"Pastor Richard" . . . Movie Star?!?

It seems that India doesn't let you escape the things that it loves. One way or another, if you stay here long enough, you'll get pulled into the dancing or the singing or... the acting??? My acting debut started at the office with a favor to a colleague. He had a friend, who was good friends with a Christian film producer. My colleague introduced me to the producer, who told me in Hindi (which my colleague translated to me) that he found me sufficient for the role of a foreign missionary, as long as I wore a suit and tie and carried a Bible. When I took out my Bible, which I think is the largest and heaviest Bible in the country, he smiled. Irrespective of the fact that I felt a missionary in a suit and tie slamming an over-sized Bible might not accurately reflect an effective missions strategy, I agreed to take the role. However, I received no script, no description, not even a location, only a phone number and a time- tomorrow night.

So, Friday night after work, I raced home, threw on the only suit and tie I brought and tried to ignore all the stares I got when I jumped in a rickshaw. The first problem hit me- my colleague would not be there, which meant I was not guaranteed a translator. Nevertheless, I called the number the producer gave me and introduced myself to someone I only knew as Paul (apparently he had the best English in the group), handed my phone to the rickshaw driver, and crossed my fingers that I would eventually get where I needed to go. As a suit and a rickshaw are not conducive, my driver finally pulled up to a busy street and I exited the rick pouring sweat and trying not to stand out. Within 10 seconds a man identified himself as Paul and escorted me up the steps of a flat on the second floor of a strip of road with small vendors all along the first floor. Immediately upon entering the small church/film studio, I watched the eyes of all present shift to me and heard a greeting of "Hallelujah, Praise the Lord!" I smiled, perhaps more sheepishly than I want to admit, and found a chair on the side of the room. Normal Indian hospitality took over and no sooner had a I sat than a cup of chai was thrust upon me. Despite not craving the boiling tea when pouring sweat, I knew the easiest path was just accepting it and downing it. After tea and introductions limited to names, I met the man whom the film is about. He told me several times that the film is about his life story and his conversion to Jesus Christ. And then, they showed me the trailer for the film.

The first two minutes of the five minute trailer looked like an Indian version of Rambo. It cataloged the militia and rebel training of this man in the jungles of South India, and included bows and arrows, pistols, assault rifles, and frequent slow motion swinging on vines into murky bodies of water. The next stage categorized his life as a contract killer/kidnapper and involved several violent sequences, which I will not discuss. This intense segment transitioned into a flowery, nature scene where the protagonist/killer is shown prancing around with his brother in that recognizable fond memory type cinematography. In order to avoid going overly soft, the trailer then cuts to the man holding his brother, who has just been shot by the protagonist's own crew. Then, the footage shows the hooligans coming after the protagonist, who leaps off a moving train (I'm pretty sure no stunt double was used) followed by the goons, and narrowly escapes on a canoe out into the river. Meanwhile, his pursues project curses and malice from the shoreline. In one of the only English parts of the trailer, the hero holds his arms wide above him and shouts, "Hallelujah, thank you Jesus!"

The remainder of the trailer took a sharp turn and showed a picture of India with a cross over it and showed several sequences of this man preaching to groups gathered in Assam (a small state in the northeastern arm of India that reaches into what most of us think of as the area where China is). The ending involved a dramatic drumming crescendo, leading to the hero healing people in Jesus' name by pushing them down and/or making them convulse.

As the trailer played, others in the room had rearranged the room with rows of chairs and created a kind of pulpit area for the preacher to stand. The video camera, tripod and crew had positioned themselves in the back corner of the room and cast an almost blinding light on the front/pulpit area. I was reseated front and center. It was obvious to me that we were about to start the scene, but I had not received any instruction, at least any instruction in English as to what I was expected to do. The camera man shouted "Action" but the man playing the preacher said he needed to wait one minute and he bent over to me and said the following, "I introduce you. Then you get up and share five to ten minute message and also prayer, and then I walk you out." There it was. In about ten seconds, my acting role meant standing up and delivering an impromptu sermon to a charismatic crew of believers, whom I wasn't entirely certain would be able to understand what I was saying. Fear welled up inside me wondering what I could talk about on the spot with no time to think, in this environment. But, in India, you just gotta do it.

After my introduction, I stood up and surveyed the eager and attentive faces in the crowd. Strangely, I thought, this isn't acting. These are believers in one of the toughest places in the world to be believers. This is like the first century Christians, and I am fortunate to be given the opportunity to encourage them. With that thought, I started.

