The John-Henry Westen Show - Death of 21 Coptic Martyrs Coming to the Big Screen

00:00:00.000 I was so proud and happy困chos in the church

00:00:03.200 My Retymes had to ride through the fresco

00:00:05.280 and remember when my муж was to the church

00:00:07.540 and go to the church

00:00:10.180 At the back, I taught my mother

00:00:12.840 andmaal minha estril

00:00:13.760 used to bring my father in the summer

00:00:15.100 even more

00:00:15.820 since the girls were 55 10 people

00:00:17.700 I was so proud

00:00:19.140 My father was a big brother

00:00:21.800 he was so proud

00:00:23.040 and loved brothers

00:00:24.040 I wanted everyone to receive

00:00:30.000 Hello, my friends. Can you believe it's been about 10 years since this happened?

00:00:36.620 Do you remember that? The 21 martyrs for faith in Jesus Christ who were killed by Islamic militants.

00:00:44.680 And it was an incredible thing to watch.

00:00:48.600 I know for a lot of people it was sort of, oh, yuck, I can't bear it.

00:00:52.380 But you were watching live martyrdoms, people giving their lives to Jesus Christ.

00:00:57.180 And you've got to check this out. There's a film being made to commemorate 10 years, a decade since this happened, because it was in 2015.

00:01:08.220 There's a film being prepared right now that we're going to show you a clip of.

00:01:13.220 It's just incredible. They talked to the wives, the siblings, the fathers even, of these martyrs, of these modern-day martyrs,

00:01:23.640 who the world was able to witness being martyred for Jesus Christ.

00:01:29.340 Listen to a little bit of this. Check this out.

00:01:32.020 He was a doer, he was born. He was a lion, but a dead 거예요.

00:01:35.880 And when he was given up for example, it was, he was interrupted for to go to something in Libya today.

00:01:43.940 He was hopping to Libya.

00:01:45.140 He was這樣 so he could lose me cube.

00:01:47.840 He went to Libya to Pakistan.

00:01:48.900 He was getting nine months. I was baby.

00:01:51.160 inình وأنا

00:01:52.720 كان طيب قوي وكان محب للكنيسة

00:01:55.680 كان دايماً يغوم الساعة أربعة الفجر

00:01:57.880 يسحينا لو اولادنا يذهب الكنيسة

00:01:59.880 قدر الجديس البدر على طلب الوقت

00:02:01.800 كان معلم أولادي بمارينا وريفجة

00:02:04.720 كان دايماً يخلينا سوما

00:02:07.280 حتى السيام الكبير ال555 يوم

00:02:09.960 كان يسمعها كلها

00:02:11.400 كان طيب قوي

00:02:12.520 هو كان أكبر أخواته

00:02:14.040 وكان طيب ومحب الأخواته

00:02:15.960 كان يحب يغضب الكل

00:02:17.920 وكانت كل الناس تحبه

00:02:19.560 They died in the country and were looks very支出去 0.88

00:02:27.840 He arrived here in the inn

00:02:33.440 Weanden them down 0.97

00:02:34.560 We were currently having a time with the night

00:02:36.440 Men in the summer 1 or 3

00:02:38.860 In the normal hour, we checked

00:02:40.520 Then our first kids with our celebrate

00:02:42.440 We actually took them from the summer

00:02:44.900 .

00:02:52.160 .

00:03:10.540 .

00:03:12.940 .

00:03:14.480 My mother was friends, friends and me,

00:03:16.940 as seen as I can,

00:03:19.180 Cooked by Jesus it was both said Andres.

00:03:22.720 He was presented as a guest,

00:03:23.800 he said to me and this season.

00:03:26.480 When we reached a place,

00:03:27.420 and we would have ourselves ng like,

00:03:28.800 wcześniej,

00:03:29.500 book mix,

00:03:30.920 old tradition.

00:03:31.040 It exists while we end the falando,

00:03:32.800 and this time,

00:03:35.360 but now it was when given a case of it was gold

00:03:38.820 but that they came here.

00:03:39.980 She could have had a few days

00:03:42.080 and they would Foq900g 0.96

00:03:43.620 I was comforted to know that in the hope they had, their faith was not forsaken.

00:04:11.620 Okay. It's amazing. And I know, like me, you probably can't wait till this is released,

00:04:18.660 which is coming in 2025. And we have with us the director, Raouf Zaki. Stay tuned for this

00:04:25.180 interview on The John Henry Weston Show. Truth has a power of its own. It moves hearts

00:04:31.900 and saves lives. It heals wounds and restores souls, but only if it is heard. That's why

00:04:39.440 our enemies are working nonstop to suppress the truth. That's why LifeSite News is the most

00:04:44.800 censored life, faith, and family news source in the world. They are working to keep you in the dark.

