In October, a film crew from The Media Evangelism (TME), a Hong Kong-based Christian organization, had started to shoot a film about a miracle God performed on rescuing a Thai youth soccer team three months ago, expecting that the film Miraculous Rescue 13 would draw more attention to teenagers in the Golden Triangle and thereby encourage Christians to share the gospel with them.
On June 13, 2018, 12 young soccer players, aged 11 to 16, who are from Chiang Rai, a small town in Thailand, were led by a 25-year-old soccer coach to explore the caves in Tham Luang Nang Non in Mae Sai County, Thailand. During their time in the caves, they became trapped. The incident caused people who from all around the world to offer help. The soccer players and their coach were all rescued after being trapped for 17 days'. However, during the rescue, one ex-member of the Thai Navy Seals died from lack of oxygen. Some of these teenagers are Christians and their parents prayed during the whole ordeal. Parents of one of the boys thanked God for help from the Christian charity organization, Compassion.
Rev. Jhang Han Yeh from Taipei Full Gospel Church expressed his support for TME's project. "Though reports about the rescue operation have poured in, they seldom mention this Christian aspect of the story. I hope this movie can make Christian organizations around the world think about the situation of nearly 3 million stateless people in the Golden Triangle and how to rescue them from drugs and human trafficking as well as idolatry," he said.
TME hopes that the film can spread the gospel to the Thai people. Actually, for years, it had been planning a film set in Thailand and is now cooperating with the Grace Foundation, an organization serving national minorities in Thailand. The story of rescuing the Thai teenagers well also help them.
Rev. Stephen Lee from Grace Foundation's Golden Triangle Mission Center said that over ten years ago he had been inspired by God to build a mission center to equip missionaries from minority youth in Chiang Rai. He took out a loan to support TME to set up their own film factory which is where this rescue story is to be filmed. The mission center in Chiang Rai, which is made up of tutors and students, is the location for one of the movie scenes that is filmed in Thailand. He said that all these details have been orchestrated by God. "I believe that God scripted this movie, which bears witness to the passage of Scripture in Mark 16:17, 'these signs will accompany those who believe'. Let us comprehend the great deeds and truth of God through this real story," said he.
The movie will be filmed in Chiang Rai, the Golden Triangle, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Australia, Its actors will include church staff who took part in the rescue as well as professional actors and actresses. It is expected to open in January of next year and will inform its audience about the situation of missionary work in northern Thailand.
-Translated by Lin Changfeng
