Homemade Cinema

I turned the Wednesday Bible study into a homemade movie theater. We tied a white sheet to bamboo poles at the top of the living room wall. It hung down over the rough cement wall, reaching the dirt floor below.

I set the small projector and speaker on a rusty bucket in the middle of the room. Everyone settled into their seats. A few people on chairs or the wooden bedframe, a few on the floor with small children filling in the gaps. 

I pressed play. Excitement and anticipation filled the room as the introduction for the Jesus Film played. The women around me all exclaimed at once when a woman carrying a jar of water on her shoulder appeared on the scene. I smiled internally. Carrying water is such an integral part of their lives, they appreciated seeing it from another culture.

Scenes of Mary and the angel, Elizabeth, Jesus' birth, and the shepherds played out before us. At first, the women kept asking me who someone was, but as the film drew them in, they became quiet. Even the kids kept still.

We watched Jesus growing up, getting baptized, and Satan tempting Him in the wilderness. One of the kids on the floor got scared of the snake representing Satan and hid his face in the great grandmother's lap. She comforted him and the film moved on to Jesus' ministry.

Mama N started commenting on the stories she remembered from listening to the audio Bible. Sometimes finishing a sentence, giving an ending away, or explaining something to the others. 

"They walk a lot!" Bibi exclaimed at another scene of Jesus walking with His disciples. "Where are they going?" she asked me.

"To Jerusalem," I replied.

We saw Jesus' triumphal entry and Him teaching in the temple. His last supper with His disciples and arrest by the soldiers. As He was beaten, sentenced to death, and nailed to the cross, shock rippled through the audience.

They watched with curiosity as Jesus' body was buried, then disappeared three days later when the women went to put spices on it. The film finished with Jesus' appearing to His disciples and then returning to heaven.

A discussion broke out between Bibi on my right and Mama N behind me on the left. I felt caught in the middle and didn't understand most of it. I started packing up the projector and it grew quiet around me.

"I'm sorry I can't stay much longer. I'm leaving for Nampula in two days and I have a lot to get ready," I explained. They all nodded in understanding and thanked me for showing the movie to them. "Can I pray for you all before I leave?" They heartily agreed and I entrusted them to the Lord.