Faith into Action Movie Script
Cast:
Main Actor: Rashad
Supporting Actors: Samuel, Maggie, Isaac, Raquel, and Michelle.
Director: GOD.
“Faith without works is dead…” James 2:14
You study your script, you attend all the acting classes you can, you study the greats like Denzell Washington, you listen to all the motivational videos that talk about never giving up, you put in all the work leading up to the big day! This is it, you pray before stepping on stage and you have all the faith in the world. Then BOOM! THE LIGHTS FLASH ON YOU FROM ABOVE, THE DIRECTOR SCREAMS “3-2-1…ACTION!”, and the set is quite. All eyes are on you! The moment you’ve been waiting for, time to put all that hard work and faith into action. Will you take control of the stage and get the role you’ve always envisioned, or will you allow the pressure to break you? No matter how much you’ve prepared for this moment, if you don’t have enough faith in those prayers and enough faith in yourself…everything leading up to this big moment on stage will be void..
That’s exactly how it was for me. I studied the Word. I took weeks worth of strenuous training. I prayed the biggest prayers I could possibly pray. I watched the greats such as; Dr. Myles Munroe and Francis Chan to empower me for my World Race Journey. I was as ready as I could possibly be for not only my first missionary trip, but my first time out of the country. But now it was time to put my faith into action as soon as we landed in Belize City, Belize on October 10th at 2:17pm.
I honestly felt like I was in a movie! The week prior of leaving for Belize, I was just watching the show Mad Dogs which was actually filmed in Belize! Y’all, I was getting scenes of the show in my head as soon as we landed. I was like this can’t be real life!! A complete culture shock! I had very little time to take it all in before I had to step up as the team leader and get the transportation in order for us to travel from the airport, to the bus station, to our final destination which was San Ignacio, Belize (about 2.5 hours away). First off, let me tell you, I should have had an extra pair of underwear in my day pack because I was literally sweating my BEHIND off!!
Let the action begin…
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HEAVENLY SETTING: All the disciples and angels gather around God’s throne and at Jesus’s feet to watch the short film that’s about to unfold on the Flat Spirit T.V..
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EARTHLY SETTING: Belize City, BELIZE TO SAN IGNACIO, BELIZE.
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DIRECTOR (GOD): “3-2-1 FAITH INTO ACTION!”
*turns on the HOT stage lights*
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RASHAD: So I gather my team (Raquel, Maggie, Michelle, Samuel, and Isaac) and tell them the traveling plans and our budget while in the lobby of the airport. We proceed to step outside to talk to the five men that were in charge of the taxis and TELL them we all need to fit in one taxi and that we only have $30 to spend. We got shut down. Quickly. They laughed and asked, “do you all know how much fuel is here? It’s $12 a gallon! And if we get pulled over with all of you in one car, we are liable! It will be $60 for all of you in two separate taxis” I proceed to look at my team when all of a sudden I hear Maggie flat out tell the men, “No, we can’t do that. We only have $30. We must get into taxi together.” *in her broken English voice* I thought to myself, “okay Sassy Maggie! she has done this before! Let the bargaining begin!!” They look at one another and proceed to laugh again!! At that moment I take my team inside and reevaluate the situation. We only have $60 for transportation for the whole month and we are going to blow it all on the first day. We ask the workers inside for other ways to get to the bus station. They advise us to walk along side of the highway and flag down any buses that pass us for only a couple of bucks! Sounds great right? Wrong. It was like 90 degrees on top of the humidity. On top of that us carrying our 40-50lbs camping backpacks and day packs! What seemed to be a cool idea while watching it on movies now seemed like the worst idea ever! Walking down the highway of hell. We quickly just went with the taxi idea. We split up 3 and 3 and got into the taxis. The drive to the bus station was about 20mns. I couldn’t believe I was actually in Belize (I couldn’t Belize it!! I had to say it.) Belizeans riding their bikes, people riding in the back of pickup trucks, grandmothers outside in the heat selling tamales and vegetables, rugged looking men sitting outside of stores with no shoes. I was just taking it all in while trying to have small talk with the taxi driver. He was trying to tell us which bus to take, and as we were driving he attempts to wave down a bus with people already in it while on the busy streets but the bus kept driving! Then we finally make it to the bus station.
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HEAVENLY SETTING: GOD TELLS THE ANGELS AND DISCPLES “THIS IS THE BEST PART! WATCH WHAT HAPPENS WHEN HE LOSES SIGHT OF ME!” THEY ALL PROCEED TO LAUGH BECAUSE THEY’VE BEEN IN RASHAD’S SHOES BEFORE.
