo.com/218635519), then Doug as the blind man Jesus healed (https://vimeo.com/230136281) and me as the woman with the issue of blood (https://vimeo.com/230124785).

This is the life of a media missionary. While our primary role might be behind the scenes in production, creative services, or administration, sometimes we are also needed in front of the camera or doing other things we’re not trained to do. Whether exciting or mundane, simple or challenging, something we’re skilled at or that is out of our comfort zone, we always have to be ready to do whatever needs to be done to accomplish our goal of getting Jesus on every screen. And our doors are always open to those who feel called to use the talents God gave them to reach as many as possible with the gospel.

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)