There is a movie currently in theaters that is surprisingly taking our nation by storm, meaning it is drawing larger crowds than other big name – big star movies. In our own community of Mitchell, I believe this movie started showing about the same time as the new Indiana Jones movie starring Harrison Ford. Indiana Jones has moved on from our community, but this other popular film I am speaking of is held over for another week.
This film (I’ll give you the name in just a moment) isn’t the new Barbie movie or the film called Oppenheimer, which details the people and events surrounding the development of the atomic bomb. No, the film I’m writing about today is “Sound of Freedom.” This movie is also based on a true-to-life story of a US law enforcement officer who happened to get involved with a case of child trafficking, which then led him deeper into the “recruiting” side of this horrible criminal organization. The main story line is that of one individual, with the help of others, how he makes a difference, risking his own life, and is able to rescue numerous children from what would have been a horrible life of being exploited in the child-sex industry.
The name of the movie comes from a scene where children, who had been trapped in this ugly business, were rescued and were finally feeling comfortable and “free” enough to simply do “children” things…including playing.
I have known that child-sex trafficking is an issue here in America and even in South Dakota. The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is one of the big events for this criminal activity in our state. However, there are other events that draw human and child trafficking here to SD. The unfortunate reality is that we don’t hear a lot about this dark business and activity.
What really got my attention was to hear at the end of this movie, in a special message from actor Jim Caviezel, who is the main character in this film (He also famously played Jesus in the movie “The Passion of the Christ.”) is that America is the #1 destination for children who are kidnapped and trafficked in the sex industry. THIS SHOULD NOT BE!!
A theme and saying that pops up in the story line of this film is, “God’s Children are not for sale!” This simple saying, brought to life through this powerful film, is greatly resonating with people across our nation. Angel Studios, that produced Sound of Freedom, had set a goal of selling 2,000,000 tickets. The most recent information on their website states they have sold over 12,500,000 tickets.
I encourage everyone to see this film. It probably is not a film for young children, and if youth do see it, I feel there should be time set aside to discuss the film and the realities that it portrays on the screen. Here in the Dakotas, we like to think this type of thing doesn’t happen here. Maybe on the east coast or the west coast…but not here. Unfortunately, that simply is not true. Maybe this movie will be a wake-up call in our nation, in our homes, and even in our churches, to begin to see this ugly and dark reality, and find a way to somehow make a difference because…God’s Children are not for sale!!
Pastor Keith