GROW Ministry (Jesus Film)

The Grass-Roots Outreach with the Word (GROW) ministry started in 2013, when we had an idea.

Why not use the Jesus Film not only to call people to follow Jesus Christ, but as a launch point to link them to a Bible study group where they could meet regularly, discuss the Word of God, and grow deeper in their new faith?

The idea worked! 

However, the pilot was done with farmer groups that had been birthed during the time when the Acholi people lived in internally displaced people camps due to the insurgency of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). These groups were being phased out. Some groups continued regardless, but many of them ceased to exist.

Meanwhile, Pastor Donato in Pader kept asking Emmanuel International to come and show the Jesus Film in various villages. We met with him and said that we were willing to show the film, but we also saw that simply showing the film isn't enough. Traditional "hit-and-run" evangelism often results in large numbers of decisions for Christ, but the Church doesn't grow, and the people inevitably fall away for lack of nurturing. We then shared the experience from the 2013 pilot, and Pastor Donato got excited.

Pastor Donato said that over 300 people had indicated they desired to follow Jesus in outreaches that his church had done over the previous 2 months, but the local branch churches had barely grown in number. He said he was the only one who was going back and forth, crossing large distances on a dirt bike, to follow-up with new believers in Sunday services in remote village locations. "This is exactly what we need! More people to be trained to follow-up with new believers!" And so, the Jesus Film Outreach Ministry was officially born. 

From 2016 to present (last updated in 2024), our team has trained leaders from one hundred and one churches in follow-up with new believers and oral Bible storying groups. The film has been shown to roughly 36,500 people in these 101 communities, which include the Palabek camp for displaced South Sudanese refugees. From these film showings, the names of 7,175 people who have decided to give their lives to Christ have been collected and followed up.   

In each of these communities, a thriving Bible study group has been established. The oral storying method trains each member, no matter their level of literacy, to be able to share the truths of Scripture with their neighbours and families. Furthermore, many churches in GROW communities have gone on to plant brand-new churches in neighbouring villages that have no church!