|
Always
a great lover of books, I’ve read to entertain myself or educate myself
or sometimes simply to escape the stress and busyness of life. I love
it when I am reading and realize that the story is giving me something
more than just entertainment. Some books give me a new perspective on
an aspect of life or make me a better writer. And on a rare occasion, I
read a book that makes me a better person. Faith Like Potatoes
went one step beyond that: It made me a better Christian.
I stumbled across Faith
Like Potatoes by Angus Buchan while doing online research
several months ago. I skimmed the back of the book and knew that I had
to read it. I bought it, added it to my stack of must-read books, and
then became so busy that it sat collecting dust for weeks.
I work in full-time ministry,
and in my spare moments, I do short-term mission work. I worked a month
of seventy- and eighty-hour weeks, then spent eight days in the mission
field, and came home completely exhausted. The day after I returned
home, I picked up Buchan’s book. God knew exactly what I needed that
day, and He gave it to me through Buchan’s words.
Some authors write with such
beautiful language that a reader is drawn in, almost hypnotized. That
is not the style of Angus Buchan. His writing is so simple,
straightforward, and unassuming that it is absolutely refreshing. He is
a farmer, not an author, and that made his words understandable and his
voice endearing.
Faith Like Potatoes
is Angus’s story. A Scotsman by blood but Zimbabwean by birth, Angus
was a proud, tough farmer on his enormous farm in Zambia. He built his
farm from the ground up, but in the late 1970s, with massive political
unrest in Zambia and no formal education for his young family, Angus
and his wife, Jill, made the wrenching decision to sell their farm and
move. With nothing more than what they could fit into a couple of
trucks, the Buchans trekked to Greytown, South Africa, and started all
over again.
Starting over was not easy for
the young, fiery-tempered farmer. His little family was living in the
midst of the Zulu people, whom he did not know, did not like, did not
trust. And if all that were not enough, the Zulu people did not speak
his language. Angus worked himself to death with very little help. The
farm began to grow, but he was still hounded by despair. Nearing a
breaking point, he and his family got an unwelcome invitation to the
local Methodist church, where Angus met Jesus and his life changed
forever.
Once
Angus knew Jesus, he wanted everybody else to know Him, too. The first
place he started sharing Jesus was with the Zulu workers. God worked
miracles on that farm—saving the corn from a hailstorm, sending rain
during a runaway fire on the property, and even raising a woman from
the dead after she had been struck by lightning. Once the Zulu farm
workers had met Jesus, Angus knew that he had to tell the rest of the
world, too. That is what Angus has done ever since.
I
bought the book and the movie
on the same day. Because the book was nonfiction and a memoir, I was
interested (and a little
|
concerned)
to see how a filmmaker would handle
the adaptation. Global Creative Studio in South Africa made the movie
on location in South Africa with well-known native actors, Frank
Rautenbach, Jeanne Wilhelm, and Hamilton Dhlamini. Regardt Van Den
Bergh directed it, who also acted the part of Angus’s pastor.
I am not particularly a
connoisseur of foreign films. I was hoping to see a strong story with
talented acting and skilled cinematography, but I didn’t know if I
could expect it from a foreign studio making a low-budget Christian
film. But the very first scene took my breath away, and by the end of
the movie, I had been thoroughly impressed by these wonderful artists.
The actors were brilliant. Frank
Rautenbach was phenomenal in the role of Angus Buchan. He was
convincing as an irate heathen and equally convincing as a passionate
and compassionate evangelist. When Rautenbach raged, I quaked. When he
wept, I choked up. When he laughed, I laughed. He successfully carried
me through the entire gamut of emotions and brought me out on the other
side. For me, Rautenbach’s acting made this movie.
One of the great strengths of
the movie was the way the scriptwriter and director were able to focus
on the people and relationships in Angus’s world. In the book, Buchan
introduces us to the people but then focuses on the events surrounding
them. The filmmakers, however, showed us the events, but focused on the
people. The audience sees more clearly how difficult the relationships
were between the quick-tempered farmer and the welcoming and generous
Zulus. The filmmakers took great care to highlight the relationships
between Angus and his wife, Jill, as well as Angus and his foreman,
Simeon. It deepened the movie and made me love and identify with Angus
that much more.
I’m not sure if I could choose
between the book, Faith Like Potatoes, and the
movie. As much as I enjoyed Angus’s writing, there was so much beauty
and depth of emotion in the movie that I would have to recommend it as
well. You will want to be sure to have your subtitles or captions
turned on when you watch the video because the English is strongly
accented and there is a good bit of Zulu spoken. Keep some tissues
handy, and be prepared for your heart to be changed.
|