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00:05:42.320 So, Ralf, welcome to the program.

00:05:44.000 Thank you for having me, John. Thank you. God bless you for what you do.

00:05:47.160 Let's praise God. Let's begin as we always do with the sign of the cross.

00:05:52.140 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

00:05:57.120 First of all, I want to say thank you, because the witness of those Coptic Christians to the faith

00:06:06.740 in Jesus Christ was so stunning for all the world to see. And the conversations you captured with

00:06:14.460 their wives, the widows. Now, tell us, this is, although in that part is about the wives,

00:06:23.020 the actual wives, the actual widows, and it is so powerful, but you are actually doing a feature film

00:06:30.640 which reenacts this. And we have, of course, the footage that it was, but you reenact the story

00:06:37.840 behind the story that led to this point as well. Yes. Yes. You know, the film was inspired by these

00:06:45.720 true events. It, they were an inspiration to me because when I walked in the church,

00:06:53.640 you know, I saw, you know, in, in cases, their clothes, their orange clothes, you know,

00:07:02.120 drenched in, you know, blood and, you know, people getting blessings from this and people coming to

00:07:09.560 the church that was built to commemorate them that you saw in the video, which was a victory in its own,

00:07:15.040 and the blessings that people get from that. And the event itself was a major inspiration for the film,

00:07:22.920 because what happened during those 40 days? How did they survive those harrowing 40 days?

00:07:30.860 They were, were there temptations to give in and deny Christ, where there were grace that was shown and

00:07:42.560 sign that was shown. And I researched quite a bit about them for an entire year after I visited the

00:07:50.680 church. And, you know, I found out that they were really humble men from, you know, extremely poor

00:07:59.340 families who, you know, I, for example, I was just with, you know, one of the sisters of two of the

00:08:09.400 martyrs. They had, she had an older brother and a younger brother who were martyred together. And she

00:08:16.380 told me this unbelievable story of how both of them were working in Libya, just like the other martyrs.

00:08:22.760 They were in this building, there were all these rumors that ISIS is going around. And there were, you know,

00:08:31.400 a lot of warnings in the past. Don't go to Libya, you know, but, you know, they had to do it because 1.00

00:08:37.480 they're the older brothers of a family, and they're relying on them for support. And there was no work in

00:08:42.440 upper Egypt where they came from. And so they were working as construction workers, and they came from

00:08:48.920 incredibly faithful families who just taught their kids to, you know, like when you have,

00:08:55.680 when you're ready for, you know, you Saturday night, you get ready, you take a shower, you go to bed,

00:09:00.160 you get ready to be to receive communion the next day, they just taught them this. Now we don't even

00:09:05.120 know how to read and write, but they have so much faith. And so anyway, those, those brothers,

00:09:10.860 Bishoy and Samuel, Samuel and Bishoy, Bishoy being the oldest, went to Libya first, and then

00:09:18.100 Samuel followed him. And the night before ISIS kidnapped him, Bishoy felt something is going to

00:09:28.460 happen. So he told his younger brother, listen, I have a best friend in Libya here, I want you to go, 1.00

00:09:34.060 you know, spend the night with him because I'm worried. And Samuel went with his best friend,

00:09:39.440 they spent the night there. But at the middle of the night, Samuel came back and said, you know,

00:09:44.920 if there is martyrdom, that's going to happen. I don't, I'm not gonna, I cannot live by myself.

00:09:48.920 I want to be with my older brother. Wow. And two hours later, ISIS came and, and kidnapped him.

00:09:55.920 This was told from an eyewitness who was in the next room, who was the uncle, and who was not kidnapped.

00:10:03.560 But, but, but it shows you the, the, the resilience and the, the, the love for the church. And, and,

00:10:14.560 and it's just incredible, incredible stories of faith like this, that really just gives me chills and

00:10:23.520 makes me so inspired to, to bring it to the audience, because we really need faith-based films today.

00:10:28.720 Absolutely. I mean, what they went through was brutal. And as you explained there, the 40 days

00:10:37.480 of captivity before they were actually martyred. Um, we're going to play a little clip of that now.

00:10:45.140 Uh, so everybody take a look.

00:10:49.200 I can free you and you join us, but you must pass a little test.

