“Mama, can I please have a quarter?”
My mother opened her black handbag and rummaged around before pulling out a shiny silver coin and dropping it into my waiting hand. She gave another to my little sister, who was only about five years old at the time. Holding both our hands, she led us onto the escalator.
As we rose to the second floor, we leaned over the railing to peer at the fountain below, its waters shimmering in the mall’s bright lights. Just before it disappeared from view, my sister and I tossed our quarters as high as we could, watching them arc through the air and plop into the water below. I remember the ripples spreading outward as my single coin sank among hundreds of others.
This happened every time we went to the mall—our little tradition.
Once, I asked what happened to the coins in the fountain. Did someone get to take them home? My mother explained that it was someone’s job to drain the fountain every so often, and to collect the money, which would then go to a local charity. That year, a sign beside the fountain told us the money would go to the local children’s hospital.
I remember looking at all those coins resting at the bottom of the fountain—pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. I wondered how much they added up to, and how many people that money might help.
That fountain became my first picture of what generosity can do. On its own, my quarter couldn’t do much. But as one piece among hundreds, maybe even thousands, it would have a much greater impact.
The same is true today as you partner with us at Jesus Film Project®. Every gift joins another to help reach people all over the world with the gospel message in their heart language. Every donation is significant, but when it’s combined with the gifts of others, your generosity ripples out, going beyond what it could ever do on its own.
Throughout the year, we hear stories of how Jesus Film Project media, discipleship tools and church-planting resources are helping Christians and missionaries share the good news of Jesus. These believers are able to do the work they do only in reliance on God and through the support of generous givers.
Here are five of those stories—testimonies of how God has used giving to spread His love to the ends of the earth.
From the Field: Making Disciples in Ecuador
The story of Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, and the three other missionaries who first made contact with the Waorani tribe of Ecuador in 1956 still echoes today as a testament to God’s redemptive power.
On a mission to reach and share the message of Jesus the Waorani tribe—a people group who had previously been unreached with the gospel—these men tragically lost their lives at the hands of some of the tribe’s warriors before accomplishing the work they set out to do. But that was only the beginning of the story.
Driven by God’s heart to see the Waorani come to know Christ, a team including the widows of these late missionaries continued the mission. Eventually they succeeded in bringing the gospel message to this tribe. Now, by God’s miraculous provision and the perseverance of these faithful believers, many of the Waorani people follow Jesus today.
The number of believers among the Waorani people continues to increase, and they are now sharing the gospel among their own communities. As with any growing community of Christians, there is a need for tools and ministry resources that the Waorani people can use to continue planting churches and making disciples. And God is using Jesus Film Project to help meet this need.
In 2024, by God’s grace, Jesus Film Project completed the 2,100th language translation of the JESUS film in the heart language of the Waorani people. Now we are partnering with local believers, equipping them with resources in their heart language so they can evangelize with neighboring tribes still unreached with the message of Jesus.
The initial project of translating JESUS into the Waorani language, and the continuing work of training and equipping this community to share Jesus in their heart language, is a reality because of the generosity of our supporters. Thanks to Christians like you, believers in Ecuador are spreading the gospel, planting churches and making disciples as Jesus commissioned every Christian to do in Matthew 28:19.
From Our Donors: The Road to Generosity
Once missionaries themselves, Warren and Breanda Pfohl have experienced firsthand how God provides for His people through the generosity of others. Their journey of generosity is a testament of God’s grace and goodness.
When the Pfohls moved to Poland in 1991 to serve as missionaries, they thought they’d spend their lives serving there. But after only six years, Brenda’s health forced them to return to the United States with little more than a few boxes of books and toys. Through the generosity of their church family, they experienced God’s provision as He met each of their needs.
Soon after, their son David was diagnosed with a rare and terminal genetic disorder. Though their faith was tested, God continually met them with His abundant grace and provision. In the midst of sorrow, the Pfohls clung to God’s promises and began to see their circumstances from an eternal perspective.
Months after returning to the United States, Warren and Brenda took a church-sponsored trip to a Jesus Film Project® donor briefing. There, they prayed a simple prayer: that one day they might fund a translation of the JESUS film. They didn’t know how that would ever be possible, but God continued to lead them and challenge them to generously give, and they continued to obey.
Today, Warren and Brenda see every resource—time, talent, treasure, truth, and relationships—as something to steward for God’s glory. They pray faithfully for the ministries they support, including Jesus Film Project, and have given generously through Cru Foundation to help share the gospel worldwide.
Though their missionary season overseas ended decades ago, their commitment to the Great Commission has only deepened. The Pfohls’ story is a testimony of how God uses every joy and trial to weave together a greater story of faithfulness, generosity and hope.
If you have not already, I invite you to check out their full story here.
Pastor Gama Gonzalez: The Message for Mayans
What do clowns, toothbrushes and The Story of Jesus for Children film have in common? Pastor Gamaliel (Gama) Gonzalez uses all of these to spread the message of the gospel to the Mayan people in the Yucatán Peninsula.
Formerly a musician, Gama sensed God calling him to share the message of Jesus in this region of Mexico. In an episode of The Unheard Story, a Jesus Film Project podcast, Pastor Gama shares about this experience. “I remember when I was called by God to leave Mexico City and to come (to) where I am now,” says Pastor Gama. “I said yes to the call, but I didn’t know exactly what to do. I just knew I needed to share the gospel.”
Without formal ministry training, Gama began driving to nearby communities and remote villages in the jungles of Mexico, preaching the gospel wherever people would listen. The work was difficult, and Gama often felt under-equipped—but he prayed for God to provide what he needed.
