During the most recent Easter week, the Paradise church held a series of unique evangelism meetings. The series, “Faces Around the Cross,” was a dramatization of biblical characters presented by Dr. Dick Stenbakken.

The program was a new way to understand the gospel though the eyes of those who walked with Jesus. The characters portrayed each night mesmerized those who attended, especially the children and young adults. In fact, seven-year-old Janelle Ahn revealed that her Paradise Adventist Academy classroom had a contest as to which character got the most favorite votes. “At first it was Judas,” she said, but then “it was the centurion who won the final votes.”

Between March 31 and April 8, Stenbakken, who has traveled the world giving a fresh view of Jesus through well-researched, first person narratives, portrayed John, Judas, Peter, Caiaphas, Malchus and Pilate. The climax of the series was the Roman centurion whom Jesus convinced to be a believer.

The last evening, a provoking question was posed to the audience: Do you know who this Jesus is and why He went to the cross for you? “Jesus was so much more real,” explained one attendee.