dianarharris-233-817188 I came about this movie by accident (at least that's what I thought initially). My computer was down due to a problem w/service from my ISP & repair wouldn't be out til the next day. It was late in the evening & I wanted to relax before going to bed, so turned the TV on & began channel surfing trying to find something interesting but wasn't having much luck, when I hit channel 21 which is our Christian station, (I was familiar as my late mother was 'born again' thanks to televangelists. Needless to say though I was baptized a Christian & had been a Sunday school & church attendee in my youth had since become a skeptic as an adult, especially of multi-millionaire TV preachers w/mistresses). So I was relieved to see instead of that usual fare there was a movie in progress, I'd no idea where I came in at that point, but the gorgeous scenery drew me in & decided to give it a chance. As I watched I began to grasp the story of this young family living in the wilds of South Africa, kind of like a more modern Little House on the Prairie (which I loved as a child). The adventure & challenge made for an interesting story-line, there were no obvious religious overtones at this point but that soon changed as the male protagonist accepts Christ as his Saviour. However, I took no issue with this as it was a part of this man's true life story (which I'd become engrossed in) & had nothing but admiration for him as he overcomes many adversities & his new-found faith is tested. It was quite inspirational how this simple farmer evolves into a man who through his faith had the courage to share the precious gift he received with not merely his local community but eventually to crowded stadiums, continuing through his book & movie to touch no doubt millions of people. After all his story reached me a skeptic, 1000's of miles away & so many years later. As a result, I find myself pondering the question "was it really an 'accident' I came upon this film"? Needless to say I was moved, it was a film I will remember & left me wanting to learn more about this man, his family & the work they were doing. (Now that I'm back online had the chance to see a video of the real Angus appearing on the 700 Club around the time of the film's original release. He still lived in the original house they built & SHALOM expanded to help many more children - maybe faith is truly like potatoes after all).

grammaterilyn I want to strongly recommend this movie.Yesterday, I took this movie over to view with my ailing mother, who recently accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior. I believe the Lord led me to find this movie, as I never even heard of it before, but was captured by the title. We were both deeply touched and moved, at times with tears, while watching this movie. It has a strong evangelical, Christ centered messaged based on the true story of Angus Buchan, a farmer who started Shalom Ministries in South Africa.It shows how God can use anyone who is surrendered to Him! You can find more information on Angus and his ministry online.Terilyn

Reino Botha What a story. I've met Mr Bucken this weekend and he is a man of Faith.He has more stories of how he trusted God, and was rewarded by seeing what he believes in.I strive to have faith like this man. If you watch the 2nd DVD of how the movie was made, you will understand how the "flaws" of this movie is really a blessing.This was a wonderful family movie.The movie was shot on location where the events actually happened, and not in some place foreign like a lot of other movies based on true stories.I think every one should watch this movie

LuckyStriker I'll rather not comment on the plot or motivations of the film. Suffice it to say that the film is aimed at religious (specifically Christian) denominations. Nothing wrong with that, it should be encouraged, rather than avoided.The first thing that caught my eye was the use of digital filming. African landscapes and lighting is particularly suited for real film emulsions and to see it spoiled by cheap digital footage was a real disappointment. The colour was dull and the digital artefacts are very obvious. I don't want to dwell on the poor film quality so I'll move on.The acting was particularly cringe worthy. Every time Casper Badenhorst started to speak I wanted to stick popcorn in my ears hum Sarie Marais. Francois Rautenbach and Matthew Roberts weren't bad and I could actually feel real empathy with their characters. Unfortunately the rest of the cast were hollow cardboard cut-outs. Richard van den Berg was particularly revolting. While the lead character was giving a particularly heart felt confession in his 'Green Cathedral' we had to endure the Mr. van den Berg slobbering on a piece of fruit and going "mm, mm, um, ja" before ripping off a corn cob and scribbling in the sand like some prophet.But the thing that shocked me most of all was the graphic depiction of a child suffering. Several audience members gasped and wept achingly when a small boy was run over by a tractor and started coughing up blood straight into the camera lens. The broken posture of the child was particularly upsetting. A little girl sat in front of me and I dreaded what went through her mind. When my wife started to cry I got very angry and lost the last bit of respect I had for the film. I felt the director had dealt a very low blow by using such a gruesome visual tool to advance his own religious agenda.Unfortunately this film can never appeal to everyone since it excludes all who do not share a particular church's view. It is a great film for showing at church or prayer groups but technically and visually this film is one of the worst I have seen from South Africa. It should have been screened on television on a Sunday evening only.