Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary student Mang Siing recently became a part of history when he served as the narrator for the Zo language translation of the world-famous Jesus Film. The film has been translated into 2,000 languages.
The film depicts the life and ministry of Christ, and is the world’s most translated movie, according to Guinness World Records. Since its release in 1979, it has been viewed by billions of people around the world and resulted in more than 600 million decisions for Christ, according to statistics on the film’s website.
Siing, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in missions with a minor in evangelism at SWBTS, was approached through a connection with Cru (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ) about leading the translation project for the film in the Zo language.
Siing, who is from Myanmar, said Zo is one of more than 50 different dialects of the Chin people group, and was of the last of the Chin languages to receive a biblical translation. The New Testament translation of Zo was completed about 10 years ago, followed by the entire Bible in 2018.
Aside from the Bible and a few Christian hymns, Siing said there is a lack of Christian content or resources in Zo. Many tribes do not even have access to the internet.
Siing worked with representatives from the film to begin the recording process, and Cru assisted by renting a local recording studio to complete the voiceover work.