00:10:58.720 Then he will be my soldier.

00:11:09.360 Ruby came to Libya to feed our families. 1.00

00:11:11.480 If we deny God in front of man, he will deny us in heaven.

00:11:15.140 We are going home for Christmas.

00:11:22.480 Now, tell us, Rauf, how did you get the basis for your stories?

00:11:28.480 What kind of research, what did you find in your research and what sort of sources were used

00:11:32.780 to come, sort of reenact what, what went on?

00:11:36.820 So, uh, there were, uh, interviews conducted with the families, um, and, uh, the, the research

00:11:45.220 goes into, uh, a lot of the biographer, biographical information about them.

00:11:50.540 Um, you know, some of them had, um, you know, you know, for example, one of the martyrs

00:11:56.760 were, was in a, um, monastery, you know, uh, Egypt is, uh, where monastic life, the idea

00:12:04.480 of monasticism was born, uh, through St.

00:12:07.780 Anthony, the desert father, uh, in the third century. 0.97

00:12:10.820 And this was, uh, the, the world's first, uh, uh, Christian monk.

00:12:15.720 And so there are a lot of monasteries in Egypt.

00:12:18.260 So one of them went to upper Egypt, for example, and, uh, went in the monastery and the monk

00:12:23.200 there told him, you know what, I, I, uh, you, your name, you know, uh, you know, uh, you,

00:12:29.980 you might, you might face martyrdom and, uh, it's very difficult.

00:12:34.460 Are you ready for it?

00:12:35.720 And then he said, you know, uh, it's not, uh, uh, my, my blood is not, is not, is, is

00:12:43.560 so, you know, it's not that valuable compared to blood of Jesus.

00:12:47.160 And I would, I'm willing to go, um, into martyrdom if it happens.

00:12:51.220 And he said, are you experiencing a lot of difficulties and hardships?

00:12:54.980 And he said, yes, I'm, I'm very sure of it.

00:12:57.000 So a lot of them were warned spiritually, um, you know, and, um.

00:13:02.140 Um, and you depict those scenes sort of thing in the film?

00:13:07.000 Yes, yes, there, there, there, there, there is that.

00:13:10.080 And of course, um, you know, also, you know, there are, uh, moments in the film where we

00:13:17.460 feel, you know, also we, we're, we're, we're also, um, in the history part because the, the

00:13:26.040 town where they come from, all of them, you know, all of them, a lot of, a lot of them

00:13:29.860 are related, um, from, from the, you know, from neighboring families, uh, cousins, um,

00:13:38.400 brothers, like I shared with you earlier.

00:13:40.420 Um, but, um, they come from a town, which is an incredibly special town historically,

00:13:46.000 uh, in the Bible.

00:13:47.440 I mean, it's not mentioned in the Bible, but, uh, that town, as you know, the Holy

00:13:51.400 Family, uh, fled to Egypt for three years.

00:13:54.240 Um, and they come from the, one of the towns where the Holy Family stayed for six months

00:13:59.020 in a mountainous area and they were, it was, were hiding there in a, in a very, uh, modest,

00:14:05.300 uh, mountain, um, area.

00:14:07.940 And there's a church obviously built there and, um, and people can go and, you know, uh, do,

00:14:14.620 uh, you know, uh, do pilgrimage there and all that.

00:14:17.640 Uh, but, um, uh, the fact that they, they, they had that, um, to look up to, you know,

00:14:25.740 and be proud of, um, as well, uh, is also in the, in the film.

00:14:32.200 Hey, my friends, are you looking to see Father James Altman?

00:14:34.940 I sure am.

00:14:35.720 And I'm going to see him June 20th through 22nd at the Coalition for Canceled Priests

00:14:40.260 conference right near Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

00:14:42.840 You'll be able to hear from myself, also from Dr. Janet Smith and Michael Hichborn and many

00:14:48.560 more.

00:14:49.280 Go to the Canceled Priests website at cancelledpriests.org to sign up right now before all the tickets

00:14:55.840 are gone.

00:14:56.720 We'll see you in Wisconsin.

00:14:58.900 You know, that, that's totally stunning because that kind of meshes with the faith, not only

00:15:07.340 that they exhibited, but that their family members did.

00:15:09.600 To watch their widows and their children and their siblings speak not of horror, but of

00:15:22.600 even gratitude to their tormentors because they made them saints, that brought them into

00:15:30.040 heaven.

00:15:30.900 Stunning.

