The world’s most translated film recently reached a major milestone. The Jesus Film was dubbed into the Zo language this year, marking the film’s 2,000th translation, according to a recent announcement from the Jesus Film Project.
The announcement comes 43 years after the film’s original release in English in 1979. Since then, the Jesus Film, a ministry of Cru (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ), has been seen more than 10 billion times around the world.
A Zo translation of the Bible was finished in 2019, but it hasn’t been printed in Myanmar yet. According to The Jesus Film Project, many Zo can’t read, so having an audio and visual version of Christ’s life opens a window for them to receive the gospel.
“This translation of JESUS provides a way for Zo speakers to have access to the story of Jesus in their language in a format they can understand,” the organization indicated in a press release.
The Zo are an ethnic minority group of about 67,000 in Myanmar. Another 29,000 Zo live in India, according to the Joshua Project, which researches minority ethnic groups worldwide to help direct Christian missions work
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Although Myanmar is predominantly Buddhist, the Zo are majority Christian. Myanmar’s military junta has long targeted religious groups that won’t submit to its rule, and thousands from Myanmar have sought refuge in the U.S.
Work on the Zo script began during the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning translators had to get creative to overcome obstacles to travel, according to the Jesus Film Project. Instead of going overseas to start on its next language, the project reached out to immigrants in the U.S.
That’s how the project partnered with Pastor Sing, a Zo seminary student in Texas and leader of a house church. Pastor Sing worked closely with the Jesus Film Project to help translate the script and line up voice actors who dubbed the film.
“Without the recording team’s determination and the partnership of Pastor Sing and the Zo community, a JESUS film translation in Zo could have taken a decade,” according to the Jesus Film Project’s announcement.“ But God’s desire that all nations know Him cannot be deterred, even by a global pandemic.”
Sarah Einselen is an award-winning writer and editor based in Texas.
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One Response
I’m so glad this has happened. One of the issues of Bible translation is there are areas where people cannot read their own language or it may not have been written down.