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Antonio Banderas Film 'The 33' Will Highlight Christian Faith of Trapped Chilean Miners

A screengrab from the trailer for 'The 33,' a new film based on the Chilean miners who were trapped underground in 2010.
A screengrab from the trailer for "The 33," a new film based on the Chilean miners who were trapped underground in 2010. | (Photo: Youtube/ Screengrab)

A new trailer for the upcoming film "The 33," which stars Antonio Banderas and tells the true story of 33 Chilean miners who were trapped over 2,000 feet underground for 69 days in 2010, provides a glimpse of how the faith of the survivors will be central to their dramatic story.

While trapped underground, the miners turned to prayer.

"We can say a prayer together," says one of the trapped miners, while another responds, "I don't know the words." The first miner answers, "God doesn't care."

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The miners had only about three days worth of food and drink if they rationed it to one another.

After their rescue, the group recalled how God had performed various miracles to keep them alive while they were trapped below the surface.

At the National Prayer Breakfast in 2011, Jose Henriquez, one of the miners whom the group described as "the Pastor," shared with the world how God kept them alive during the ordeal.

"We realized we had only one alternative, and that was God himself," said the 56-year-old, as reported by CNN.

Henriquez visited Rick Warren's Saddleback Church in California in 2011 to discuss how he helped bring 22 miners to Christ.

Warren described their situation as "The Greatest Rescue," and joyfully welcomed Henriquez to the church.

"You know, the Bible is actually a book of rescue stories," said Warren in 2011. "Ever since Adam and Eve blew it, God's been having to bail us out because of all the problems we get ourselves into."

"He rescued Moses, he rescued Joseph, he rescued Jacob, he rescued Abraham, he rescued the children of Israel over and over and over. He rescued Jonah and Gideon, and I could just go on and on and on. The whole Bible is full of rescue stories," added Warren.

At the time of their rescue, Mario Sepulveda, now 45, praised God after being lifted out of the 2,000-foot hole.

"I was with God and I was with the devil. But God won. I held on to God's hand. At no point in time did I doubt that God would get me out of there," Sepulveda told CNN in 2010.

Jimmy Sanchez, now 24, also recognized his faith after being lifted out of the hole that could have claimed his life.

"There are actually 34 of us because God has never left us down here," said Sanchez to Time magazine in 2010.

Those working on the rescue also witnessed divine intervention during the efforts.

"It was 75 percent engineering and 25 percent a miracle," said topographer Macarena Valdes to The Wall Street Journal in 2010.

Contact: [email protected]; follow me on Twitter @vinfunaro

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