BBC’s Mark Simpson reflects on Tearfund’s Live 58 film
Over 250 people recently attended Tearfund’s Live 58 premiere at their new offices in Skainos, Belfast.
Live58 tells inspiring stories of Christians and churches who are living out the call of Isaiah 58 and transforming their local communities around the world. Journalist and Ireland correspondent and parishioner of Holywood Parish, Mark Simpson, led a discussion after the screening. Here he reflects on the film…
“When it comes to watching films, I much prefer fact to fiction. I wouldn’t go to a James Bond movie if you paid me. It’s the same with books. I’ve no time for best–selling novels; I’d rather read the back of a cereal packet. My motto is always ‘keep it real’.
Live58 certainly keeps it real. It shows the reality of the world in which we live – the hope and the despair, the givers and the takers, the haves and the have nots. From Ethiopia to Brazil to Kenya, the film is a globe–trotting tale of human hardship. There is no happy ending. Well, not on this earth.
All films have a defining moment and this one is no different. It’s the moment a young Indian boy, whose family is caught in the hereditary trap of bonded labour, talks about how he hates dreaming at night – because he knows his dreams will never come true.
It would be a great line in a Hollywood movie. But this is not Disney, it is reality. There is no sudden waving of a magic wand and suddenly everyone lives happily ever after. Nonetheless, the film shows the intensive efforts Christian organisations are making to live out the call of Isaiah 58 and improve the lives of people who desperately need help.
It is brave, ground–breaking work. And unlike James Bond, it is real–life heroism”.
If you would like to arrange a screening of Live58 please contact Tearfund Northern Ireland on 028 90 682828 – who are happy to help you make arrangements.