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By Andrew Dyck
On Labour Day weekend, Northview Community Church in Abbotsford used its three
worship services to screen a new documentary movie, Outside the Walls.
According to Greg Harris, Northview’s director of local outreach and the film’s producer, Outside the Walls “explores the relationship between the churches in Abbotsford and the broader
community.”
The message of the film is that it is not enough for Christians to have a
relationship with Jesus and to help people get to heaven, but that Christians
must also show mercy to people around them.
Last spring Graham Nickel, an English teacher at Mennonite Educational
Institute, approached Harris with the film’s concept after taking a course with filmmaker Bruce Marchfelder at Regent
College.
Nickel, Harris, and three filmmakers from Elsinore MediaWorks produced the film
in four months.
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Outside the Walls features interviews with Christian leaders from Abbotsford, interspersed with
striking scenes, often from Abbotsford’s downtown core.
Early in the film, Dave Murray of the Abbotsford food bank laments that although
Abbotsford-Mission has the highest per capita median charitable giving in
Canada, little of this money benefits Abbotsford’s neediest people.
A later interview with Kevin Boese highlights the way Love Abbotsford helped
churches begin reversing this trend in the early 2000s as city-wide acts of
kindness reduced competitiveness between the churches.
The film goes on to introduce Christian individuals, churches and organizations
that offer practical care to the people of Abbotsford.
The film features largely original scoring, and some visual humour.
Outside the Walls is available with a study guide for viewing in churches.
It can also be viewed online at: outsidethewallsfilm.com.
October 2010
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