Humanitarian aid opens doors for the gospel in areas Cru missionaries can't access without it.
Mission drives innovation. That's the mantra that led The JESUS Film Project to earn the "2014 eXcelerate Innovation in Mission Award" from Missio Nexus.
Erick Schenkel, executive director of The JESUS Film Project, says his teams' creativity is fueled by the desire to provide digital resources at no cost.
"We believe that developing new digital tools that provide instant, mobile access to all of our films, in every language, empowers people to experience Jesus and share that experience on a global scale," said Schenkel.
Launched in 2012, the JESUS Film® digital platform began offering its entire video library—more than 75,000 videos –freely in the form of the Jesus Film Media™ app and a content platform. The app has been installed more than 350,000 times on iOS and Android devices. The platform allows ministry partners like YouVersion and Bible.is to stream the JESUS film on-demand to their audiences.
Gabe Handy, technical director for the app and video platform, believes that offering The JESUS Film Project's films digitally will accelerate the Great Commission. "This award recognizes our enduring commitment to reaching people with the gospel wherever they are. As we continue to see rapid adoption of mobile technology worldwide, spanning all income levels, this represents the next best opportunity to reach not just people groups, but the individual person with the gospel. We are willing to rethink how we conduct ministry and how we adapt our tools to meet this new opportunity."
About The JESUS Film Project
The mission of The JESUS Film Project, a ministry of Cru, is to see life-changing encounters with Jesus occur through film. Through the use of its films and strategies, the body of Christ has helped to plant tens of thousands of churches and seen more than 200 million people indicate decisions to follow Jesus around the world. Its premier film, JESUS, has been translated and dubbed into more than 1,200 languages.
The Jesus Film Media platform has hosted over 20 million play events for hundreds of websites and several apps, including the Jesus Film Media app, which has been installed on more than 350,000 devices.
About Missio Nexus
The members of Missio Nexus form a body representative of 35,000 evangelical missionaries deployed in every country by more than 200 agencies and churches. Its vision is to see missional leaders accelerating the fulfillment of the Great Commission in servant partnership with the church globally.
Missio Nexus acknowledges and honors leaders and organizations of influence in missiology through its annual awards. Previous recipients include "MoveIn" for strategic innovation in ministry to the unreached urban poor.
Visit www.missionexus.org for more information.
©1994-2025 Cru. All Rights Reserved.
