“ALL THE SAINTS”: HOW REFUGEES FROM BURMA BREATHED LIFE INTO THE AMERICAN CHURCH

The unusual story of how refugees from Burma has breathed new life into one American Church, surprisingly, was well received on the big screen. The film is called “All saints” for the first two weeks grossed more than four million dollars, twice its budget. In Smyrna, Tennessee met with the actors and real members of this wonderful history.

More than 10 years ago, Michael Spurlock refused a business career to become a priest of the Episcopal Church. And it was a difficult path.

From the seller paper he turned into a preacher, his first task as pastor was the closure of the Church.

“It is, he answers Spurlock. — I thought God brought me to this work.”

His pastoral Ministry focuses on the film “All the saints”. When father Michael was about to close the Church, on her doorstep came the persecuted Christians from Burma seeking assistance.

“We get an allowance, but a family sleeping on the floor, and their children malnourished, says Burmese refugee Ye Wine. — We are the Karen from Burma. We were a British colony. About Jesus Christ we learned from the British. We are the Anglican Church, Episcopal”.

When Ye Wine and other refugees knocked at the Church, seeking refuge and aid, the Church was in the process of closing. What made the priest Michael Spurlock to open the door for them?

“Jesus, he replies. — I don’t understand how it could genuinely claim to be a Christian and do otherwise. My faith in Jesus, my love for Him, just tells me that there can be only one answer.”

Michael Spartak says, starting the process of closing the Church, he felt that God spoke to him.

“We had little time to respond to an offer to purchase our building. And we’re almost resigned to the fact that it will have to take when I entered the field behind the Church, and God said, “Michael, I gave you a farm land and sent you to the other end of the light 65 skilled farmers. You have to open a farm here. It’s your future,” he says.

“There’s corn, there — tomatoes, a zucchini and pepper. Seeds from Burma!” — know the voice of Ye Wine.

All Saints Church occupies 22 acres of land, 17 of which here’s a completely flat and fertile. We can say that it not only produces food, but also breathed into this Church a new life. And now, when this miracle will know more and more people around the world, we watched as the stars of the film met real heroes before showing the paintings in their hometown.

“It’s weird, and that’s fine. That is weird and wonderful, fit perfectly with this place, because it is a strange and wonderful place,” says Michael Spurlock.

The role of the father Spurlock John Corbett.

“We have a similar Outlook on life, — says the actor. — I am now at a stage where I kind of got bored with what I do for the past 30 years. I think, “How many years do I have left? Now I’m 56. If I have twenty years? Will they be good?” I spend a lot of time thinking about what I really wanted to do in those years? To go to the next set, to speak someone else’s words, to wear someone’s clothes for six weeks to receive a fee, and then returned home again to wait for a call in order for all this to repeat again? Or do I want to really “shake things up”, to sell the house, move to another place and start life anew? It and he did. He kind of jumped out of the boat in a turbulent stream, and said, “I broke up with this life. Now I want to have the life of a clergyman”. And I… I just admire what he’s doing”.

Comedian Chonda pierce once lived near this Church. She gladly returned to Smyrna as a very noisy parishioner.

“I grew up in this Church. So I always tell people that I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly. My heroine in this film is one of the nastiest! — says the actress. — Ruth was not a terrible person, but she really represents the majority of people who are difficult to change. And this is something that often face the Church. And at the same time, she reminds me of many parishioners who have completely the wrong idea about what the Church is. That’s why I loved the script.”

Father Spurlock believes that to write such a script could only be a God.
I heard that you admitted some mistakes during the activities. What were the mistakes, for example?

“There were many “agricultural” mistakes”, — says Michael Spurlock. — I’m not a farmer and knew nothing about agriculture. But God and Noah was forced to build a boat. Can you imagine how much the Lord had need of patience before the farmer became a shipbuilder? God called a priest to become a farmer. Of course, He had to know that not everything will go smoothly.”

Let in this way and met the bumps, yet the Church of All Saints was gathered in the end a rich harvest. The Church paid off the mortgage for 850 000 dollars, and the Church doors are still open.

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