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making a difference
Early Morning Revelation
by Elizabeth Schenkel
In the darkness of early morning, I heard the click the alarm clock emitted before

sounding off. I reached over and pushed the button to stop the alarm before it
started. I slipped out of the warm bed, nursing a familiar feeling of dread as I picked
up my robe and slippers and made my way out of our room and down the stairs.
Once in the kitchen, I made my cup of tea and then crept down the basement
steps. The cold of the concrete floor made its unwelcome way through the soles
of my slippers. I put my tea down on a little table and threw a load of wash into
the machine. Bundled against the cold, and hidden in my basement retreat, I knelt
down before the old, ragged wingback chair and engaged my daily battle with
foreboding the day that lay ahead and feeling guilt from the one that lay behind.
As the mother of small children, it was challenging to find time to be alone with
God. I had found that, for me, an hour with Him before the start of day was
almost essential if I wanted to be, in any sense, a godly wife, mother and leader.
I felt deeply my own failings, my propensity to selfishness, my short temper and
sharp tongue. I used my quiet time as a time to pull myself up by my proverbial bootstraps to present myself
before God. I would meditate on Scriptures, read devotional books, do anything to calm myself and be a
better version of me.
This morning, though, God interrupted my well-intentioned efforts. As I knelt before that familiar chair, I
saw a kind of picture. It was of me, with a ladder to heaven in front of me. I began dragging my poor self up
the ladder. I was heavy, and this was hard work! I did this every morning. I was trying to clean myself up and
make myself worthy of a relationship with God, striving against sin and everything that would try to drag me
down. I hoped that by putting on my best face and dragging myself up that ladder, I would be worthy of Gods
attention, of His grace and enabling, of His answers to my heartfelt prayers. All good and worthy aspirations.
But God interrupted my efforts. He seemed to be saying, Why are you dragging yourself up this ladder?
Um Isnt it obvious? Because I want to stand before You! I need Your grace. I need You to hear my prayers!
What religion is that you are practicing?
Now that was not really a welcomed question! Of course, God knew I was a follower of Jesus Christ! But as
I examined my heart, I realized that I had fallen into something other than what I had intended. Somehow,
somewhere along the line, my daily discipline had become an exercise in cleaning myself up and making myself
(continued on page 4)

Issue 12

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MAGDALENA in Action
by Lori Gipson

Best Movie Ever!

I was working as an administrative assistant and received many wonderful

reports of how God used the movie, Magdalena: Through Her Eyes, to minister
to women all over the world. Wanting to see this powerful movie for myself, I
brought it home one night for my husband and me to watch.
We grabbed a Coke and some popcorn, then snuggled on the couch to watch
this movie I had heard so much about. We finished the movie and both looked
at each other and said, Well that was a good movie and it was scripturally
accurate. However, we were both a little disappointed because we were
expecting to have this AMAZING experience I had read in the reports.

Lori Gipson serves with Jesus Film

Months later, the leaders of the prison ministry we are involved in asked if we
Womens Strategy for Latin America
and the Caribbean.
would bring the Magdalena movie to show the ladies who are incarcerated. After
our experience watching it for ourselves, we were almost apologetic but agreed
to bring it in the next weekend.
Saturday night, we brought Magdalena to show the ladies, started the film, and within 15 minutes the presence of
God filled the room. They started crying as God revealed Himself, ministering to them personally and powerfully.
It was like we were watching a totally different movie. At the conclusion of the movie, my husband and I looked
at each other and said, Oh my goodness! That was the BEST movie I have ever watched!
We learned from that experience that the Magdalena movie isnt just ordinary entertainment, but an anointed
evangelistic tool that God uses to reveal Himself and minister personally to those in need.
.

Delivered From Addiction

A Story from Eastern Europe

As the movie played, Jesus looked directly at Mary Magdalene and declared her freedom. With a gasp the

demons released their hold, and Mary Magdalene fell to the ground. Jesus gently called her name, and she looked
up with clear, but wet eyes to see her Savior, smiling back at her with love.
Caught up in the story, Ania cried. Shes lost track of how many times she has seen this scene in Magdalena, but
it touches her heart every time. It reminds her of her own storyhow God set her free from what used to hold
her in bondageher drug addiction.
Ania first learned about Jesus at a Christian rehab center. But it wasnt until she saw Magdalena that the power
of His love for her clicked. Set free from her own addictions, Ania realized that with God, all things are possible.

