Part III of the Vision Forum Inquiry into the ‘End of the Spear’ Controversy

1. Every Tribe Entertainment knew that Chad Allen was a sodomite activist after they had offered him the role, but before he had accepted the part.

   ... We did not know Chad was gay when we offered him the roles of Nate and Steve Saint. We learned just before he accepted the roles, and then faced the decision of whether we should love him and include him in the journey.... (Quoted from the Bearing Fruit Communications and Every Tribe Entertainment e-mail of Feb. 8, 2006)

2. As late as three months after Chad Allen was formally hired, Every Tribe Entertainment was given the option of releasing Chad Allen from his contract.

   Allen didn’t meet Steve Saint until about three months after he was hired, when shooting began in January 2004 in Panama. When they finally met, Allen says he told Saint, “If you don’t want me to do this movie, because I respect you and your family so much and I respect this story so much, I will walk away from this contract or no contract, even if that means I’m liable for breaking the contract.” (Quoted from Christianity.com, “Christian Studio Explains Hiring of Gay Actor” by Mark Moring, Posted Jan. 26, 2006)

3. When Steve Saint finally met Chad Allen, he had already decided to keep him as an actor, because of a private dream revelation he believed he experienced from the Lord, in which the Lord was instructing him to show that “I [God] love all of my children.”

   ... But Saint had already decided to keep Allen on board. He said he had been praying about it, and that God clearly revealed the answer in a dream. In the dream, Saint says he was “being chased by a mob of Christians who were angry with me for having desecrated ‘their story.’ The answer to their hostility was easy: Just ask Chad to remove himself. But as quickly as this thought came to me, I found myself standing before God. His look was not as compassionate as I had expected. God said, ‘Steve, you of all people should know that I love all of my children. With regard to Chad Allen, I went to great lengths to orchestrate an opportunity for him to see what it would be like for him to walk the trail that I marked for him. Why did you mess with my plans for him?’” (Quoted on Christianity.com, “Christian Studio Explains Hiring of Gay Actor” by Mark Moring, Posted Jan. 26, 2006)

4. In addition to the private revelation which Mr. Saint believes he experienced, the executives at Every Tribe Entertainment made the affirmative decision to keep Chad Allen, notwithstanding his homosexual advocacy, because “he was the best actor for the role” and “the best actor available to tell our story of faith and forgiveness in the best way possible.” Furthermore, they contend their actions were “biblical.”

   The executives at Every Tribe stood by Mr. Allen. Jim Hanon, the director, said he was by far the best actor for the role. “If we make films according to what the Bible says is true, it’s incumbent upon us to live that,” he said. “We disagree with Chad about homosexuality, but we love him and worked with him, and we feel that’s a Biblical position.” (Quoted from The New York Times, “Evangelical Filmmakers Criticized for Hiring Gay Actor,” Feb. 2, 2006)

   Mart Green, president of Every Tribe Entertainment and founder of the Mardel Christian and Educational Supply chain, called Chad Allen, the star of End of the Spear, “the best actor available to tell our story of faith and forgiveness in the best way possible.” Green said he learned Allen was gay after the actor had been hired. “Our position is we’re making quality films that tell faith-based stories, so we hire the best,” according to Green. “Chad was so exceptional that he was the only actor we hired who we didn’t hire a backup for.” (Christian Retailing, Oct. 17, 2005)

5. Every Tribe Entertainment has issued a letter in which they quote Mark Green claiming that God wanted Chad Allen to play the lead role.

   Producer Mart Green shared, “I would not have hired Chad had I known everything about him. But God had to work around me.” (Quoted from the Bearing Fruit Communications and Every Tribe Entertainment e-mail of Feb. 8, 2006)

6. Every Tribe Entertainment continues to favorably advertise by direct reference, explicit, pro-homosexual, and blasphemous Chad Allen projects on the End of the Spear Web site, including one theatrical production that analogizes a group of practicing homosexuals to the Lord Jesus Christ and His disciples, and another which mocks Christians for trying to bring the Gospel to homosexuals.
    
7. Every Tribe Entertainment told the press on October 17, 2005 that their reaction to the news of Chad Allen’s homosexuality was to keep him because, “Hey, he’s still the best actor.” Further, they claimed that it was Chad Allen, not Every Tribe Entertainment, who communicated the greatest concerns.

   After someone told me that Chad appeared on the cover of the gay and lesbian magazine The Advocate, we just felt, “Hey, he’s still the best actor.” If anything, he was more concerned when he found that we found out — not that he has been hiding his sexuality. He said, “If this movie does well, will you bash gays?” We said, “Chad, we don’t endorse your lifestyle, but we love who you are.” (Mart Green, quoted from Christian Retailing, October 17, 2005)