Hands Headlines

Olympic athletes are put on a pedestal - literally and figuratively. The world craves success sometimes more than they do.

Whether or not they are viewed as winners, each Olympian experiences struggle and triumph.

At a time when each athlete’s personal story is under the spotlight, this web site features a few competitors who have experienced ultimate victory.

I particularly point your attention to Rwandan distance runner Dieudonne Disi. He has experienced horror and tragedy. Yet, Christ has changed his life with powerful comfort and forgiveness.

The Struggle and Triumph web site and corresponding DVD are works of Campus Crusade for Christ’s sports ministry - Athletes in Action. This is an incredible tool which you can use to introduce sports minded friends to the message of the gospel.

You can view video clips, read the personal stories and see the contextualized gospel presentation online or on the DVD. We highly recommend the DVD.

Tags: athletesolympics struggle triumph aia video story

This dog’s a runnin ragged. . . are we?

Life sometimes seems like a blur. Much of this blur is normal life - especially with kids - and we enjoy normal. Yet, there are days we just need a break!

Pray for Shannon and I to be refreshed and get some rest from the previous few months. This current season has been quite busy - almost overwhelming - with family and ministry going full speed ahead. Part of it is just the phase of life we are in with three young kids and home school. Children and life bring surprises - like trips to the ER with a broken arm. Also, we’ve done some extended traveling the past six months with family and ministry.

Another side is just finding balance to all of the great opportunities around us to serve the Lord - parts of our ministry are exploding in growth and we literally can’t keep up. Pray that Shannon and I would spend adequate time together and that the Lord would supply down time as well.

We continue to need your prayers for the Lord to deeply sustain and guide us.

This is what some women “on the street” had to say after viewing the new Jesus Film - Magdalena, Released from Shame - in a theater in Columbia:




Magdalena - Released from Shame

Learn more about “Magdalena - Released from Shame.” This is a new version of the Jesus Film.

Great Report from the Field See video footage from a film team in South America who captured women’s responses after watching Magdalena.

Stories of how the Lord is using the Magdalena Movie:

• Nearly 350 inmates gathered to watch the movie in a women’s prison in Central Asia. After watching the film, nearly 60 percent of these female inmates raised their hands, indicating decisions to accept Christ! One Central Asian ministry worker shared the story of a prisoner: “There was a woman who killed 42 people. And then she watched the film and she cried. God opened her heart. There are a thousand like her, millions like her, waiting for Jesus.”

• The Magdalena movie made its U.S. debut at the United Nations! It was an invitation only event for UN Ambassadors and their immediate family. Among those in attendance (actually they were the first couple to arrive at the UN Theater) were the Iraqi Ambassador and his wife! Many ambassadors were deeply moved.

• After watching the movie premiere for the in his country, one well known Muslim journalist commented, “I know now that Jesus is my Savior. He set me free. Thank you that you saved me from suicide.”

• The Lord has opened doors to allow the movie to be shown in public theaters in several Islamic dominant countries. The movie is shown in Arabic. During almost every showing, tickets are sold out and ever theater is packed!

• Read how one woman was touched when she watched Magdalena in our neighborhood. (see Hands Headlines print edition for April ‘08)

** To read many more incredible stories from the field, download this story sheet. It gives brief praise updates from 12 different countries where the movie has premeried. Each one tells of an incredible work of God and will deeply encourage you!

Magdalena - Released from Shame . . . is a new rendering of the Jesus Film from the perspective of Mary Magdalene.

- How to order a copy of Magdalena?

Order any quantity of DVDs from the Jesus Film Store. The best deal is to order a 2-pack DVD set for $19.98. The 2-pack actually includes a Magdalena Resource CD-ROM with materials to help advertise, promote and follow-up from presenting the film. Also here is the direct link to the single DVD ($12.95) in the Jesus Film Store. Or call to order at 1-800-432-1997.

- Which languages are available?

Currently 8 languages: English, Spanish, French, Mandarin, Korean, Arabic, Portuguese and Russian. Many other languages are currently in process. Call the Jesus Film at the number above to learn when new languages will be released.

- Watch movie trailers

You can watch some of the best scenes from the movie - in multiple languages no less - at www.MagdalenaMovie.com

- Discussion Questions

Let a friend or family member watch Magdalena. Afterwards, these non-confrontational questions will help your friend articulate his or her response to the film. You could help guide your friend to receive Christ, following the same conversational steps Mary Magdalene used with her friend Rivka! Download and print the Magdalena Discussion Questions.

