WS Chronicle

Photos by Timothy Ramsey

Above: Members of Kimberly Park Holiness Church chat about the movie “War Room” after viewing it on Saturday, Dec 26.

By Timothy Ramsey

For The Chronicle

Many movies are made to entertain, make you laugh, are thought provoking and/or emulate life.  The movie “War Room” encompasses all of these aspects.  The W.I.S.E. (Women in Spiritual Excellence) ministry of Kimberly Park Holiness Church, 1640 SM Caesar Drive, sponsored a free showing of the award-winning movie on Saturday, Dec. 26.

“Awesome, faith and unity,” were the first words uttered by Wanda Green, a, member of Kimberly Park, when speaking of what she thought of the movie.  When asked what she would take from the movie to apply to her everyday life, she said, “Stay on your knees, just stay on your knees.”

Carolyn Edmond, founder of W.I.S.E and first lady of Kimberly Park, said she decided to show the movie at the church because, “It was an opportunity to bring people together just to give them an ‘ah ha’ moment that we have to always be thankful to the Lord and remember that the word of God is powerful and it’s our weapon against the negative things that are happening in our lives.”

The movie centers around the Jordan family, comprised of Tony (husband), Elizabeth (wife) and Danielle (daughter), as well as Ms. Clara (mentor and Elizabeth’s real estate client). Tony is a successful pharmaceutical rep who travels frequently and Elizabeth is a real estate agent. Elizabeth meets Ms. Clara as she is attempting to sell her home. Tony and Elizabeth’s marriage is on shaky ground and they argue frequently. Ms. Clara immediately sees that Elizabeth is having issues and begins to probe about her personal life and befriends her.

Ms. Clara shows Elizabeth her home that she has lived in for 50 years. She then shows her prayer room to Elizabeth and tells her that the power of prayer has helped her along in life, and that she has been where Elizabeth is. Ms. Clara tells Elizabeth that she calls her prayer room her “War Room” where she fights her spiritual battles.

Tony, in the meantime, is very contentious toward Elizabeth, nor does he spend much time with his daughter Danielle. He spends a lot of his time traveling for his job and almost has an affair with another woman while away on a business trip.

Ms. Clara and Elizabeth’s relationship quickly blossoms and Elizabeth fully commits to the teachings of Ms. Clara. She begins to transform her prayer life and the way she relates to her husband and daughter.  Elizabeth then creates her own “War Room” where she begins to pray for her family and totally surrenders to God.

Tony loses his job because of his dishonesty and hits rock bottom.  He then finds Elizabeth’s “War Room” and sees that she has been praying for him even though their relationship has been rocky. They begin to repair their relationship and Tony repents to God, his family and his former employer.  In the end, the family’s prayers have been answered and they become the tight-knit unit they have always wanted to be.

Elizabeth tells Ms. Clara that she has been a huge blessing in her life and Ms. Clara finally tells her that she has prayed to God to bring her someone to teach her ways of prayer. She lets Clara know that she must pay it forward by showing another woman the power of prayer.

“I enjoyed the movie and it had parts that related to young people and it inspired me and it’s a very good movie.  In the beginning of the movie, she was kind of bitter and had a lot of hatred in her heart and I can relate and see how that can manifest in young people and adults, “ said youth member Sydney Himes of Kimberly Park, where the pastor is Robert Edmond.

Laura Ford, Sunday school teacher and prayer leader, said, “It’s powerful and it’s at a perfect time, simply because you may have people at your church praying. It needs to be on a larger scale and this movie helps to bring that out for others to see. Prayer is not just done in a corner, and when the whole church comes together to pray, then it actually makes a great difference, not only in the lives of those doing the praying, but in the church as a whole and also in the community.”

She went on to say, “I love the idea that we battle on our knees because many times we think it’s a physical war, but the true root of the matter is spiritual, so we have to make sure we use spiritual weapons to defeat the enemy.”