That which would become Gospel Films had its start in a vision: that someday, every people group could encounter Jesus through beautiful—and accurate—visual Bibles. Hannah Leader, LUMO films producer, shares how the LUMO Project came to be. Praise God for His plan!
“I first started to think about filming the Gospels when my church installed a screen and I wanted to be able to show 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 Faith Comes By Hearing and LUMO share a common vision for enabling access to all the wonder 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.”
We thank God for Hannah and the vision He gave her to reach the world with the Gospel through film. Find out more about our partnership with LUMO and about Gospel Films here.
