This past Lenten season twenty-five Filipino congregations in GTA who are associated with the Filipino Ministerial Fellowship (FMF) were mobilized to distribute thirty thousand JESUS, Magdalena, and Damascus DVDs. Last year, close to 200,000 DVDs were given by two other partners of the Filipino International Network and the Power to Change (i.e. Campus Crusade for Christ-Canada).

It is even more exciting to see many diaspora people in GTA who have watched these films ask for copies for relatives in their homelands. What was designed to be a local evangelistic outreach has now become a global outreach. These local recipients of DVDs are now distribution agents back to their homelands.

Only eternity will reveal the results of this evangelistic effort. Some people may ask, “How successful is this DVD distribution to the diaspora groups in GTA?” Perhaps the best way to answer such a question is to quote the late Dr. William “Bill” Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, “Success in witnessing is simply taking the initiative to share Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God.”

Meet Alyona and Ewa,* My Neighbours In December 2008, we gave our apartment neighbors JESUS film DVDs as Christmas gifts. Most received our gift enthusiastically with the exception of one or two who returned their copies after watching.

Months later, on 28 March 2009, there was a knock at our door from an elderly lady. She looked nervous and shy as she introduced herself: "My name is Alyona. I live in the second floor of the building. A few months ago you gave me a DVD. I watched it many times and I liked it very much. Do you have another copy? I am going to my homeland, Ukraine, this spring and would like to show this film to my relatives and friends." On 4 April 2009, someone visited Alyona to give her copies of the JESUS film to take to Ukraine. She was there with two of her grandchildren, ages 9 and 10. After explaining the gospel and how they could follow Jesus Christ and receive eternal life, Alyona and her two grandchildren prayed to follow Jesus Christ.

Our apartment superintendant’s wife received the JESUS film in the same way. We first met Ewa when we moved into our current residence in October 2008. Immediately, she befriended us—offering to cook authentic Polish food. She was one of the first of our neighbours to receive the JESUS film DVD. Soon, she requested more copies to share with her loved ones.

If we did not take the initiative to give every family in our apartment building the JESUS film, we wonder if Alyona, her grandchildren, and Ewa would know Jesus today. Please pray for Alyona’s growth in Christ and her testimony being shared with others as far away as Ukraine. This is a story of a diaspora Ukrainian meeting a diaspora Filipino, then returning to her homeland to introduce the most influential person in her life—Jesus Christ—and the best gift ever—eternal life.

Van Engen is right: local churches must be doing glocal missions. They can, indeed, be mobilised for concerted glocal evangelism. Furthermore, Christian leaders need to be witnessing locally, even as they engage themselves globally. Media evangelism, particularly in the form of the films, is a highly effective tool for making a glocal impact.

* pseudonyms

Endnotes

1. 2004. “Filipino International Network: A Strategic Model for Filipino Diaspora Glocal Model.” In SCATTERED: The Filipino Global Presence. Eds. Luis Pantoja, Sadiri Joy Tira, and Enoch Wan. Manila: Life Change Publishing.

2. 2006. “The Global Church: Locality and Catholicity in Globalizing World.” In Globalizing Theology: Belief and Practice in Era of World Christianity. Eds. Craig Ott and Harold Netland. Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA: Baker Academic.

3. See www.toronto.ca/toronto_facts/diversity.htm.