Faithwire recently had an article on Bible Project, a hugely popular Christian YouTube channel, that provides Biblical teaching through animation.

On its main, English-speaking channel, Bible Project has over 3.6 million subscribers.

But that is not the sum total of its influence, because it also has 12 additional channels dedicated to other languages. Its Español channel has 858 thousand subscribers and its Portuguese channel has 364 thousand.

It also has a Mandarin channel for the Chinese with over 56 thousand subscribers and a Russian channel with over 44,000 subscribers.

When you include all 13 channels dedicated to other languages, the Bible Project has over 5 million subscribers.

But in addition to this, its videos have been translated into 56 languages.

This reflects a massive growth for a channel that started nearly ten years ago in the city of Portland when two Multnomah Bible college friends, Tim Mackie and Jon Collins, kicked around the idea of presenting the Bible in a way that people could understand.

The two provided a unique set of skills and background. Tim had a PhD in Semitic languages and Biblical studies and Jon had a background in video, through his career in digital media.

In 2014, they created two animations for their friends, who were so impressed by what they saw, they began chipping in money.

Soon the duo had enough money for another video and now nine years later, they have over 180 videos and 350 podcasts, Faithwire reports.

And incredibly their videos have been viewed over 620 million times in 200 countries.

In Faithwire‘s interview with Michael McDonald, Chief Global Focus and Strategic Relationships Officer, he spoke of the impact that the videos are having around the world.

McDonald cited one testimonial of how the video is impacting Muslims:

“And so you find people in Tunisia watching the Arabic videos and sending in comments of, ‘I’m Muslim who has been interested in the Bible and I didn’t know how to, you know, engage it or read it. And I found your videos on YouTube because they’re free and now they’re opening up the scriptures in a unique way and understanding what it’s saying about Jesus.’”

Aside from providing a general overview of the various books of the Bible, Bible Project also tackles tougher Biblical issues, such as the Divine Council mentioned throughout the Scripture:

But what I found particularly interesting is the impact it is having on youth.

The top comment for The Divine Council is from a then 15-year-old boy, @smu2752, who wrote three years ago:

“Hey I’m a 15 year old kid who loves the stories in the bible. However I get confused sometimes as I dont understand some of the things that are said, But after I discovered this channel you guys have made things so much clearer to me. Thank you“

READ: Innovative ‘BibleProject’ Opens Scripture to Millions in 56 Languages: ‘The Story Leads to Jesus’