OUT OF THE FLAMES Wins Kairos Prize® For Inspirational Script
By Robert Knight, Timothy Plan
A screenplay about a persecuted member of English Bible translator John Purvey’s team in the 1300s has been named winner of the 16th Annual Kairos Grand Prize for spiritually uplifting screenwriting, Movieguide® has announced.
OUT OF THE FLAMES was written by Stephanie Hutchinson, who said she was inspired by her brief time studying English literature at Oxford, where she resided in Wycliffe Hall. She also was familiar with Wycliffe, who are Bible translators in the Philippines.
She set out to write a compelling story about what the English translators faced more than 800 years ago during a time of intense persecution.
“A lot of people today – even Christians – don’t read the Bible. ‘It’s boring.’ ‘I don’t understand it.’ ‘I don’t have time,’” she told Movieguide®. “They don’t realize that our forefathers were tortured and killed so we could have it. It is so valuable. I just want people to realize how precious it was and how dangerous it was and how people risked everything to bring it to us.”
“This is the story of John Purvey, who was part of Wycliff’s team to translate the Bible,” said Movieguide® founder and publisher Dr. Ted Baehr. “It is a powerful story where he is being betrayed by one of the team and he has to stand up in the midst of the persecution because nobody in the Church wanted an English translation of the Bible.
“The Latin translation had been used for years, and actually it had misled the people. So, this was the attempt of Wycliffe to turn England around, to bring revival to England. And this was the pain and suffering and interesting story about a man who worked on that translation team, John Purvey.”
The First Runner Up is TRACKS IN THE SNOW, by Sandi Hendrickson Esch. It’s a heart-warming drama about a young widow who falls in love. The First Finalist of the Kairos Prize is WATCHFUL DRAGONS by Robert Williams. It’s about the Christian conversion of famed writer C.S. Lewis, who had been an outspoken atheist but became the most famous Christian apologist of the 20th century and beyond.
As in previous years, the main sponsor for the $15,000 Kairos Prize® is the Timothy Plan family of Biblically Responsible Investing mutual funds and exchange traded funds.
“We are proud to be part of Movieguide®’s efforts to redeem the culture,” Timothy Plan founder and President Art Ally said. “It’s very gratifying to encourage writers who strive to create original, excellent, morally sound scripts. Like anywhere else, even Hollywood is not beyond the reach of God’s redemptive spirit.”
