'All God's Children' is the first documentary to expose issues of child abuse within the Protestant Evangelical missionary community. The documentary takes a personal look at the consequences of child abuse through the eyes of three former missionary families. The Beardslee, Shellrude and Darr families left North America for West Africa during the 1950s. They followed what they believed to be 'God's Calling': to spread Christianity throughout the world. To qualify for a mission post in Africa they were required to send their children, starting at age 6, to a boarding school in Africa. For nine months of the year the children attended the Mamou Alliance Academy run by the Christian and Missionary Alliance in Guinea. Cut off from their families and without any reliable means of communication, the children quietly suffered emotional, spiritual, physical and sexual abuse at the hands of the all-missionary staff. It took the children decades to acknowledge the effects the abuses had on their lives. When they finally dared to break the silence and speak out, the Church denied all allegations and refused to help. But through years of persistent activism the victims finally brought the Church to conduct an investigation and acknowledge the abuses. The investigation of the Mamou Alliance Academy was the first of its kind but has since inspired investigations at others schools of different denominations. Spreading the word about the abuse has been part of the healing for the victims and is an inspiration for others to take action.

Forms: Documentary, Feature
Genres: Family, Educational, Religious, Independent, Reality, Culture, Spiritual
Niches: African, Christian, Third World, Women, Senior/Aging, Youth/Teen