00:15:31.560 Let's just, I want to play that clip one more time of this one testimony.

00:15:35.560 It was so moving.

00:15:36.280 Watch this.

00:15:36.700 That kind of faith, to me is only explained by what you just said, but the fact that this

00:15:57.080 particular town is where the Holy Family was because it's the faith handed down by the Holy

00:16:02.580 Family is, it's, it's so stunning.

00:16:04.700 It's so beautiful.

00:16:05.900 That's why I think your, your film needs to get out there, not only needs to be completed

00:16:11.020 and made, this has to be a testimony for the whole wide world.

00:16:14.580 So Rauf, tell us where you are in the filming process.

00:16:17.220 And I know you've got a Kickstarter going so that people can support the project to completion.

00:16:23.000 Tell us where you are, how much is needed for completion and, uh, you know, in sort of,

00:16:28.760 you need a sort of quick turnaround.

00:16:30.440 So we'll have the link to the Kickstarter below the video.

00:16:33.600 Yes.

00:16:34.320 Um, um, right now, uh, we shot 25% of the film.

00:16:40.400 And so that's complete and we're seeking support to finance the rest of the film to, to shoot

00:16:50.020 it in Los Angeles with the same actors, um, by end of the year so that we can edit it beginning

00:16:56.800 of 2025 and release it in 2025 to commemorate them on their 10th anniversary.

00:17:02.860 Um, we, um, had incredible, um, you know, God's providence was, was just with us, uh, in,

00:17:11.860 in ways that I can tell you, like, for example, uh, you know, in Los Angeles where we filmed,

00:17:18.600 because most of the actors were in Los Angeles and obviously, you know, LA and California in

00:17:23.680 general can, can act, um, a much better backdrop, uh, than, than Boston where I'm, where I am.

00:17:30.880 And, uh, to, to act as a much better backdrop, uh, as, as Libya, um, you know, where the events

00:17:37.380 took place.

00:17:38.400 So, um, uh, when, when I was there, there was, you know, no way I could afford to shoot on a

00:17:46.040 beach.

00:17:47.400 And, um, the film doesn't have any of, uh, the goriness, obviously that,

00:17:53.680 you know, you know, ISIS released, um, uh, and the, the, the scene where the martyrdom

00:18:02.800 happened, uh, gives, is a much, much, uh, is a much, much, much more, uh, respect and

00:18:11.000 much more, uh, uh, a way to glorify God through the martyrdom than the way, obviously, um, you

00:18:17.900 know, humans, you know, that ISIS wanted to show it, for example.

00:18:21.760 Um, so, um, we, we couldn't afford to shoot on a, on a beach in Los Angeles.

00:18:27.660 And, uh, with like thousands of dollars, you have to get a police detail, especially if

00:18:32.060 you have people dressed as ISIS and, uh, and then you have to get your own port-of-pies

00:18:36.500 and all this.

00:18:37.020 So we drove about two hours away in Oxnard and someone told us about it.

00:18:41.240 Um, we went there and they gave us a permit for like less than a hundred dollars or something

00:18:45.920 like that.

00:18:46.260 And then, uh, and then, um, we walked into the, uh, Coptic church there with St. John

00:18:52.680 the Baptist church.

00:18:55.260 And I'll never forget that day as you remember, you know, uh, as you know, uh, St. John the

00:18:59.980 Baptist is, uh, the first one to be beheaded, uh, in, in, in the New Testament.

00:19:05.760 And, um, you know, uh, we, we walked into that church and, uh, the, the, the, the priest,

00:19:13.860 Father David met us there and he is like, we're telling him what we're doing.

00:19:17.680 And he's like, uh, his eyes opened up and he had a, uh, a major smiling and said, you

00:19:23.440 know, and I, our entire church is from the same village as the martyrs and I'm here to

00:19:30.340 help you, um, and whatever you need.

00:19:32.700 And the extras and youth volunteer work on the film and all that.

00:19:36.880 Oh my gosh.

00:19:37.720 How can a guy from Boston just go to California and drive up to Oxnard, which is

00:19:43.840 another two hours.

00:19:44.680 And then me, uh, and land in a church that, uh, you know, so things like that kept happening.

00:19:51.540 Um, there were, uh, uh, setbacks, obviously the enemy was really, um, you know, um, trying

00:20:00.680 to, to, um, break us down in many ways.

00:20:04.780 And, uh, we started every day with prayer.

00:20:08.120 Um, and we asked members of the cast to pray and that was, um, that was, that was really

00:20:15.400 very helpful.

