No question: The Jesus Film (Luke’s gospel) is the all time favorite at Idigima Secondary School. Yes, hearing it in Swahili is no doubt a major reason for its popularity. That aside, the youth still prefer to see the life of Jesus dramatized than most anything else. That was proven when, after class, we showed home videos and pictures taken a couple of weeks ago around the campus. After seeing themselves, we brought up the Gospel of John in English, and the kids were glued to it for the next hour or more. The afternoon rains came and went and they wanted to stay and see more.
We scheduled three weeks of movie nights for Mondays and Wednesdays in order to expose the entire Pre-Form One student body to the Swahili version of the Jesus Film.
We tried to have boys one night and girls the next, working through each class in turn, but there were always some students sneaking in with friends, some of them seeing the film three times.
They never mind being crowded, no matter how much we try to make it a comfortable viewing.
We will set up 20 chairs for 20 students, but have 30 or more squeeze in, full of smiles.
When will we learn? This culture thrives on being “together” in all aspects of life. Unity is a bond of peace. Individuality is looked upon as a suspicious behavior; something for the church to think about . . .
With love from Africa,
Gary and Joanne Grenell
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