“God never left me alone,” Gama shares. “I was asking God for tools. I was asking God… I don’t know how to do it. I know we need to do more, but I don’t know how.”
One day Gama received a call from a friend in the United States. He told Gama about a ministry that wanted to make a film—The Story of Jesus for Children–– in the Mayan language. Gama understood that this was an answer to his prayer.
“In less than six months, someone in the (United) States gave all the money to make that film in Mayan,” Gama recalls. With his help, a team from Jesus Film Project completed the Mayan translation of The Story of Jesus for Children. He facilitated the film’s premiere on a big screen in a local village and everyone in the village showed up. After the film, Gama gave the audience an explanation of the gospel and presented them with the opportunity to follow Jesus.
“Everything we prepared—the trip, the film, equipment, people, our people in Mexico, the people from the States—every work was for that (exact) moment.”
“I invited them to repent and to receive Jesus Christ.” Many responded by raising their hands.
Pastor Gama remembers that moment clearly. “Everything we prepared—the trip, the film, equipment, people, our people in Mexico, the people from the States—every work was for that (exact) moment.”
After the film, an elderly woman approached Gama with tears in her eyes. In Mayan she said, “This is unbelievable. Wow! Jesus speaks Mayan. Now I know He understands my prayers. Now I know He knows me.”
Since moving away from Mexico City to pursue this mission, Pastor Gama has made it his goal to visit every village in the Yucatán Peninsula and share the hope of Jesus in the Mayan language. He does this through his ministry, The Message for Mayans, which takes teams into remote Mayan villages to share the gospel through children’s ministry, distributing meals and hygiene supplies like toothbrushes and by hosting showings of JESUS and The Story of Jesus for Children.
Recently, Pastor Gama shared a message of thanks with Cru and Jesus Film Project staff. He talked about the unseen work it takes to bring the gospel message to those who need to hear it. Believers like you—those who support missionaries through prayer and giving—are the ones behind that work. Pastor Gama and his team can do what they do, bringing the Mayan people face to face with the gospel of Jesus, because of the generosity of Christians who give to Jesus Film Project.
Dr. Tariku Fufa: Missionary in Harare, Zimbabwe
Dr. Tariku Fufa vividly remembers attending a showing of JESUS as a young man in Ethiopia. Approximately 10,000 people were in attendance. Already a Christian, Tariku invited three of his friends to watch the film with him.
“The moment the film started… we all cried,” Tariku remembers. “When Jesus spoke Oromo (the local language), literally, we thought that was Jesus and that was His voice… It was [a] very powerful time.”
Everyone in attendance knelt down on the dusty soccer field, indicating their decisions to follow Christ. Tariku’s three friends also decided to follow Jesus.
That experience left a deep impression on Tariku. It was the first time he saw how God could use the JESUS film to draw people to Himself, and it would not be the last. Tariku is now a missionary in Harare, Zimbabwe, serving as the director of Global Church Movements for Africa.
Everyone in attendance knelt down on the dusty soccer field, indicating their decisions to follow Christ.
Tariku came to know and follow Jesus at age 13. Being one of the few Christians in his hometown at the time, he faced persecution and suffered for his faith in Jesus—even at the hands of his own father. Still, Tariku pressed on in his faith, eventually joining Campus Crusade for ChristⓇ campus ministry as a university student.
In this context, Tariku again experienced how God used the JESUS film as a ministry tool to lead students to the gospel.
“I used the JESUS film when I was on campus for four years, showing it every week in the nearby church,” shared Tariku. “At the time we had…1,600 students coming every Thursday evening for that. Through that… hundreds (of) thousands of students over the period of four years—their lives were impacted, changed. They came to know the Lord. It was so fulfilling.”
Tariku graduated from university and returned to this same campus years later, this time as a campus missionary. In this role, he continued to use the JESUS film to help reach students with the gospel.
“(The) JESUS film, again, was my best evangelistic tool, discipleship tool, leadership development tool,” says Tariku. “The JESUS film was part and parcel (an essential component) of my ministry.”
After some time, Tariku decided to host a showing of the JESUS film in his hometown, where most still followed a faith that was not Christianity. On the evening of the film showing, the local mosques were empty—everyone went to the film showing instead. That day, around 2,000 people in Tariku’s hometown watched the film. Hundreds made decisions to follow Christ as a result—including Tariku’s father.
“After that he became my best prayer supporter and he led a lot of people to Christ,” Tariku shares. “The JESUS film played a key role in my spiritual development, in my ministry and then [in] bringing my own dad to Christ.”
His story is one among countless others that demonstrate how God can use a tool like the JESUS film to change lives. In a video message he shared with Jesus Film Project staff, Tariku expressed his gratitude to the ministry staff and leadership, and to donors who help make his ministry possible.
From Our Ministry Partners: Thank You for Giving
The following messages of thanks come from Jesus Film Project staff and our ministry partners. These missionaries live and work among people who have yet to choose to follow Jesus. And they are able to spread the message of Christ’s love in their regions because of the prayers and financial support of Christians like you.
One Final Story and Your Chance to Take Part
When you obey God’s call to give generously, that act of obedience does not just affect you; it ripples out, accomplishing far beyond what we might ask or imagine. Each of the stories I’ve shared here is a direct result of God using the gifts of believers like you and me to reach people in parts of the world we may never get to visit ourselves.
And you don’t have to imagine what it would be like to be a part of one of these testimonies. You can discover what that means for yourself.
Here’s my challenge to you: Consider how you might become a part of the story God is weaving through Jesus Film Project. Read one final story, and explore ways you can give here.