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RASHAD: And this is where no training in the world could prepare me for this moment. We hop out the taxi and get swarmed by locals and taxi drivers asking us a thousand of questions and for money!! My heart literally dropped. I was thinking the worst of the worst that quickly. “We are about to get robbed! They see us with all of our bags and they know we are Americans!” The taxi drivers are yelling for the money and poor Michelle, our treasurer, is trying to figure out how to convert USD to BZD in the backseat. Next thing I know, she just hands me the bag of money like, “you figure it out Rashad, I’m flustered!” Y’all, I was so out of it that I hop back out the car with the bag full of money in my hand!! Maggie looks at me like I’m crazy and puts her hands in a yielding position, “WOA WOA WOAA!! Put that away!! What are you doing?!” So I hop back in the taxi to figure it out. As I get out of the taxi again, alllll 20 pair of eyes were on me. I felt like I was fresh meat amongst lions! At that moment I realized the importance of just blending in, I took off my earrings, bracelet, and wallet and put them in my socks. In the midst of all of this, the bus we were supposed to take literally drives right past us! I was thinking, “GREAT! NOW WE ARE ABOUT TO BE HERE FOR ANOTHER 45MNS!” I huddle the team up after giving the taxi men their money and tell them the bus we need to look for, the “Benque Bus.” As soon as I said that, a Benque bus pulls up in the back of the station. Before I could even get a word out, Maggie and Raquel take off walking around the corner leaving us behind! I look over at Michelle and she has both hands on her cheeks due to being stressed out…while smiling! I chuckle while saying in my mind, “God, what did I get myself into. Just get us safely on this bus and to our final destination!” Isaac and Samuel were in their own world just chilling! We had to hurry and catch up with Maggie and Rocky, I didn’t want those two walking by themselves.
As we proceed to upload everything on the bus, the workers were aggressively asking for tips! One says “Give me some F$&$in money! I put all of your bags under the bus! Where is my tip?” To calm everything down, I gave him one dollar and Maggie gave another worker a dollar as well. They proceed to laugh and say, “Jesus loves you!” as we walk on the bus. We finally all sit down and have a moment of silent. We all just looked at each other and started cracking up laughing! That was 10mns of straight chaos!! Raquel was the super chill one (it reminded her of being in Mexico), Maggie was the bulldog of the group, Michelle was the one smiling because she was just that flustered, I was the one trying to act like I had it all together but my big eyes said differently, and Isaac and Sam were just chilling in their own world!
During this two-hour bus drive to San Ignacio, I really got to reflect. I had a serious conversation with God saying, “My Man, I’ve never experienced anything like this before in my life, please just guide and lead me.” It’s easy to have faith when you are in your comfort zone and know exactly what is going to happen. During the 10mns of everything being hectic, I lost sight of God and didn’t allow Him to be my peace and anchor. As we were driving, we all just got to sit back and look outside. As we were passing through all the towns I realized these were normal people, living there life but just in another country. Kids in uniform leaving school, moms holding their children in their laps on the bus, and people getting off of a long days of work. I got to truly see life from a different perspective during this bus ride. I saw homes with tin roofs, shacks, beautiful homes, homeless people walking the streets, just an array of people living their lives! Oh and the clouds were the most beautiful clouds I have ever seen! And here I was thinking the world was just out to get us. Those 20 people that were outside of our taxi, were just like the brothas on the corner in the inner city just wanting a few bucks, the taxi drivers asking us if we needed a ride were just like Uber drivers waiting outside for you, the aggressive bus workers were just like any other worker at Waffle House that have attitudes but were more vocal about it. I had to trust in God on a whole different level that He would protect and guide us.
Could I have put my faith into action more? Of course! But I’m so glad He gives us grace. It was my first time ever out of the country, and on top of that, leading 5 other people! It was an experience I will never forget. So when people kept on asking me before I left the U.S., “are you ready for this journey?” My response was valid, “as ready as I can be.” No training, no prayer, and no motivational videos or sermons can actually truly prepare you for when it’s time to step on set and get your Denzell Washington on. It’s moments like these where I realize I don’t have everything together, I’m not as bold and confident as I thought, and I don’t trust in God as much as I thought I did. In actuality, I was doubting if I was even built to be a world missionary. I lost sight of God, and as soon as that happened, I was like an actor that forgot his script while in the middle of set.
Failure is the perquisite to success. Sometimes you have to lose your faith to find it. You have go through the valley to get to the mountain top. Its times like these that build your character and faith in God.
My faith is getting stretched in areas I didn’t even know existed, which means I am growing in areas I didn’t know I needed to grow in.
I say all this to say; it’s okay to not have your life together at times. It may feel like everything is falling apart and you are like a toddler getting tossed into a pool and expected to just swim! I want you to always remember that God is your life jacket and is always keeping you afloat!
The moment you take your eyes off of the lord, is the moment your life seems like it’s just complete chaos! Relax, take it all in, and enjoy the journey!! Because God will always protect you!
Peace and Love,
Rashad
