“We need to tell our own story. It is our story, and we can tell it better than any other person. And when we tell our own story, we draw it from our experiences as a people.”
ABOUT THE FILM
Religious life has been one of the most powerful forces across Africa. Today, in a context of rapid modernization, many feel they can no longer answer the fundamental questions: Who are we, and where are we going?
FROM THE SOURCE OF THE SPRING weaves together stories from three African countries, demonstrating how the most challenging questions in society are, at their core, spiritual questions.
Spanning the landscapes of Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa, this film explores how communities grapple with questions of livelihood, faith, and identity.
In South Africa, fishing communities struggle to feed their families while preserving their ancient connection to the sea.
In Nigeria, an entire nation navigates the realities of religious violence at the intersection of indigenous traditions, Christianity, and Islam.
In Ghana, churches wrestle with the legacy of religious colonialism, turning to Traditional wisdom to forge a new narrative.
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“We can ill afford to talk about theology or knowledge of God in an abstract sense. That there are very close connections between our theology and what theology engages as societal issues.”
FROM THE SOURCE OF THE SPRING was sponsored by Calvin University’s Nagel Institute with funding from Templeton Religion Trust. The Engaging African Realities project aims to enhance African theologians’ understanding of social science theories and methods, fostering collaboration between theologians and social scientists. This initiative helped theologians create a more grounded theology, informed by empirical research and everyday experiences.