Approximately 925 million people do not have enough to eat in 2011, according to The World Hunger Education Service. A new movie made by a father and son team seeks to highlight the endemic problem of global poverty while painting the possibility of ending it via a united, global effort.
The film is called “58: The Film” and it urges Christians to fight against global poverty and injustice. Based on God's call in Isaiah 58 to “loose the chains of injustice” it focuses on the problem of global poverty and oppression, and then challenges Christians to act on their faith.
Filmed over the course of two years in 15 different countries, ’58’ features powerful stories of the impoverished and of those working alongside them. The film takes its audience from the drought-ridden Ethiopian plains to the slums of Kenya. It includes stories of people struggling to survive amidst gang violence, chemical addictions, the sex trafficking trade and more.
Stories of those seeking to serve alongside the poor include an American business owner selling Fair Trade coffee, a Brazilian man who assists those struggling with addiction, and a group of youth people in New York who fast and pray for those living in poverty.
"The purpose of the film is really to stimulate and to motivate and really to challenge Christians to respond to the biblical mandate for social concern and action,” said co-director Tony Neeves.
Neeves, who made the documentary with his son, is a former vice president of Compassion International, a Christian organization that assists children around the globe who live in poverty.
"The Bible is really clear that God loves the poor and the oppressed, and has a very special concern for them, and really calls his children, his followers, to have that same heart,” added Neeves.
Wess Stafford, Compassion’s president and CEO, makes several appearances in the film, challenging viewers to believe that eradicating global poverty is possible. In approximately 20 years, according to Stafford, global poverty has been cut in half. Stafford believes God has given Western Christians the financial capital to end the dire living situations that many face all over the globe.