Did you know you can grow potatoes in a garbage can? I didn’t learn that watching my movie for this month, I learned it from a friend over a plate of pasta last night. There are a lot of ways to experience faith. I knew by faith that my friend was going to show up for dinner. I know that every morning the sun will rise. I know that when the sea rolls away from the shore, it will return. Our founding fathers knew that if you plant the seeds of freedom, you grow freedom.
Award winning,Faith like Potatoes is a wonderful movie I found “On Demand”. I have to admit, I wasn’t really expecting a whole lot even though I had friends who had recommended it, but I ended up enjoying it immensely.
Angus Buchan was a Zambian farmer of Scottish heritage. Life in Zambia was hard and when the political unrest became an untenable danger to the family, they decided to move to KWA-Zulu, South Africa for a better life. With their tractors loaded on a big old truck, kids hanging out windows, they slowly headed south. Angus (Frank Rautenbach) and Jill (Jeanne Wilhelm) buy a small plot of land with a caravan, a tiny seen-better-days travel trailer and begin to rebuild their lives. Jill likens it to being gypsies in the Garden of Eden. It doesn’t take long for the curious Zulus to find them and the endearing Simeon Bhergu (Hamilton Diamini) decides to work for them. He doesn’t know how to farm but he just keeps coming back to learn and help.
In the face of ever mounting challenges, hardships and personal turmoil, Angus quickly spirals down into a life consumed by anger, fear and destruction. A friend invites them to church and his life begins to change.
Based on a true story, the auto-biography of Angus Buchan, Faith Like Potatoes was adapted for the big screen by Regardt van der Bergh. It weaves together the moving journey of a man, who like his potatoes, grows his faith unseen until the harvest.
Faith Like Potatoes is set in the turbulent hills of the KZN Midlands. Angus’ manic quest for material success is slowly transformed into a wild love for God and people of all colors, as he wrestles with faith, hope, natural disasters and tragic personal loss. The potatoes he grows is an amazing analogy for so many things in his life and ours; those things that grow within us, as individuals, as families or as a nation. We need to be careful of what we plant because it will…grow. Like I mentioned earlier, America, our incredible country was planted on the principles of freedom; freedom of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But how are those freedoms planted, grown and protected? By our freedom of religion. Our founding fathers placed “In God We Trust” on our currency for a reason, a reminder!
You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and just maybe your life will be changed a bit as you watch Faith Like Potatoes. You’ll experience the triumph of a farmer whose faith made him a phenomenon. As always, I welcome your comments at chastings@rockcliff.com
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