This is the story of Jesus. This is the story of hope for mankind.
This is the greatest story ever told.
The Lumo Project is a multi-language biblical film resource engaging us with the life of Jesus through the four New Testament Gospels. It presents four films – one for each Gospel account – where we could experience the story of Jesus and the world of First Century Palestine in which he lived. This full-length feature film about the life of Jesus takes the actual four individual Gospel text as its script, word for word, unedited. Five years in the making, this epic production has been critically acclaimed by leading religious scholars as a unique and highly authentic telling of the Jesus story. Narrated by leading British actor David Harewood (‘Homeland’, ‘Blood Diamond’, ‘Merchant of Venice’) it is based on the latest theological, historical and archaeological research. With specially constructed sets and the extraordinarily authentic villages and countryside of rural Morocco, it immerses the viewer in the world of first century Palestine, and also breaking the stereotypical tradition of a westernised Jesus and his life story and presents it as it really was 2000 years ago.
PARTNERSHIP WITH FAITH COMES BY HEARING
Over 30 years ago, Faith Comes By Hearing (FCBH) president Jerry Jackson received a word from God that the ministry would someday become involved with video production. He wrote it down and stored a copy of it on his computer. In April of 2017, Faith Comes By Hearing was introduced to Tessie DeVore, president of LUMO—a ministry that has produced beautiful, historically accurate films of the Gospels. It wasn’t long before the massive benefit of a partnership became clear—Faith Comes By Hearing and LUMO were parallel ministries working on two sides of the same tapestry! God, the Master Weaver, had put us together in His perfect timing.
In August of that same year, LUMO graciously gave Faith Comes By Hearing the right to use their films, so that they could carefully overlay them with the existing Audio Bible recordings. After a few languages had been finished, a “test run” was conducted in Cuba, and they sent Hannah a report of the impact Gospel Films were having there. Her response: “This is God’s moment!” While this has not been a simple process – each Gospel Film must be manually produced by a team of editors to flow correctly with the respective language recording – it is well worth the effort!
By combining LUMO’s compelling cinematic portrayal of the life of Jesus with FCBH’s word-for-word audio Scriptures in the languages of the world, Gospel Films are revolutionizing the way we experience the Bible. Faith Comes By Hearing hopes to implement Gospel Films in communities worldwide, starting watching groups around the Gospel Film in that community’s language. Since using video together with audio is a natural progression, Gospel Films will be able to provide video-centric urban areas and younger generations a way to engage the Bible like never before. As part of the Vision 2033 goals, Faith Comes By Hearing has committed to creating at least one Gospel Film in every recorded language, so that people everywhere will have the opportunity to hear and see the Gospel.
The producer Hannah Leader, who has worked on Gosford Park and Edge of Love, is a Sunday School as well as a feature-film professional.
“I first started to think about filming the Gospels when my church installed a screen and I wanted to be able to show the Bible footage to my Sunday School members: children who were from very diverse ethnic backgrounds. I could only find films for children depicting a very white, blue-eyed Jesus, which seemed educationally inaccurate and didn’t help my children relate to Jesus. I then wondered about which translation of the Bible I should use – I wanted everyone to be able to use the version they knew and loved.”
That led to the ‘voiceover’ concept. I started thinking I would just do short readings for worship and children’s work, but then it grew into an ambition to film all four Gospels when I got funding. “When I started discussing the project with the Bible Societies, I quickly learned just how many different translations there were – so exciting! I don’t think I had ever realized. So of course I wanted the same thing for LUMO: I wanted a thousand languages, because that means that people who have never been able to experience the Gospels visually in their own language would get that chance, and that can be transformational.
It’s so important for children who learn visually and for those who are unable to read. And by using an actor for Jesus who looks Middle Eastern, it allows everyone to relate to Him and His disciples. “I believe that FCBH and LUMO share a common vision for enabling access to all the wonders of the Word of God as expressed in the Gospels. Biblical illiteracy is a problem worldwide – not just because of functional illiteracy, but also because people have gotten out of the habit of reading and studying the Bible. Using technology with audio and visual media allows us 21st-century access to the Word.”
3 Ways to Engage Gospel Films
Seeing God’s Word come to life is incredibly reassuring. Even when the chaotic storms of life are swirling around us and each tomorrow is filled with uncertainty, the Light of the World, Jesus Christ, shines through the darkness to lead our way using His unchanging Word of truth. Through Faith Comes By Hearing Gospel Films, word-for-word adaptations of the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ earthly life and ministry, you can experience the Bible in a brand-new way.
Here are three helpful ways that you, your family, and your community can engage Gospel Films together:
Watch a Gospel Film for personal Bible study.
Because the Gospel Films use only the text of God’s Word as their script, they make perfect tools to help you study the Bible. Gospel Films immerse you in the time and location that Jesus’ ministry took place, offering you an unprecedented view into first-century Palestine as you drink in the Scriptures.
Plan a family night.
Every Gospel Film was painstakingly created to present the viewer with a high-quality, easy-to-understand portrayal of God’s Word. Hannah Leader, LUMO film producer, is also a children’s Sunday School teacher. Her vision for these films originated in her desire to show children of all backgrounds and languages a historically accurate depiction of Jesus Christ—His life, ministry, death, and resurrection. This makes Gospel Films perfect for sharing and studying the Bible with your family in a familiar format.
Share it with your small group.
We at Faith Comes By Hearing are huge proponents of a multifaceted approach to studying God’s Word. A great method to absorb the teachings of Christ is to first read the passage together, listen to it on Bible.is, and finally watch it via Gospel Films. Your small group discussion will be greatly enriched after experiencing the Bible through multiple senses.
Obtaining Gospel Films
Gospel films are provided to our partners at no cost for their ministry purposes. LUMO and FCBH are striving to offer the widest possible access through physical and digital formats, and we are eager to collaborate with partners to determine which methods of distribution will result in an effective and fruitful Scripture engagement.
Bible.is website and apps streams all available Gospel Films for online viewing. (Several languages are also available at LUMO and Bible.is youtube channels.) If you would like to request for an available Gospel Film for Watching Groups, simply follow the link below and fill out the easy to use request form
If you would like to request Gospel Films for a language not in the above list (where FCBH has done Audio Bible recording). please contact your FCBH representative or email info@FaithComesByHearing.com.
Helpful Links:
List of languages with Gospel Films (filter by Video)
I am the pastor at Sebastian United Methodist Church and I would like to use segment 4 as a preaching tool and scripture reading. We live stream on Youtube. Would this be acceptable?
Pastor Alexis Talbott
Sebastian United Methodist Church
1024 Main Street, Sebastian, FL 32958
786/301-4684