A new movie is to start filming in August to tell the powerful story of a missionary couple who boldly carried the Gospel message into China despite suffering huge challenges amid personal tragedy and raging wars during the mid-1800s.
With the working title Hudson & Maria, it will follow the true story of Hudson Taylor, an English missionary who rejected “colonial norms and adopted Chinese language, customs, and dress as he sought to share God’s love across inland China,” according to the official media blurb.
“Alongside him are Maria, his devoted and courageous wife, and Wang Laijun, a loyal Chinese friend whose insight bridges cultures.”
“Set during the Opium Wars in 19th-century China, together, they endured hardship and built deep bonds, telling a powerful story of faith, sacrifice, and cross-cultural connection.”
HUDSON TAYLOR: THE FATHER OF MODERN MISSIONS
Director Matt Mikalatos told CBN News Hudson & Maria will focus on the Taylors’ radical faith, sacrifice, and passion for sharing the Gospel and how they defied convention to rally support for their missions to China.
“Many people call Hudson the ‘Father of Modern Missions’ — Protestant missions in particular — because he was one of the first guys to say: Why are we going to places like China and expecting them to convert to our culture before they convert to Christ?” said Mr. Mikalatos.
“So he went deep in becoming like the Chinese people. He wore Chinese clothes, he became fluent in the language, and tried to share Christ in China as a Chinese person, which has become more the norm for evangelical and Protestant missions.”
Hudson & Maria will explore the incredible partnership that changed tens of thousands of lives.
“THERE WAS A LOT OF UNREST, UNCERTAINITY IN THE WORLD”
Mr. Mikalatos — himself a former missionary — said the story resonates deeply in today’s world of fear, unrest, and uncertainty.
“There was a lot of unrest, uncertainty in the world,” he said of the film’s setting.
“Disease was running rampant in a way that we have recently experienced.”
“And there was just uncertainty among so many people.”
“In the midst of that, what we see is this 21-year-old and his fiancée and then wife who looked at the unrest of the world and believed like many young believers do, that they could change the world through their commitment to Christ and their willingness to sacrifice.”
“And it turns out they were absolutely correct.”
HUDSON TAYLOR’S LEGACY
Hudson Taylor founded the China Inland Mission which is still operational today as OMF International.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s it was the largest missionary organisation in China with more than 800 missionaries, 125 schools, and at least 20,000 Chinese converts to Christianity.
He dressed as a Chinese, shaved his head, and grew a pigtail, scandalising the foreign community in Shanghai.
He suffered multiple personal tragedies and had to survive several wars.
LEGENDARY MISSIONARY’S WORK CONTINUES TODAY
The legendary missionary’s descendants have continued his full-time ministry into the 21st century in Chinese communities across East Asia.
Hudson Taylor has been described as “one of the greatest missionaries of all time” and “one of the most influential foreigners in 19th century China.”
Filming on the story of his incredible journey will begin in East Asia in three months.
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