Belfast pastor's miraculous COVID-19 recovery to become a Netflix film produced by DeVon Franklin
The testimony of a pastor from Northern Ireland who miraculously recovered from COVID-19 will now be adapted into a feature film for Netflix.
A video of Pastor Lee McClelland from Ark Church in Belfast, Northern Ireland, went viral after he fell ill from COVID-19 in March.
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In the video, the pastor describes being in the hospital with the virus where he began to lose hope as his condition deteriorated. However, a hospital cleaner who was also a missionary began to minister to him from afar and he recovered.
The video was seen by millions including Hollywood producer DeVon Franklin. The popular Christian filmmaker then contacted the preacher about turning his story into a feature-length film, the Sunday Times reported.
Franklin is known for his hit faith-based film “Miracles From Heaven” and the more recent movie “Breakthrough,” which made more than $50 million at the box office.
McClelland’s testimony could be available to stream on Netflix by Christmas 2021. According to reports, the feature film will focus on the pastor's experience with the novel coronavirus, his church, and the famous viral video where McClelland recalled his encounter with the hospital cleaner.
The screenplay is to be written by Randy Brown, who also penned the script for “Miracles From Heaven.” The film has not been given a title as of yet.
In McClelland’s viral video, the minister recalled the nights, in particular, being the worst part for him while in the hospital fighting for his life. In the clip, McClelland describes feeling “alone” because no one could visit him — not his family, not a pastor, no one. He admitted to being in a dark place and unsure of his fate, and then God sent a cleaner his way.
The hospital cleaner had been a missionary in Nigeria for 14 years and testified of all the miracles he saw God perform. He also encouraged the pastor that God could heal him as well and prayed with McClelland from afar. Every day the cleaner would check in on the pastor and eventually McClelland would give him a thumbs-up as his health began to turn around.
The cleaner’s prayers were being answered as McClelland regained his appetite and his breathing improved. He recalled craving prawn crisps and a coke. The next day, pastor McClelland’s prayers were answered as that very same cleaner showed up with a bag of two oranges, a packet of prawn crisps and a coke as a gift for the minister.
The cleaner told him it was a “gift from the Lord.”
“God is a God that is personal,” McClelland testified in the video with tears in his eyes.
He said although people might think he’s crazy, “I am crazy, crazy for Jesus. God knows what you have need of. He is an incredible savior!”
The video went on to encourage everyone to “never underestimate” God.
