Light of the World film project debuts

More than 1,100 people in Mexico City were stirred to give their hearts to Jesus after watching the debut of the Jack Chick production called “Light of the World,” which chronicles the life of Christ from his birth to his resurrection.

The 80-minute film, which features events in the Bible through 360 oil paintings, was viewed in December in Mexico for the first time in Spanish.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Bill Eubanks, a traveling missionary who showed the film over a three-week period as an evangelistic tool. “We showed the film 17 times outdoors and five times in prisons. The Lord is in that thing. It amazes me.”

Eubanks, who has traveled to 32 major cities with his wife, Janet, for their ministry, Seeds for Cities, has used other films in the past, but declares this is the best yet.

“You’ve gotta see it,” said Eubanks, who passed out Spanish tracts after the film and helped the local churches follow-up. “Most of the time when you see someone’s slides they are pretty boring. The colors in this are so vivid and the narrator has such emotion the life of Christ is portrayed so clearly.”

Eubanks plans to show the movie in Chile later this year and in Nairobi, Kenya in October on a queen-size sheet in a field.

“I’m still in a state of shock after what happened in Mexico with this film,” Eubanks said.

The film was distributed in October in English to numerous pastors and missionaries.

Deliberate production
Although the film was recently completed, it was a 15-year project for Chick, who is best known for his cartoon-like gospel tracts. Chick sketched the artwork, but three other artists completed the paintings used in the film.

Almost 95 percent of the paintings were completed by Fred Carter of Pomona, a minister in Victorville. Narrator David Jeremiah of Glendora, who broadcast advertisements for the 2002 Olympics and does 150 different voices, quotes Scripture and tells mainly stories of the New Testament with background music composed by John Campbell.

“The sound effects are incredible, too,” said Eubanks. “When Christ dies on the cross you feel like you are there.”

Chick did not hold back any of the gore.

“It gets pretty graphic,” said Mike Helms, director of the Light of the World project in Ranch Cucamonga whose goal is to get the film translated into 1,000 languages. “It’s more graphic than ‘The Passion of Christ.’ There are certain things that can be captured in paintings that film can’t get.”

Helms said he does not feel any competition from Mel Gibson’s movie, which is set to open in theaters at the end of February.

“We think it’s perfect timing,” Helms said. “It brings attention to the greatest story ever told.”

Chick said he is hoping to reach the world with the gospel through missionaries who bring the film in native languages to their countries.

“The basic message is ‘Jesus Christ or The Lake of Fire’—you must choose one or the other. No punches are pulled,” Chick wrote in a letter.

Missionaries laud tool
Some missionaries are already running with the film.

“I have been in the ministry for 45 years and this is the best presentation of the gospel of Christ that I have ever seen or known of,” wrote one missionary in Mongolia who wished to remain anonymous.

He plans to translate the narration of the film into Thai and Mongolian.

“This is great for the Gobi Desert where people haven’t heard the name of Jesus Christ,” wrote the missionary.

Helms is still raising funds to translate the film into 15 languages at a cost of $6,000 per language. With each language 25 gospel tracts are made to distribute after the film to help explain what they just watched.

Currently, Mandarin, Portugese, French, Italian, Nepali and Thai are being translated.

A missionary in Denmark told Helms he plans to use it in the youth and children’s programs in their churches.

Dan Kricorian, a retired Assemblies of God pastor in Alta Loma, wishes he had this film years ago when he traveled to Armenia 12 times.

“The film is worth showing in many places,” said Kricorian who pastored Calvary Church in Ontario for 24 years. “I’ve traveled a lot and wish I could have used this.”

John Willis, a pastor in Aurora, Ill., has put the film on public access cable TV.

“We have invited every person we have come across in the past from a cult or witchcraft who wasn’t reached through our witnessing,” said Willis, a former radio announcer. “We prayed about this since last September when Jack Chick told us about it. It’s a great opportunity to get the gospel out.”

The film sells for $19.95 on DVD and video through Chick Publications, (909) 987-0771 or by visiting the Web site at chick.com.

Published by Keener Communications Group, February 2004

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