Dear Prayer Team,
Just a short update on the Jesus Film project. Last night we finished the 4 days of outdoor film showings in the villages. With eight teams of six people, we’ve covered about 35 villages altogether. Today is a rest day and then the next few days are follow-up days in the villages and a showing of the Jesus film here in our town. The response has varied widely from village to village. Many have treated us as honored guests. Others have asked us to leave. A few have been outright hostile.

The most serious incident was a mob attack in one village. The police showed up at the beginning of the film because of threats and trouble with the local Imam stirring up the crowd. However, things settled down and the police eventually left, just before the end of the film. That’s when the mob attacked, damaging equipment and beating up Veton, one of the young men from our church. He is fine: just a few bruises.

It was a difficult night for several teams. My team also had some problems. First, there was the group of men drinking beer at a table on the edge of the school ground where we were showing the film. One of the girls called my attention to them because it was obvious that they had had too much to drink and were making remarks to the girls. So I went and sat down and a had drink with them. It took some work to get them to exchange the beer they plopped in front of me for a Coke. Later a white car pulled up and a couple of tough Muslim types got out. They threatened us several times, telling us we’d better leave or people would get hurt. My drinking buddies saw what was going on and edged closer demanding to see the film. We ended up staying. The Muslim guys sped off and the men went to get their kids and watched the film. When the Muslims returned later, my buddies ran them off.

Another team had the village gangster stand up for them when Muslim leaders started to cause trouble. He ordered everyone, including the Muslim guys to sit down, shut up and watch the film. They said it was the quietest film showing they had ever seen.

Most of the villages received the teams without incident, and there have been several conversions and lots of seeds planted. Andrew’s team had a great night in one village where 400 came out to see the film and over half stayed to the end, with a few accepting Christ. My daughter Allison led a teenage girl to the Lord one night. My son Nathan shared the gospel with a guy for a long time last night. A 72 year old man prayed to receive Christ. A taxi driver for one of the teams has professed to be a believer.
In one village the local Imam even gave permission to show the film in the courtyard of the mosque. There was a compromise... He also asked the team to stop the film for a few minutes at one point so he could go inside and chant the call to prayer over the loud speakers. He came back and watched the rest of the film.

Please pray for the follow-up meetings on Thursday and Saturday and for the Jesus film showing that we are planning at the Sports center here in town on Friday. Please continue to pray as well for God’s protection over the next few days. I am convinced the Lord has sent angels to watch over us, along with drunks and gangsters.

By His Grace,
David & Wrenn