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Share the Journey

by Cindy Wallace

A Life Redeemed

If you ever have been sexually abused as a child

If you have turned to a trusted adult for help and found more abuse
If you ever felt like you must have a look that invites abusive attention by men
If you have been abused by so many different men that you came to believe it was normal for every little girl...
If you became hopelessly addicted to drugs or alcohol, or both, or more
If abortion is your means of birth control
If you have secrets that make you fearful and sick
If you feel guilt and shame beyond comprehension
If suicide seems like the only answer

Then you need to meet Nina. She lived a recurring cycle of abuse that began as a toddler and continued
into adulthood. She has struggled with hostility and rage and denial. Nina staggered through life under the
burden of her terrible secrets, kept even from her loving and supportive family. One could almost understand
why she would engage in self-destructive behavior for much of that time.

But when Nina surrendered to Jesus, things began to change. She received counseling and began to reveal the
horror of her abuse to loved ones, setting aside the weight of her secrets. She found friends who sowed seeds of
encouragement into her. She joined a support group and Bible studies. Learning not to blame herself for her past
or others for her own poor choices, she allowed God to do His transforming work in her life.
One day, Nina found herself in a darkened room watching the movie,
Magdalena: Through Her Eyes. As she watched Jesus gently lead the woman at
the well to an understanding of grace, she realized that His grace was for her
too. As she saw the compassionate way Jesus dealt with the woman caught in
adultery, she saw His forgiveness of her in a new light. And as she went through
the follow-up Bible study, Reflections of Hope, Nina experienced Gods lovea
love that can overpower her past and the lies she had believed for so long.
Several years into her transformation, Nina received education and training to
become an addiction counselor. She says, I knew what God was doing in my
life, and if I could pass that hope on to just one other person, I would be forever
blessed. Today, I counsel addictslike me. God didnt waste any of my hurts,
fears or tears. He used them.
Nina brought her past to Jesus and allowed Him to show her the way He sees her, beautiful and redeemed. This
is the message of the gospel for all women everywhere; a message of life and hope and transformation. This is
the message they see in Magdalena: Through Her Eyes.

Early Morning Revelation (cont. from page 1)

worthy of entering the presence of God. We do need to strive against sin, but always in the context of the
free gift of righteousness that is found in Christ alone.
The Lord and I had a long conversation that morning. At the end of it, I found myself greatly relieved. I put
away the ladder and, instead, simply entered my Heavenly Fathers throne room in the name of my Savior.
Instead of fighting discouragement over my failings, I embraced my weakness and presented myself as is to
God, accepting in exchange the righteousness purchased for me by Christ on the cross.
The next morning when I woke to the familiar click of the alarm clock, all the motions I went through
were identical the slippers, the robe, the tea, the basement floor, the laundry, the aged wingback chair. But
everything was different! I ran with joy into the arms of my Heavenly Father with all my weakness and mess
on full display. My weakness became a treasure to me, because I could exchange it freely for His strength, not
because I had covered it and hid it but because I acknowledged both my weakness and the sacrifice that paid
for it in full.
I have spent time with the Lord in many countries, on four continents, in lots of different houses, apartments,
hotels and even hospitals. I am so grateful for the discipline of time with God in prayer and in His Word each
day. But since that early morning, it has become a time of celebrating His wealth of grace and forgiveness, not
lamenting my poverty. The exchanged life, they call it. What a gift!
Elizabeth Schenkel has been actively involved in Christian ministry on four continents over the past 40 years. After a
violent attack nearly ended her life in 2000, Elizabeth became a spokesperson for the persecuted church and for fulfilling
Christs Great Commission through bold steps of faith. Elizabeth co-wrote the evangelistic, follow-up film series for the
Magdalena film entitled Rivka. After serving overseas for 16 years, Elizabeth and her husband, Erick, moved to Orlando,
Florida, in April 2012, where Erick serves as the Executive Director of Jesus Film Project. The Schenkels have five
grown children and three grandchildren.

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Jesus Film Project
A Ministry of Cru
100 Lake Hart Drive, #3100, Orlando, FL 32832