Darrell Leber, worldwide partnership director of the JESUS Film ministry, in some circles known as the “Indiana Jones of missions,” will be speaking in a special 10 a.m. service this Sunday, Nov. 4, at Greenbrier Valley Church of the Nazarene in Fairlea.
Since the film’s release in 1979, the JESUS Film Project has translated the film into more than 1,700 languages. Its viewings around the world, often in remote areas that require the use of generators to show the film, have resulted in more than 500 million decisions to follow Christ, according to ministry officials.
In 1997 the Church of the Nazarene and Campus Crusade for Christ established a partnership, now known as the JESUS Film Harvest Partners, to show the film throughout the world as a major evangelistic tool, focusing especially on people groups that have had little exposure to the story of Jesus Christ.
Leber regularly leads trips made up of various members of churches delivering film equipment to indigenous JESUS film teams around world. Once there, they join with local ministries to set up and show the film and “witness the results of God’s work in people’s lives,” as they report, to many people who have never heard the message of Christ. Team members may also visit child development centers or orphanages, do Vacation Bible School or medical-related work, or take part in other events in conjunction with local ministries.
A recent grant from Wendell Poole of Mt. Juliet, Tenn., to Greenbrier Valley Church has been provided in memory of his mother, charter member Ruth Poole, to make Leber’s visit possible, along with multiple copies of the film for evangelism plus a variety of other evangelistic tools the church will use to reach out with the message of Christ into the Greenbrier Valley area.
Greenbrier Valley Church of the Nazarene is located at Davis Stuart Rd. and Dawkins Dr., approximately one-half mile south of Greenbrier Valley Medical Center. Rev. Don Armstrong is pastor. The church’s website is accessed at gvnazarene.org.