1. JESUS FILM

It is said that film brings Jesus’ story to life like no other medium can. And a film in the heart language of the people does even more. It is not just the end-product that will bring to life the story of Jesus but also the entire process of getting it done by people of their own community. It is something that has never been done before, the first of its kind for the Semelai Community. It takes a higher hand to make this a reality for them. Ordinary people doing an extraordinary task because they know the extraordinary God. Only He can prepare the way and call the right people to come and work together.

A TESTIMONY

Twenty-three years ago, some Semelai youths were watching the Jesus Film in Indonesian. One of the guys named Man, tried to act out the scenes with his friends in their own language. Now twenty-three years later, he found himself actually recording the Jesus Film in his own language! Wow, God truly prepares the way. Man plays the role of Jesus, and it took him more than two and a half days to record all his parts. He grew up in a Felda settlement, so he uses a lot more of the national language in his conversation. He laughingly said that his Semelai has improved a great deal at the end of the recording. Initially, he was diffident, but his confidence grew, and he was more than willing to work hard at his role, reaping a rich harvest in the end! Now, the Semelai people hear Jesus speaking in their own heart language!

HOW THE SEMELAI PEOPLE RECORDED THE JESUS FILM IN THEIR OWN LANGUAGE

• AUGUST 2022
  The Semelai translators completed the consultant check and second draft of the Gospel of Luke ready to be used for the translation of the Jesus Film Script
• SEPTEMBER 2022
  Two of the translators with some checkers attended the training for the Jesus Film Project. Dila, one of the checkers, was really happy to be involved, because her family members enjoy acting. So, in our hearts, we hoped earnestly that her family members would become our voice actors and so it came to pass, five members of her family helped us record the Jesus Film! Rominah, from one of the Semelai villages, also came to join us and provided some language input. What we did not know was that many of the kids and youths involved in the recording project would eventually come from her village.
• OCTOBER 2022 – AUGUST 2023
  The Semelai translators took a break from their usual translation work to focus on the Jesus Film Project. Maz was the main translator, and the back translator was Ling.
• SEPTEMBER 2023
  As a team, we went through the first informal check after the community check was completed. In the process, Maz was actually undergoing voice acting training! She laughed, she cried, and she threw herself into all the roles. Prior to the voice actors acting out their required roles, she first acted the role so that the voice actors could imitate her so that they lip-synched to the original actors and the timing was accurate. This, perhaps, was the most challenging part of the recording.
• OCTOBER 2023
  Consultant check of the script was held near where the Semelai-speaking people live. Three checkers came from a more distant location. It was helpful to know if they understood the movie. We had to make some adjustments. At the end of the checking sessions, we invited some leaders to lunch. Two leaders came and contact was made for us to communicate with them.
• JANUARY 18TH – 30TH 2024
  D-day for the recording has finally arrived. A few weeks before that, the girls sent out messages to different villages and leaders to solicit prayers for this project. Would-be actors and actresses and those who would be helping us were also included in the list of prayer-partners so that they could pray with us. When the people prayed not only were they informed but also, they became involved with us. It was necessary to get the people of the community to pray alongside us. So, some of our prayer partners were youths. Praise God! (Perhaps, this was the first time they spoke to God!?) God’s favor was evident. We were able to rent a house belonging to one of our Semelai friends, so that we could be near to the recording site. A local community has graciously allowed us to use their premise to do the recording. Two weeks before the recording, the roof of the premise was struck in a storm, and it started to leak in some areas. And we almost couldn’t rent our friends’ house. The Enemy tried different ways to stop the recording.

On the audition day, those who played the role of Jesus and the Narrator were missing. The recordist had some concerns. It was her first audition without these two important actors. We too were getting nervous. Where will the actors come from? Somehow a quiet confidence came upon us that if this was what the Lord wanted us to do, He would provide. Eventually the actor-list was filled up as we went along. The only major change we had to make was to ask Maz to be the Narrator as a suitable voice actor for this role was not available.

