You’re probably familiar with the story in the Gospels where the Lord invites a young man to sell all he has and follow Him. The young man, however, walks away from Jesus and the offer of eternal life, for he has great wealth. It’s a disturbing story, particularly for those of us who have been so blessed with the world’s goods. What shall it profit us if we gain the whole world but lose our souls?
If you’ve ever wondered what it would look like for someone to take up the Lord on His offer, literally, then I invite you—no, make that I urge you—to see a fantastic new documentary called “Mully.” The title won’t bowl you over, but I am pretty sure the film will.
Mully, short for Charles Mully, was born in Kenya. His father was jobless and regularly beat his mother. Food was scarce, and the family’s prospects were worse. One morning Charles, who was six, woke to discover he had been abandoned by his family, and not even his uncle would take him in. So overnight Charles had effectively become, like 2.6 million children in Kenya, an orphan—along with 100,000 others in the squalid slums of Nairobi.
To survive, he became a “street boy,” literally begging for food. As he grew, Charles says, “I hated my life and … wanted to throw away my life because there was no meaning.” Somehow, however, he heard a message of hope through faith in Christ and personal hard work.
He began doing household chores at the home of a wealthy family that gave him a chance in a posh district of Nairobi, and was soon promoted. Eventually Charles started his own taxi service, married a beautiful young woman, and embarked on a rags-to-riches story that’s almost too good to be true—becoming a globe-trotting millionaire respected by all.
As Charles’s business and family grew—he and his wife were now up to eight children—his conscience was pricked when he refused to help some street boys. Then he had his car stolen, and had to take the bus home. During this trip, the reality of his hypocrisy devastated him.
Miserable, like Jacob, he wrestled for hours with God—eventually praying, “Yes, God, use me.” Now many Christians have prayed these words, but comparatively few have done what Charles did—resolve to sell everything, stop his career, and spend the rest of his life helping Kenya’s orphaned and abandoned children.
If you think Mully’s family was overjoyed, you’ve been watching too many Hollywood movies. That’s what makes this documentary so special. The pain, anguish, and uncertainty Charles brought upon his own family, in a way similar to how his father abandoned him, are agonizing to watch. The film “Mully” shows, in a remarkable way, how the Lord can use imperfect clay pots like us to accomplish great—no, in this case astounding—things in this sin-scarred world, if we’re willing to make available to Him all that we have.
I won’t spoil the plot because I really want you to take your family and friends to see this film. “Mully” will have a limited run across the U.S. and Canada during an exclusive three-night theatrical event on October 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Come to BreakPoint.org and click on this commentary for details. This extraordinary, compelling, high-quality film is a joint project of our friends at Focus on the Family, For the Good, and the Mully Children’s Family. I urge you to go to the theater. This is an amazing film.
The film tells a story that’s just astounding. Through Mully’s faithful persistence, even Kenya’s physical environment and climate are being transformed—no kidding. Thank God for this man, whose soul is totally sold out to Jesus. Now, how about us?
BreakPoint is a Christian worldview ministry that seeks to build and resource a movement of Christians committed to living and defending Christian worldview in all areas of life. Begun by Chuck Colson in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today’s news and trends via radio, interactive media, and print. Today BreakPoint commentaries, co-hosted by Eric Metaxas and John Stonestreet, air daily on more than 1,200 outlets with an estimated weekly listening audience of eight million people. Feel free to contact us at BreakPoint.org where you can read and search answers to common questions.
Eric Metaxas is a co-host of BreakPoint Radio and a best-selling author whose biographies, children's books, and popular apologetics have been translated into more than a dozen languages.
Photo courtesy: Focus on the Family
Publiation date: September 28, 2017