'Won't You Be My Neighbor?' Reminds Us That All Lives Matter
/In a world where kindness toward our neighbors is severely lacking, Fred Rogers — Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood — is a reminder that everyone deserves to be loved.BY JON GARCIAWon’t You Be My Neighbor? is a documentary recently released about the life of Rogers. The film chronicles his life and work from humble beginnings to faithful endings.Rogers believed his calling in life was to serve God through the medium of television. At one point during the film, the audience learns that when Rogers sought ordination with the United Presbyterian Church, he told the denomination that his mission field would be serving children — through educational TV.We learn a lot about Rogers through his TV show, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. It quickly becomes evident that the show not only benefited a generation of children, but a generation of adults as well — Rogers included.Rogers states that as a child, he was overweight and picked on. To add insult to injury, he didn’t feel the freedom to express emotions in his family (in particular, anger). As a result, he felt that one of the most important things he could do for children was to teach them how to understand their emotions. Rogers believed that if you understood your emotions, you could understand how to love yourself and love others.There were a lot of really interesting themes that Christians could take note of. Perhaps the most profound idea in the movie was Rogers’ commitment to biblical integration. Without fail, his theology was woven deeply into the DNA of his show. The message of every episode was the same — people have intrinsic value, and they are worthy of love because of that. That’s what it means to be made in God’s image. It means you are valuable for no other reason than the fact that you are created in God’s image.In a day and age where people yell at each other, call each other names, and attack each other’s character, Rogers is a breath of fresh air. He reminds us that we should never forget that even the “worst” among us are worthy of our dignity and respect for no other reason than the fact that they are God’s image bearers.As I sit and reflect on Rogers message, I can’t help but think that this is the message the world needs today. We need to remember that above all, people deeply matter.Black lives matter.Immigrant lives matter.Isis lives matter.Republican lives matter.Democrat lives matter.It’s a really simple concept, but if you’re not intentionally seeking to live it out, you’re not going to remember that people matter. You’ll get callous and burned by the world, and you’ll forget that Christians are called to love other people — especially those who disagree with us.
Rogers never forgot this because he knew that deep inside each and every one of us, there was a childlike innocence. Rogers knew that the reason Jesus invited little children to come to him was because they were a true picture of faith. So in order to influence a generation of people and remind them that love matters, Rogers centered his life ministry on children.Because there’s something simply beautiful about the childlike faith of an adolescent and the way they love people. They don’t hold grudges against others. They aren’t racist toward others. They don’t judge others. They just love people.It reminds me of my childhood, when my father made us listen to a lot of oldies.By the time I was in high school, I’d heard enough of them to last a lifetime. So at seventeen, I stopped listening to oldies.Although I still have a healthy appreciation for oldies, I just don’t listen to them anymore. But every now and then, I’ll find myself humming one of the classics. And when that happens, it takes me back to my childhood, when I thought much differently about the world.I found myself humming Dionne Warwick the other day. And, as the humming ensued, I found myself singing, “What the world needs now is love sweet love.”Maybe I’ll start listening to oldies again.
In what promises to be a fascinating look at overcoming extreme conditions and circumstances while competing in “the most difficult endurance race in the world,” Godspeed - The Race Across America Documentary is coming to theaters across America for one night only, May 22.WATCH TRAILER BELOWHollywood film and television producer Brian Bird, whose writing and producing credits include The Case for Christ and Captive, is promoting the movie as his next faith and family film. Bird also serves as executive producer and head writer of the wildly successful Hallmark original series, "When Calls the Heart," (2013-present), and was Co-Executive producer and senior writer for five seasons on the hit CBS series, “Touched By An Angel.”Godspeed is the true story of two average guys, Jerry Schemmel and Brad Cooper, fulfilling a dream to compete in the world’s most grueling and demanding bicycle race—The Race Across America—a seven-day, 3,000+ mile trek across 12 states from the Pacific to the Atlantic Oceans, producers state on the movie’s Facebook site.Race Across America (RAAM) is one of the most respected and longest running ultra-endurance events in the world. RAAM is seen as a pinnacle of athletic achievement not only in cycling circles but the greater sporting community as well.“There is no other race in the world like RAAM,” Godspeed film makers said. “ There is no race that combines the distance, terrain and weather; no other event that tests a team’s spirit from beginning to end. The Race inspires everyone who has been a part of it - racer, crew, staff and fans alike. RAAM is the true test of speed, endurance, strength and camaraderie, the ideal combination of work and play.”
