Reginald and Caroline - Vision for Christ

History of Vision for Christ 1985 to 2008

“Vision for Christ” was started in 1985 in the Southern- most state in India, by a small group of Christians having a God-given burden for using the mass media for His glory. Initially it was named as “Video for Christ” as the thirst for the expansion of His kingdom through videocassettes was its primary concern.

India produces the highest number of films per year in the world. In a country where the way of life is groomed & the destinies of political parties are dictated by the film culture & film personalities, the people behind ‘Video for Christ’ wanted to tell the Good News of salvation through story based videos, to the people in their own language.

With no television set equipments & no videocassette recorder of their own, they hired these basic equipments & transported them in motorbikes & did voice-overs in Tamil (the local language), for Christian films in English, which were screened in various places. Still with no equipment of their own they produced a full-length gospel video film in Tamil named “The Stain” which was & is still being used as a powerful evangelistic tool all over the Tamil speaking regions. I visited in February 1994 and seeing this film combined with hearing of the vision which God had given to this couple was the inspiration behind starting AMEN. Click here to read the story of the film and see some still pictures from the film

With the expansion of television network in India, ‘Video for Christ’ utilized all its resources to produce special Gospel T.V. Programmes for a wider range of people & telecast their first gospel T.V. episode during Christmas 1995, through the State run terrestrial television network. It received rave reports even in a secular national level newspaper. The entry into Television ministry necessitated a change of name & hence ‘Video for Christ’ became ‘Vision for Christ’  (VFC). 

In 2001, in obedience to God's call, Caroline left her secure job at the bank. Within 6 days Caroline and Reginald were approached by the "Jesus Redeems" organisation to produce a weekly Gospel TV programme for children. Jolly Time was born!      

This programme became hugely successful. 

It was estimated that over 6 million people (largely not Christian) watched this programme enthusiastically each week and that it was one of the top ten viewer rated programmes on the very popular Star Network  Channel!  

It reached beyond India to the Arabian Gulf. 

For those of you with Broadband you can click on the picture of the puppet to download a video clip of a song from Jolly Time ( 6.4 mb).

In 2002 AMEN started raising the £20,000 needed to purchase professional editing equipment which would enable them to properly set up to operate. By May 2002 we were able to report that half of the money required had been donated. 

Caroline and Reginald wrote "Both of us were working heavily (shooting one day throughout the night) during the production of Christmas and Year-end Special TV episodes. Caroline and I were shunting to Madras, in turns, for editing. We feel the need for an editing set up here all the more now. It is unbelievable that 50% of your target is reached. God's purposes always work out in God's way and in God's time. Our Sincere thanks to "AMEN" 

Using the editing equipment

In September 2002 we were able to take the first part of the video editing equipment with us when we went to India. 

The need was becoming more urgent as Reginald and Caroline were increasingly having to spend more and more time making long trips to professional studios where they sometimes have to wait so long they were forced to sleep on the studio floor. 

A huge thank you from AMEN for the joy of reaching our target and the pleasure of seeing this equipment arrive where it is needed. We had the joy of seeing all the equipment and blessing it for it's future work for the Gospel

In 2005 VFC embarked on a new bold venture, the  production of  a documentary on the life of Bishop Caldwell, a man who had a tremendous impact on the spread of the Gospel in India in the 19th century. Filming was undertaken in India and Scotland, and the film launched in 2006. 

This was the first biographical Christian film ever produced by Indians and made an enormous impact in both India and further afield. It is true to say that this resulted in international recognition of the work of VFC.

Click on the picture to the right for more information (and a clip) of this film and the opportunity to buy a copy!

In 2006, after 5 years and 256 episodes, Caroline and Reginald stepped down from producing the Jolly Time programme.  "Jolly time" ended as God was showing Caroline and Reginald a new direction for their ministry. This was both to produce documentaries, but also to reach out with Gospel films to many other areas of India and nearby who speak other languages. 

In 2007, VFC started working with the people in Orissa, the state where Graham Stains, the Australian missionary was burnt alive with his two sons. 

This state( located in Central India) which has a population of 31.6 million people has more than 50000 villages & most of them do not even have electricity. 

India's most backward tribe, the Upper Bondos, with just a loin cloth for their attire, live in the mountains of Southern Orissa. 

Songs and dramas were recorded that tell the Gospel in their own language & over 1000 copies of these were distributed to local missionaries and people.

Throughout the years AMEN has continued to support this ministry and it has been amazing to see how God has taken such small beginnings and grown them to what they are today. We look forwards to seeing how He will guide and direct them in the future.