I'll try to write what went through my head and what happened while I was trying to speak on the spot- kind of a stream-of-conscious type:

My first thought, the Bible says that wherever two or more are gathered in My name, there I am also- which translated into, "I am so blessed to be here (interrupted host of 'Amens!' from the crowd, and startled expression from me) and so thankful that we serve a mighty and matchless God. And, I know that He is here with us today because His word (thump Bible to grunts of approval) says that wherever two or more are gathered in my name, there I am also. And I am excited to be with others who share the same saving faith as me (Strong Amens) In fact, (first verse that came in my head) the Bible says that we are saved by grace through faith, not of our own works so that no one can boast. And, I am so excited to see that faith in all of you and to talk with you about that grace. And about (next verse in head) His mercies, which are new every morning (One lone "Yes Lord" from the crowd). [At this point, I felt like I needed to find a direction or quit... and then Stephen popped in my head. When Stephen was before the Sanhedrin, he walked through the whole history of the Jews leading to Jesus... the same happens in Hebrews 11 about faith... this could buy me time. i thought, but only for a milli-second, before starting.] And I'm so thankful that we have His Word because His Word (I'm not going to write in the Amens any more, just know that they were there and insert them in your head) tells us many stories of men, like me and you, who had faith in God, and whom God led to victory. It tells of Abraham, who believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. God made a covenant to this Abraham that would form the foundation of his plan to reconcile man. Later, it talks about David, a man after God's own heart, who trusted God enough to face the Giant Goliath, before whom the army of Israel trembled. And God led him to victory. It tells us about many more (I kinda drew a blank here) great men and women who trusted God leading up to Jesus (at this point, I found myself enjoying what I was saying and the act of saying it). At this time, God sent his only son as a man, a man that was just as much God, to live a human life. This man, this Jesus not only lived a perfect life, but he suffered pain and humiliation for each one of us, because, you see, he was perfect and died unjustly so that He could bear the sin and the wrongs that each one of us commit before God the father. He is our salvation. He is our hope. Even after this Jesus came and died, men, just like me and you, like Paul, began telling the story of Jesus to people all over the world. They did this so that each one of us could have something that the world can never give us: Hope in salvation. Hope after death.

(At this point, I again ran out of material, but decided that leading to a prayer would work well). It is my honor as a brother in Christ to share with you about the life of my savior. And, it would be my honor that because God is amongst us, that you would allow me to pray to him before you that he may strengthen and encourage us and make us more like him.

Let us pray. (I prayed, but I can't remember exactly what I prayed... most of it had to do with God giving us strength and allowing us to impact the people around us through His power.)

Nevertheless, when I finished the preacher actor shook my hand while the applause rolled. The camera went off and the people in the back started joyfully proclaiming "One take, One take, it only took one take!" They were laughing so much as they said it, that I gather that other scenes had taken much longer and they were glad that they might get out earlier that night. After this we did a few short sequences of the introduction and applause/ending, allowing the camera crew to relocate for different angles and a scene where I greeted the protagonist before leaving. The thing about the other three scenes was that no one told me what I was supposed to do in them at all. I just waited for them to say action, and then watched what other people did. When they walked around shaking hands saying "Praise the Lord," I did the same, when they filed out of the room- I filed out, when they shook my hand- i shook their hand. I guess I did fine, but this is the greatest example of "winging-it" imaginable.

Additionally, everyone around me kept saying what an incredible message it was, and that they wished I would keep going. I thought these were just kind words, until I realized they were serious. They wanted me to keep preaching off camera. Not only this, but the camera had been off for some time, and even though my character in the film was "Pastor Richard," everyone kept referring to me as "Pastor Richard".

I won't give you the entirety of my shorter, second, off-camera message, other than to tell you that it was based on the verse that states "He who has begun a good work in you is faithful and just to bring it to completion..." I shared this with them to let them know just how encouraging they had been to me and how faithful God would be to work done in His will. At this point, I was mentally exhausted and don't remember everything I said. To end the session, they invited the whole crew in, and asked me to pray over them. I prayed, greeted everyone a last time, flagged a rickshaw, sat down, and exhaled.

I still have no idea where and how this scene fits in the plot of the movie. I should get a copy of the scene, and maybe even the movie soon.