It might have been because he was born into a home of an alcoholic mother and a father that left him early in life, but eventually he found himself on the wrong side of the law more than once. Then, as his star began to rise higher and higher he began to chase harder and harder after every pleasure this planet had to offer.But notwithstanding all his fame and fortune, a colossal vacuum lived rent-free in Steve McQueen’s heart, a yawning chasm, a lack of purpose rooted in the absence of functional, involved parents. He spent his whole life avoiding his mother and searching for his father—searching for someone or something to stand in for him, someone to love him.He had the best cars money could buy, the most beautiful women at his beck and call, drugs galore, booze until the well ran dry, and much more.While still the top movie star on the planet, and with all the money and power in the world, he decided to search for more than this world could offer. That was the story I was interested in, and I chased it till I found it. Everyone knew about McQueen’s Bullitt! but I wanted to find McQueen’s salvation. 
McQueen, who starred in more than two dozen films from 1953-1980, died in 1980 at the age of 50 from mesothelioma.“In a significant turn toward the end of his life, ironically, just before he found out that he had cancer and while still the top movie star on earth, Steve did something that showed me that he really was ‘the coolest of them all.’ He put his faith in God and became a believer in Jesus Christ,” said Laurie.“He was simultaneously the most unlikely and then again maybe the most likely person to come to faith in God,” Laurie said.
When volunteers from around the world flew into West Africa in 2014 to help battle the Ebola epidemic, they knew there was a risk that they, too, could get sick and die. They went anyway 
Arthur Rasco: We wanted to put together a documentary film that would basically be a testimony to God of the things that He did in the lives of Dr. Brantly and Nancy — to give glory to Him for a miraculous set of circumstances that really unfolded to save their lives. It’s kind of like a modern-day epic mission story of seeing God work through circumstances, God work through people.Foust: Describe your emotions, and even those around you, when you learned that, first, Dr. Brantly had Ebola and then Nancy did, as well.Rasco: I can remember the evening that I got the notice that Dr. Brantly had tested positive for Ebola. It was rough. Of course, I knew that Samaritan’s Purse was doing what it could to fight Ebola. Doctors Without Borders and others had turned to us to say, “Hey, will you help care for Ebola patients there in Liberia?” Doctors Without Borders had their hands full with care in the Sierra Leone and Guinea, and Samaritan’s Purse had a longstanding relationship and a strong foundation in Liberia. So we had connections with doctors and nurses and hospitals. Samaritan’s Purse stepped forward. I knew that it was going to be a challenge for us. To hear that our doctor had come down with the virus, and then another person had come down with it, it was devastating.Foust: And you likely were thinking in your head: 90 percent mortality rate.Rasco: Yes. All of us were really scared, and none of us knew what would happen. We had to do what we could to get them the best care possible. We could do that here in the states, but then how do we get them here? That became a challenge. And who would step up to take care of them? That, too, was a challenge. And is there any treatment at all that we can give them? Different people stepped up to help, and that is one of the fascinating subplots of the story – just seeing so many people come together to save the lives of Dr. Brantly and Nancy.Foust: Has the story amazed you as much as it did other people – that there are volunteers who will go to a country knowing that if they catch Ebola, they very well could die?Rasco: We wanted to tell a story of stepping out – what it means to step out in bold faith. And as Dr. Brantly talked about, letting compassion almost fuel a courage which would then be greater than any fear. That is, not seeing Ebola patients as Ebola patients, but – as he talks about in the film – this could be my mom, my father, my sister, my brother. He urges people to see Ebola patients as real people that need love and care and then – no matter what happens – ‘I’ve got to do my best to take care of these people, even if that means I’ve got to put on a suit and enter an area where this deadly virus exists’ – they were willing to do what they could.On the Web: