Recently, over eight prayer and briefing sessions have been held online and in Hong Kong to support the production of the "Hudson Taylor" movie. The organizer hopes that through this film, God will raise more missionaries like Hudson Taylor.
Initiated in 2012, the "Hudson Taylor" movie project is led by Half Crown Media, which is commissioned by the Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF) International.
Ben Chan, Asia director for Partnership and Development at Half Crown Media, shared that the film aims to show the younger generation how God uses ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things through Hudson Taylor’s story.
A Story of Love
“This is a story of love,” said Chan. The entire film will focus on the love shared between God and Hudson Taylor, God and the Chinese people, and Hudson Taylor and the Chinese people.
Hudson Taylor was one of the most influential mobilizers and the founder of the China Inland Mission, which was renamed "OMF International" in 1964. In his pamphlet China's Spiritual Need and Claims, Taylor highlighted that 33,000 people were dying daily in China without hearing the gospel. He pleaded for more missionaries to join him in China. The pamphlet inspired the renowned “Cambridge Seven” to join Taylor’s China Inland Mission and come to China, motivating countless others to follow in their footsteps.
Chan shared that as a Chinese, producing the "Hudson Taylor "movie is meaningful to him, and this has been one of the key motivations driving him to continue advancing the project. Additionally, he hopes the project will foster unity among Chinese churches. “Christians of various denominations in China get inspired by Hudson Taylor’s legacy, which promotes unity among them,” he said.
After the film's future release, the organizer is planning to establish a platform to connect institutions and churches worldwide for collaborative ministry.
The production team will include Hollywood professionals. Aaron Burns, a Christian producer known for his work on "War Room and Overcomer," will lead the project. Chan mentioned that Burns prayed for the film to inspire 1,000 “Hudson Taylors”.
Tim O’Hair, the executive producer, is also a Christian. As a university professor and finance expert, he specializes in managing and operating film projects from a financial perspective. “All of our production costs come from donations. It is critical to manage and utilize these funds well,” said Chan. O’Hair delved deeply into Hudson Taylor’s life and works, including reading Taylor’s biographies, before deciding to join the project.
The movie will release Chinese and English versions and be distributed globally. The organizers hope it will prompt the global Christian community to reflect on missionary strategies. Chan noted that Hudson Taylor’s missionary work was groundbreaking, as it overcame all the challenges of cross-cultural missions. Today’s churches and Christians face similar challenges in evangelism and missions, including geopolitical tensions, economic problems, personal challenges, and racial and cultural diversity. “We believe people will find inspiration for modern missions after revisiting Hudson Taylor’s work.”
Where Did “Half Crown” Come From?
At an introduction meeting convened in Hong Kong on November 29, David Chan who serves as a member of the board of directors of Half Crown Media explained that the name “Half Crown Media” was inspired by a story of Hudson Taylor.
In his then Britain, a crown was a monetary unit that was worth around one-eighth pound. It was not something big, but not a small amount.
After one Sunday service, Taylor was approached by a young man whose wife was dying. Living in poverty, the man might not afford a pastor to pray for his wife. Taylor came to his home and prayed for the family and the healing of his wife. But when Taylor was going to leave, the Holy Spirit reminded him, “Why are you so hypocritical? Why don’t you lend a hand? Apart from prayer, are you empowered to help such a man in need?” There was a half-crown coin in his pocket, and it was all he had to sustain him through the following week. He felt compelled by the Spirit to give the family this half-crown coin and he did so.
The next morning, he received a letter containing a half-sovereign coin, valued at four times the worth of his half-crown coin. Not knowing who did this, Taylor realized the importance of claiming on God to do what he was called to. Until now, OMF International, operates under such principle: God sustains His work in His way.
Taylor said, “If I had a thousand pounds China should have it—if I had a thousand lives, China should have them.” To pay tribute to his full dedication to God, the movie production company was named “Half Crown.”
The movie is currently in the preparation stage as the pre-production shooting and post-production, and promotional activities each require seven million dollars. Half of the budget has been raised for pre-production filming, the movie is scheduled to start shooting next year.
- Edited & translated by Karen Luo, Abigail Wu