THE RECORDING JOURNEY

We had to build a studio with all the cushions and mattresses that were available. Praise God for providing us with all that we needed. And praise Him for cool weather so the voice actors and actresses found the temperature in the small heavily-cushioned studio bearable.

Everyone pulled together from the first day. Ling’s good management skills got the timetable for each person’s recording sorted out. But of course, a look at the timetable, the gaps remained glaring. We were still not sure if some of the people on the list would turn up. Eventually, Man was contacted. He had food-poisoning but agreed to come on the second day of the recording. Then he had to take on the role of Jesus, a rather demanding role for him, as he was still on medication throughout his recording days! He also had to use Semelai words instead of borrowed words in his parts but in the end, he persevered and did very well in his role.

Maz and the recordist, worked extremely hard, day and night! Maz had transcribed all the parts so those who could read would read and act with the script. Some practised at home with the script sent to them. Some had the script acted out to them and they just imitated Maz (or ‘Director’ as she was affectionately addressed during the recording days). On the last day, three good voice actors turned up and we managed to have enough adult male voices to record all the roles without their voices repeating too often in the movie. WOW! We completed recording of all the voices on Saturday as scheduled.

THE FIRST AND SECOND REVIEW

Most of the voice actors and actresses turned up for the first review. They watched with excitement as the film was screened. Some hid their faces when their roles were played. Their friends teased and nudged them. There were some ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ when their favourite elderly actor’s part was heard. In their own words his role was so ‘ngam’ for him and the movement of his lips matched so perfectly. Some mistakes were identified that had to be corrected and some parts improved. Another two female voice actresses helped to replace some parts that were necessary. An older man’s voice was used for the role of God.

During the second review, a review committee watched the whole film and agreed to approve the film. They were very eager to know when they could screen the film and when told that the film would be partitioned so that they could screen each part separately, they became very excited. They also look forward to the day when the film would be made into a cartoon version for the children to view. The women folks were excited that a woman version of Magdalene would also be available.

The film itself is not the only fruit of the project. Those who helped to complete this project reaped a harvest of precious blessings from the Lord during the journey. In the process they learned that getting people involved and sharing ownership of the film with the people was one way that many would be motivated to watch and use the film in their communities. For a community that is strongly introverted, they learned to rely on God and opened up to other people in their communities. One of the translators said the greatest blessing was that the people were drawn much closer to one another as they worked together. They also practiced hospitality towards one another. Some people brought us food almost daily during the recording. All Glory to God!

2. THE SEMELAI NEW TESTAMENT PROJECT

A TESTIMONY

Amoy received a recording of a Jahut lady who was involved with the Jahut translation team. She died during the pandemic lockdown. Her story touched Amoy deeply and she felt that she wanted to spend her life focusing on Bible Translation. She shared her story with another Bible Translator, Ling, who shared the story with me. An invitation to the Jahut Dedication of the Complete Bible also stirred an urgency in Ling’s heart to agree to commit to a New Testament project. So, when a meeting was held to discuss if they would commit to the NT project, with Amoy coming in full-time for the translation project and the other two translators still serving part-time, the reply was a resounding YES.

We are overwhelmingly aware that we can only complete this project with the Lord’s blessings. Just as one elderly woman, who was voice-acting with us in the Jesus’ film, shared that she could now understand the Jesus Story, we looked forward to the day when the New Testament is available to the people, many would say, “Now we can understand the message clearly! Wow, we have the Word in our very own language!”

Please pray for these needs

• For Amoy to grow as a translator and to increase her skills especially her computer skills.
• For all three translators to grow in godliness and to serve the local church faithfully.
• For the needs of the project. This project will run for six years, and we need to trust the Lord to provide for all the needs of the project – a monthly support for Amoy, funds to pay checkers and part-time translators, computer/equipment and Wi-Fi needs etc.

Thank you for your continual support for the Semelai Community. If you would like to know how you can partner with us in this project do contact us at our Wycliffe office. All glory goes to God alone!