See More Magdalena Resources and Testimonies at www.MagdalenaToday.com

Coming soon…
Cool stories about how the Lord is using Magdalena in some amazing locations, including right here at home. Check back to Hands Headlines soon!!

The “land down under” - a vast area of outback territory with kangaroos and koala bears. It’s a popular vacation spot but also a dry and thirsty land spiritually. Only 3% of the population would consider themselves as connected to any Christian church. Most likely even fewer have a growing personal relationship with Jesus.

Campus Crusade’s missionary staff in Australia and New Zealand have invited Shannon and I to serve at their annual conference September 23 - 28.We’re very excited about the opportunity to come alongside these 170 or so staff and hear what their needs are for Internet ministry and communication systems.Most of our time will be spent interviewing the staff, learning what existing systems they have, determining what technical requirements are needed for growth of their ministries and offering training and implementation for the global systems our team has already developed.

 Please pray for our travel and the conference . . .

•    Lift up our children - staying the whole week we’re gone with the grandparents (Eads family).  Pray for wisdom and perseverance of the grandparents, too!
•    Ask that we’ll not be too jet lagged in order to serve well at the conference. We arrive on Sept 23rd after 21 hours of air travel and a shift of 15 hours in time zones!
•    That God will be greatly glorified through the conference and the Australian and New Zealand staff would be even further grateful to reach out in Kingdom service.

A while back the Hand family adopted a practice which helps us remember you in prayer. Your name - along with the names of all of our ministry partners - is on a strip of paper in a bowl that sits beside our dinner table. Before every meal, one of the kids selects (at random) someone to pray for. The Lord reminds us of how grateful we are for your partnership with us and this is another way we can connect with you. Since you are truly a partner in our ministry, it’s our privilege to lift you up! Recently we’ve been reminded that you may have some specific prayer needs which we can lift up for you.

It will give you an idea of what the conference was like: A once in a lifetime experience of seeing believers from all over the world, united in one purpose.

For more info, view our post about the conference from June.

Just last month, the JESUS Film was translated into its 1,000th language! In fact, according to the Jesus Film Translation Progress Report Web Page, as of August 23, 2007, they have officially translated 1,009 versions of the film. This is a huge milestone, as the film is now available for people groups in their native language covering 90% the world.

Many of you know about the JESUS Film. Created in 1979 by Campus Crusade for Christ, it’s a full length docu-drama used by missionaries and evangelistic teams around the world. Years ago I used the film in Eastern Europe to introduce several people to Christ.

For people who can not read the Scriptures or who just are more attuned to responding to visual media, the film is an excellent tool. Many other mission organizations use it. In fact, it is the most translated film in the history of the world.

Even more amazing is the story behind the translation of the 1,000th language - a language called Ho. Ho is spoken by about 1 million people in Central Asia and India.

Jesus Film translation work for the Ho language began 10 or more years ago in India. Involved in the effort was Australian missionary Graham Staines. One night in 1999 Staines and his two young boys traveled to a small village to meet with believers. Only a small percentage of villagers had come to faith at the time, and it was considerably dangerous to be in opposition to the prevailing religion. During the trip, he and his boys spent the night in their Jeep. While they slept, radical Hindu leaders surrounded the Jeep and set fire to it. Graham and his sons were burned to death.

After receiving news of the murders, Mrs. Staines said, “I’m terribly upset but not angry. My husband loved Jesus Christ, who taught us to forgive our enemies.” She continued to serve as a missionary in India with her daughter. Last month, for the first time through the Jesus Film, people from the Ho language were able to see and hear the complete story of our perfect Forgiver and Redeemer Who lives today.

P.S. Sadly, but for the glory of God, many other Jesus Film workers have been put to death around the world. See more in our post about these amazing men and women here. The photo above is from the memorial plaque honoring Staines at the Jesus Film Master Studio in Orlando. If you’d like to learn more about the Jesus Film and its translation work around the world, come visit us in Orlando and take the Jesus Film Master Studio Tour.

Humbling. Every person you see here plus over a dozen others have lost their lives serving with our ministry. Every time I walk by their photos - memorialized in a special area of the Jesus Film offices here at Campus Crusade for Christ Headquarters - I am humbled. These are my brothers who lived, serving in a similar capacity as we do, yet in a very different environment overseas. Many had families and young children.

They all died in the midst of attempting to show the JESUS Film to people who have never heard. Yet, because our Redeemer lives, in several cases many more people - even some of their attackers - came to know Christ as a result.

You can see this memorial and read the story of each person if you visit us in Orlando and take the Jesus Film Master Studio Tour.