On the first weekend in August, three Wycliffe Malaysia members and two church members travelled to Pahang. The first stop was Temerloh, and the second stop were the *Sem villages. We went there for two reasons: to run a training workshop for participants to use the *Sem Jesus Film (hereafter called JF) for evangelism and discipleship, and to encourage the community to read the Scriptures in the *Sem language. We also conducted a children’s program hoping that they will start a Sunday School in their churches one day.
It has been one year since the launch of the *Sem JF, and we praise God that the community have made a commitment to be further equipped with how to utilise the JF. 20 participants from 11 *Sem villages came. Among them were church leaders, Sunday School teachers, ministry supervisors, men and women, young and old.
The trainer used the JF story Jesus Calls His First Disciples from Luke 5:1-11 for the training. After showing the video of the story twice, she divided the participants into small groups to retell the story they just watched among their group members. They repeated this process , improving their stories after each time they rewatched the video and retold the story. Learning from their mistakes, the participants became more accurate and truthful to the story.
At the end of the exercise, some participants were called to tell the story in front of everyone. It is always challenging to present something in front of a crowd, but some participants managed to do it correctly. It was important that everyone could do it so that they could memorise the story and retell it to others accurately.
But those are not the only purposes of this activity. While this method could be useful for oral communities, or even senior citizens who find it difficult to read the Bible, ultimately, we should all be thinking deeper about the story, understanding the meaning behind the story, and applying the lessons of the story. The trainer used What, Who, Where, When, Why, and How questions to help participants achieve this.
The response given by the participants about the workshop was encouraging. They were grateful to God for what they had learnt through the training, and they ended the session worshipping God with songs and prayers.
Here are some of their reflections:
“There are so many themes and lessons that can be drawn from just one story. It can be overwhelming at times, but what’s wonderful is that everyone gets to share their thoughts.”
“I’m planning to use the Jesus Film in my ministry in another state. It’s such a powerful tool to introduce Jesus.”
“Do you have the Jesus Film in the *** language? I can gather a group this size again next year. Could you come and train them? I know this kind of training would benefit them greatly.”
It is clear that the community sees the value of the Jesus Film. Whether using the full version or selected stories, the participants were eager and ready to make use of the JF.
But, the Lord enabled us. He gave us wonderful interpreters who learnt how to conduct oral devotions from Marcus, the Wycliffe Malaysia translation coordinator, on Zoom before the onsite workshop. The participants, who even though knew nothing about Oral Bible Translation (OBT) and some who even thought would waste two weeks of their time, came and gave us their attention. In fact, they gave their 110% for every practical exercise they had to do. We had to keep adapting our prepared schedule according to the needs of the participants and situation over the two weeks. I was amazed at how serious and creative both young and old participants were in dramas and drawing. They definitely taught us about doing devotions differently as they had so many ideas.
On Sunday, we attended two *Sem worship services in the villages. When we arrived at the first church, the villagers gave us a warm welcome. Whether they were young or old, they fellowshipped among each other and with us. After God’s Word was preached, our coworker played a game of throwing paper balls with them. Whoever caught the ball had to open the outer layer of the ball and read the Bible verse written inside in their heart language.
Next was the children’s programme. We brought gifts for the children and prizes for those who correctly answered the questions during the story session about David and Goliath. Although the children were eager to answer questions, we had to leave for another village which was a 45- minute drive away. At the second church, we were also warmly received. Our coworker played the same paper game with the congregation, but this time, the church members could read better in the *Sem language.
The weekend away in the *Sem villages was encouraging and inspiring. We feel blessed to be given the opportunity to worship with the *Sem villagers, witness their faith, and serve the community there. Currently, the *Sem people only have the books of Mark and Luke in their heart language. They are waiting for the whole New Testament to be in the *Sem language, which is in progress to be completed in 2029. Please pray for protection for the people involved in this project, and for the project itself to be completed smoothly.