The 'JESUS Film' has reached an 'astounding' milestone with the debut of its 1,000th translation.
Reaching the milestone earlier this month, the film had been seen by more than 5 billion people since its first debut in U.S. theatres in 1971. The executive director of the film project, Jim Green, said that the 1,000th translation is in a language spoken by more than one million people in India known as 'Lanka Kol.'
"Lanka Kol is our 1,000th translation of the JESUS film," said Mr Green. "It's a language many Americans have probably never even heard of, but there are more than one million people in India who speak Lanka Kolâ€"and now we have the opportunity to begin sharing the gospel story with them in their own language."
The film is often viewed in Third World countries with the assistance of either a makeshift screen or a portable projector. Mr Green went on to say that storytelling is a fundamental way for people to communicate; and through the JESUS film, the 'incredible' story of God's love can be expressed in their own language.
"Storytelling is the fundamental way that people communicate around the world," said Green. "Through the JESUS film, we can tell the incredible story of God's love in a simple way that people can relate toâ€"and we can do it in their heart language."
Despite achieving its major milestone, the film project plans to continue translating the film into 500 new languages which include every language with more than 100,000 speakers.
The JESUS Film Project is a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, International, one of the world's largest nonprofit, interdenominational organizations, founded by Bill and Vonette Bright in 1951. The Christian ministry is dedicated to showing people how to know and experience God's love and plan for their lives.