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Facing Darkness: A Movie to Watch

 

Last month, as the school year approached, I decided that we should do something a little different for our geography, social studies, history curriculum.  We decided for our Fall Semester we would just study one continent — Africa.

As I gathered my resources together, I chose a few missionaries that I wanted to study in depth and few books we could read.  I remembered a movie that I watched with my husband, in the theater, not too long ago.  In preparation for this school year, I added Facing Darkness, to our list of what we would watch this year.

For those of you who haven’t heard of it, this movie is a documentary about the Ebola Crisis which happened in West Africa in 2014.  Two medical missionaries, Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, who were working at ELWA Hospital in Liberia, became infected with the terrible disease and nearly lost their lives in the process.

 

The movie features interviews with several missionaries who are with SIM and Samaritan’s Purse, including Franklin Graham, Kent Brantly, and Nancy Writebol.  Franklin Graham, who is the president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse, was the Executive Producer for this movie which centers around faith, grace, and miracles.

The movie allows us a glimpse into the country of Liberia, a short view of their history, and how their cultural views were, in some ways, a catalyst for the perfect storm leading to the spread of Ebola.  It also helps us to understand what was taking place on the mission field during that time, as well.  We get to see what was going on behind the scenes when Dr. Brantly was diagnosed with Ebola along with his colleague, Nancy Writebol.

We, as viewers, join the other missionaries as they tell their story from the days and months leading up to Kent and Nancy’s sickness to the days where they are flown back to the US.

 

Franklin Graham gives an amazing account of the events that happened prior to the missionaries being flown home.  He also shows us what needed to be done to help the thousands who had suffered and the thousands more who would come in contact with this dreadful disease in the coming weeks and months.

 

 

Let me just tell you that this is a powerful movie.  It takes us from our little piece of this great big globe and shows us one of the (many) ways God is at work.  It allows us to see, with clear eyes, how God can use his followers in powerful ways.  Most of all it shows us how powerful prayer and faith really are.

As my 7th grade son and I finished the movie, he looked over at me and said, “Mom, we really need to pray and study God’s word every day.  That should be the most important part of our day.  Because it is the most important thing.”

 

I then realized what the many verses in the Bible mean…like this one, “…Jesus declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.” Matthew 11:25

So, for those of you wondering, yes, we have made Bible Study a huge part of our morning.  I’m thankful for the conviction of the Holy Spirit in my 12 year old son, so that now we wake up before dawn to study God’s word with the big kids who are hungry to learn and pray.

Facing Darkness is a must see and in my opinion it is appropriate for kids in Middle School and High School.  I think this is one of most important movies you could watch this year – it most likely will change your viewpoint — but it might just change your life.