Comic Book Pentecost Miracle
The comic book project Jesus Messiah is a true Pentecost miracle. The comic book has been published in more than 290 languages! But it started very small. Author and artist Willem de Vink explains: ‘In 1992, Mrs Van der Meijde asked us what we were doing. She was born in 1899. When I told her what I was drawing and with what vision, she gave us a gift to print the first comic books. She understood that pictures can be used to convey the gospel to people who have difficulty reading, and she could see what that could bring about.’
Now, 33 years later, the comic books are distributed all over the world. Willem: ‘We receive heart-warming responses from people who are getting to know Jesus in their own language. I have collected a few of them below.’
All languages can be seen here!
Sri Lanka
Comic books about Jesus the Messiah are distributed in Sri Lanka along with bags of food and other basic necessities. They find their way into the hands of destitute tea pickers, prisoners, traumatized children, street vendors, and families deep in the jungle. And when reading glasses are handed out, the comic book is used as test material! The Love Care Foundation has printed 20,000 comic books in Tamil and Sinhalese for the third time. They bring hopeful news to tens of thousands of people in Sri Lanka.
India
A Dutch missionary in Calabria, Italy, felt led to support a missionary friend in India. She raised money to enable him to print 3,000 comic books. And people from India collected money to print books in Zambia, Africa.
More India
This remarkable message reached us from Central India: Two friends from the same village have read the comic book themselves and are sharing it with those around them: ‘We are very happy with the comic book Jesus Messiah in our own language. In this book, God’s intentions are explained by Jesus, and His promises to all people are fulfilled. We also read this book to other villagers, and they are truly blessed by these stories about Jesus Messiah. We now understand that salvation can only come through Jesus. He allowed Himself to be crucified for us so that we can go to heaven, to the living God. We now believe in Jesus and have experienced freedom in our minds and lives.”
And from a completely different part of India: ‘Hello, I cannot read, but I love the picture book Jesus Messiah, which I received from a servant of God. He read the stories to me. The story of Jesus casting out demons was very important to me. I shared this story with my family. We prayed that Jesus would also deliver our family member. Together with a servant of God, we went to my family member, prayed for him in the name of Jesus, and commanded the demons to come out of the man in Jesus’ name. After some time, those demons all came out, and my family member was freed! We are now learning more about Jesus and believing in Him. We thank God for this wonderful book. We are also going to distribute these books to other people so that they too will believe in God.
Another message from India: ‘Hello, I am a man with my own shop. I speak the Bhatri language and enjoy listening to love songs on the radio. I was content, but I felt that there was more to life than this. Last year, I came across the comic book Jesus Messiah. I knew nothing about Jesus. After I started reading, I felt a sense of authenticity in the story of Jesus. All the stories touched me deeply in my heart. I started reading from this book to my customers. They are very attentive and interested. Jesus has given me true satisfaction. Because I could read this comic book in Bhatri, it touched my heart deeply.’
Southern Africa
A project has been launched in Africa to distribute 1 million comic books to people. This has already been done in Eswatini, and now South Africa and the surrounding countries are to follow suit. Leo Baan, who has been living and working in Africa for more than 30 years, took this plan to heart. He shared his wish on Family7, CVandaag and Groot Nieuws Radio. Currently, 50,000 comic books are being printed and distributed for the third time.
Small language groups
Willem: ‘We are grateful that we can also share the love of Jesus with very small peoples, as far away as the Himalayas and China. But also on the other side of the world. Deep in the jungles of Suriname, for example, there is a small tribe that can only be visited by river and creek. A teacher spent five years working to make the comic book available to them in their own language, Trio. The first few dozen were brought to them in small boats.’
