Interview with Lebo Akatio, director of The Last Reformation: The Life

My name is Lebo and I am 25 years old.
I am from Copenhagen Denmark.

I grew up in a Christian family
but I was never born again.

I was always in church every Sunday
when my parents and all that

but the familiar Christian life wasn't
really alive in me.

It was more something you heard every
Sunday from your parents

But then one day I was very down, I was
searching for more

and I knew there was more with God.
But I always said to myself

Why is it that everyone is experiencing
God but I don't experience Him myself?

So one day I was praying to God to show
me that He wanted to use me.

And to show me a sign that He is there
for me.

So I woke up one morning and there was a
small hole in my bed

I had like a bed sofa - sofa bed.

So when I saw a small hole in that bed
I thought it was really ugly,

so I took something to cover that hole.

A few days after that I had to take off
some sheets to wash it.

And then the hole that was there was no
longer a hole but it was a big cross.

And I remember when I saw that that it
was really clear to me

that it was the sign that I was praying
for from God

and I remember I just felt His presence
all over my body. I felt goosebumps

When I saw it, I was - Wow
this is You God, this is You.

So I stumbled onto a website called
"Experience Jesus". dot DK.

In Danish it's called "OplevJesus"
It was a website by Torben Søndergaard

who had that website. I remember when I
saw his website

I remember he seemed different compared
to other people.

All the pastors who are out there in
churches in Denmark.

He was a person who took someone by the
hand and showed them how to actually

live the Christian life. So when I saw
that I thought, I'm going to contact him

One thing that caught my attention is
that he said we need to be born again

and I never heard that, actually.

So I contacted him and he came to
Copenhagen where I lived.

And then he baptized me in water and the
Holy Spirit.

And then he went out with me on the
street and I got kick-started.

To heal the sick and to preach the
gospel. That was really strong.

In 1 day. Everything happened in 1 day.

That was a day
that transformed my life completely.

When I started to make films. When I was
doing film making - in the beginning

I was actually making sports film making
so it was about football

but later on I felt that was boring, so
I wanted to do something more

I wanted to film a bit, direct something
so I started to do some short films

I really liked that, I really love it.
So my biggest dream at that time

was to one day make a feature film
but not a documentary - at all

But to make fiction, maybe
science fiction, action movie,

something at that time.

But when I was born again,

God made it so clear for me that
I couldn't work with that anymore.

I just wanted to serve Him
with all my heart.

I wanted to give Him everything.

And I just knew that this talent that I
have - because people loved it

What I was doing
I can use it to glorify Him.

That was actually what started for me to
make something for God.

But I never expected that I would make a
documentary,

A feature film, about Him, about God,
that would actually go out there

and change a lot of people
I would never have thought that, never.

God spoke to us about making the movie,
the first movie.

He told us to make 3 movies.

So "the Last Reformation - the Life" we
started making after the first movie

Because we knew already that we had to
make 3 movies so we started the 2nd one

And that one again I actually didn't
know how to make it, what to do with it.

What it would be about. And also the
title, "the Life"

is something we came up with later when
we started filming.

In the beginning I had no idea. So when
we actually started filming the movie

God was actually directing the whole
movie from the beginning to the end

Later on it became more clear what the
movie would be about

and then we knew this movie was going
to be about the Life

of a disciple of Jesus.

And it makes sense because the first
movie was about the new birth

now you're a christian

and the 2nd was now you're a born again
christian now there's a life to live.

There's a big difference with this movie

I feel like in this movie I'm much
closer to the stories than in the first

This new movie "the last Reformation the
Life"

also because we knew more how to film
how to get the stories deeper

The difference between this movie and
the last is that you see the life more

You see the lifestyle of a disciple.
You see how you live it

and how you go out and approach people
and how you share the gospel

and how you see when people get healed
and when they don't get healed

Ups and downs. How you get led by the
Holy Spirit. There's more about that.

The first one is more about the new
birth, getting baptized, born again

filled with the Holy Spirit. This is
more deep, more what comes after that.

What do we see after that? How do we
live this life? What happens? you know

I remember the 1st movie, one of the
things many people asked,

I saw some comments on the movie, many
asked "do you seek healing all the time

when you go out on the street? Do you
see people getting healed all the time

Is it always successful?

That's what we want to show with the 2nd
movie - that it's not always successful

We also experience that people don't
experience healing.

We don't always see a breakthrough. When
we keep going, keep trusting God

then we see a breakthrough.

When I was making the first movie I
experienced a lot of attacks.

Not when I was filming but when I was
doing the post-production,

editing the movie. Just when I started
editing. It started slowly.

I got very sick. I started to cough,
coughing, coughing, coughing

I thought in the beginning, maybe this
will go away in a few weeks

but it actually took 6 months. While I
was coughing I suddenly got an infection

I became weak. I didn't have strength
to go out, walk, work on the movie

I only did a small amount of editing
every day.

I actually ended up at the very end that
I went to the hospital

to get operated in my back.
But I was not only attacked physically

I was also attacked mentally. in my head
I had a lot of thoughts

The devil came with a lot of voices and
said "this is not from God"

"what you're doing isn't good - nobody
will like it and nobody wants to see it"

"it doesn't make sense
what you're doing"

So I was really discouraged. I almost
didn't believe in myself in the end.

And I didn't think anybody would see it
- the movie.

But I always prayed to God and said, if
just one person is changed by this movie

then it will be worth it.

But in the end when I finished editing
the movie, all the sickness was gone

and I was good, again.

In the first movie I had a lot of attack
from the beginning, so this one

I didn't actually feel any attack in
the beginning.

But after some weeks when I really got
into the editing part, it just came

slam, slam, slam.
All the attacks.

I got really attacked in the mind.
It was so weird.

I just felt, so many times, while I was
sitting and editing

I just felt like a big gray cloud came
over me.

Everything felt so dark and empty and bad
I couldn't think, I couldn't concentrate

I felt so much depression.
But I just knew that God is faithful.

If He can lead me out of the first movie
He can do it again this time.

So I just kept on pressing on again and
again and then in the end, we made it!

For me it's been a big honor to make
these movies.

I didn't know how much of an impact it
would have on people.

But to be here on the other side, to see
how many millions have actually seen it

How many thousands have actually been
changed by watching

it's really big for me. It's so amazing
I'm so honored, I'm so honored

Thankful to God that he can use me for
that

It's a really exciting movie. Watch it!
Directed by God, by the Holy Spirit.