00:20:15.980 And, you know, just telling people that to be humble because they're portraying, you

00:20:22.580 know, people who, uh, are saints and they're walking in their shoes and, uh, what that really

00:20:30.140 means, um, yeah, wow, actually no surprise.

00:20:35.220 It was funny because when we got on, um, here in, in the studio, we lost power.

00:20:41.700 It was before we were able to pray it.

00:20:43.560 And these interviews, we always do a start with a prayer, uh, before we start filming,

00:20:47.920 uh, consecrate the, the video we're doing usually to our lady and, uh, and then go from

00:20:53.820 there.

00:20:54.480 Uh, but before we were able to do that, we had a power outage here.

00:20:57.700 We had to wait a few minutes till we got back on again.

00:21:00.460 Um, while we were speaking, I had a tornado warning.

00:21:03.900 So it's, uh, it's no surprise though.

00:21:06.800 You're doing an amazing, amazing work.

00:21:10.380 Um, and boy, God is showing you with signs that you're on the right track, that you are,

00:21:15.020 um, that you're being blessed in it.

00:21:17.180 May the holy martyrs pray for us.

00:21:19.440 Uh, any final thoughts for us?

00:21:22.060 Yes.

00:21:22.540 Um, may, uh, may, may, may, may, may this work be done in the glory of God and, and it

00:21:29.220 is, um, for the glory of God, um, that we're, we're seeking here for their stories to come

00:21:35.380 out to the world.

00:21:36.720 Um, you know, um, back when I was doing some research also on what happened to them in Libya,

00:21:45.000 um, I wrote in the screenplay that, uh, one of them, um, from research I knew was a, was

00:21:54.220 a, was a farmer and used to go, uh, sing hymns, um, in the middle of the night.

00:22:00.940 Um, and that was one of his, um, real character, uh, you know, uh, qualities.

00:22:08.980 And so I wrote that in the script and I wrote that the fact that, um, he would, uh, probably

00:22:14.000 be singing hymns in prison and ISIS wouldn't like it and would try to shut him down.

00:22:18.660 Um, and, um, at some point I was able to reach, uh, the lead investigator of the case

00:22:28.980 in Libya and I interviewed him on, uh, WhatsApp and he's Muslim.

00:22:35.120 And, um, he said, you know, one of them, I said, you know, tell me a little bit about

00:22:39.420 what happened, uh, if you, from your investigation, then he was talking and talking.

00:22:43.600 And then in the middle of the conversation, he said, you know, one of them, uh, used to

00:22:47.380 sing these strange songs and obviously he doesn't know what hymns is because he's not

00:22:51.720 from the faith and, uh, he used to sing it all night and encourage others.

00:22:56.680 And, uh, ISIS really tried to shut him up and, um, he wouldn't stop.

00:23:03.740 So, uh, you know, I gave me, uh, gave me a lot of chills because, you know, uh, what was

00:23:09.440 already like something that you would think would happen really happened.

00:23:13.720 Um, and, uh, may their blessings be, uh, upon your viewers, upon yourself and, uh, your

00:23:21.520 program and the great work that you do.

00:23:23.520 Thank you so much, Rauf.

00:23:27.280 Isn't it amazing when you get to find out, no, that was an inspiration directly from the

00:23:33.320 Holy Spirit rather than your own thoughts.

00:23:35.560 And it's, and it gets confirmed, uh, in this way.

00:23:40.500 Absolutely beautiful.

00:23:42.220 Rauf, thank you for doing what you're doing.

00:23:43.840 I look forward so much to seeing the final film.

00:23:46.500 We're going to have you on a gun when it comes out.

00:23:48.360 Uh, please do send it to me as soon as you're done with it.

00:23:51.700 Um, awesome.

00:23:53.620 Awesome work.

00:23:54.580 God bless you.

00:23:55.780 Thank you.

00:23:56.840 Thank you.

00:23:57.320 Thank you so much.

00:23:58.080 Head over to that Kickstarter so that you can help out Rauf and get this film on the martyrs

00:24:02.740 with their blessing, uh, out to the world to spread the truth of Christ.

00:24:07.120 God bless you all.

00:24:08.200 And we'll see you next time.

00:24:10.000 Thank you.

00:24:18.620 Thank you.

00:24:20.740 Thank you.

00:24:21.220 Thank you.

00:24:21.860 Thank you.

The John-Henry Westen Show - June 04, 2024

Death of 21 Coptic Martyrs Coming to the Big Screen

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