The Saratov Approach

Our eldest son serving a mission to Barcelona, Spain
(far left)

My husband and I had a chance to go to the movies this weekend and we chose to see The Saratov Approach - the true story of two 19 and 20-year-old LDS missionaries (Elder Propst and Elder Tuttle), serving in Russia, who were kidnapped and held for ransom back in March 1998.  They were beaten and threatened with death several times over the course of 5 days, while the kidnappers waited for what they hoped would be a large sum of money from either the LDS Church, the American government or the missionaries' families.  The climax came when the captors realized that they would not be getting any ransom money.

Our youngest son serving a mission in Ohio
(far right)

This was a powerful movie, sometimes very hard to watch.  As the parent of two boys who have served missions already, it especially hit home to me.  I felt my heart go to my stomach when Elder Propst's parents got the late-night call saying their son was kidnapped, and I couldn't stop the tears. I could only imagine the horror of that situation.

Everyone (but the kidnappers) knew that no money would be forthcoming.  If ransom was paid for those two missionaries, then every missionary in the world would then become the targets of evil people seeking a quick payout.

Watching the range of emotions the missionaries went through, from terror and fear, to acceptance, then to caring about the souls of their captors, was enthralling to watch.  In the end, the young missionaries accepted, and knew, that if or when they died, they would be okay.  God was in control.  Even the sacrifice of their lives would be worth it to save the lives of 50,000 other young missionaries (now 80,000+).

I also saw a parallel between the feelings God must have had when he sent his son Jesus Christ to atone for our sins and die on the cross, and those of the young elder's parents, who had the money to pay the ransom but could not. They needed to sacrifice their son for the greater good of so many others.

No greater love hath any man than this....

I highly recommend this movie.  It was very well made.

If you haven't seen it (it was released in October 2013), you can request that the movie theaters in your area bring it in.  Go to this website:   : http://bit.ly/SaratovDemandIt