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One family’s story of child loss sets them on a journey across the country to mourn with the broken-bereaved and speak the hope that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings to even this.

SYNOPSIS

How does someone who has faith in the love, goodness and sovereignty of God find peace when unthinkable devastation overtakes them?

How do we reconcile the cry of the psalmist, “My God! My God! Why have your forsaken me?” with the broken words of Job who, after losing his ten children said, “The Lord gives, the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord”?

This is something many families face after the untimely death of children, parents, and siblings. This is what the Shaffer family faced after Tristan Shaffer took his life on a snowy February morning, two days before his 19th birthday.

After three years of wrestling with grief, trauma, and theology; after meeting with many couples who experienced the same devastating loss, the Shaffers band together as a family of artists and filmmakers to travel the country to share Tristan’s story, and the stories of many others.

All of these stories from East to West, from North to South, share a larger story, and that is the story of a faith in Jesus Christ that sustains them in the midst of the darkest of storms.

STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS

CHAPTERS

  • Tristan’s Story
  • The Shaffer Family Story
  • The Posture of Child Loss
  • Grief
  • Lament & the Bible
  • Trauma
  • Suicide
  • The Church & Support for the Bereaved
  • The “While We’re Waiting” Ministry for bereaved parents
  • Sovereignty of God
  • The Gift of Suffering
  • The Hope of Redemption
  • A New Equilibrium for Living

STORY THROUGH-LINES

The narrative spines that carry the documentary

 

  • Tristan’s Story
  • The Shaffer Family Story
  • Psalmic Stories (22, 34, 77)
  • Biblical Figures of Jeremiah, David, Job, Asaph, Mary, Paul, Jesus

INTERVIEWEES

Parents of Child Loss

  • The Sullivans
  • The Colemans
  • The Kingsburys
  • The Houses
  • The Armstrongs

Well Known Figures

  • John Piper, Pastor & Author
  • Dr. Michael Sleeth, suicide awareness
  • Toby Mac, Christian music artist
  • Steven Curtis Chapman, Christian music artist
  • Joni Eareckson Tada
  • Mark Vroegop
  • Dr. W. Lee Warren

Ministry Leaders

  • Brad Mellette, Pastor
  • Jerad Mellette, Pastor
  • Paul Viswasam, Pastor
  • Scott Christensen, Pastor

WEB SERIES FOR YOUTUBE

The production of the documentary will itself be a reality web series to chronical the Shaffer family on their journey to make this documentary. The content will have elements of entertainment, education, and inspiration. Where many documentaries have lengthy extras and segments that end up on the cutting room floor, the web series will utilize this material to build the platform and grow the audience. Other content for the web series will include:

 

  • Behind the scenes
  • Fun adventures along the road
  • Inspirational & theological reflections
  • Teasers
  • Each of the family members sharing how Tristan’s death has affected them and what has helped them to move forward.

The Surviving Shaffer Family

 

GREYSON

FILM
THEOLOGY

MELISSA

THEATRE
PHOTOGRAPHY

TODD

FILM
ANIMATION
WRITING

McKENNA

ILLUSTRATION
PHOTOGRAPHY

SAWYER

FILM
ANIMATION