Based on a true story, “Letters to God” is the inspiring tale of a young boy, Tyler, who is journeying through his battle with cancer while impacting lives through his walk of faith.
And it was that story of hope and its potential impact on the cancer community that inspired Andy Thrower, president of aTeam Ministries, to bring the film to his own Shades Mountain Baptist Church, Vestavia Hills.
aTeam Ministries is an organization dedicated to providing emotional, spiritual and financial support to families dealing with oncology- or hematology-related diseases in children.
“Because it’s a cancer story, we believe it’s a story that needs to be told,” said Director/Producer David Nixon, who also helped direct “Facing the Giants” and “Fireproof.” “And because of the letters it goes beyond cancer.”
It’s about hope, Thrower said.
“Our thought behind going to the expense and effort of doing this is anybody, no matter the situation, would get a sense of hope and know the things God can do in their lives, if they didn’t have that already,” he explained. “Or if they were in a dark time, this could provide some hope in their life that they might not have had or renew hope they had in the past but kind of lost.”
Thrower said while the pre-screening, being held at Shades Mountain Baptist on March 5 at 6:30 p.m., is open to anyone interested (limited seating available), nearly 100 cancer families and workers have been invited to the screening at no cost to them.
“The intent is to try to get cancer families into church to hear the gospel presentation,” he said. “That was the true purpose. … The bottom line is not that we’re trying to hide this is a presentation of the gospel, but it’s a way to do that in a setting that’s a little bit different and something they can relate to, and that’s the point.”
Nixon said he hopes the take-away value for viewers is that “you can have a connection with God and can pray.”
“A lot of people say ‘I wouldn’t know how to pray,’ but here’s an 8-year-old boy with cancer and it was as simple for him as writing a letter to his best friend every day,” he said. “If an 8-year-old with cancer can do that, you can do it, and you can have a connection with God. It’s as simple as writing a letter to Him.”
“Letters to God” opens in theaters April 9. For more information about the film, visit www.letterstogodthemovie.com.
To reserve a pre-screening ticket or for more information about aTeam Ministries, visit www.ateamministries.org.
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