Colm Fitzpatrick
Personal Profile
Most conversion stories sound mundane. They might involve having an interesting conversation, listening to a great sermon or reading a persuasive book. But the story of Alan Field’s journey to God plays out more like a movie than a real-life experience. From criminal turned movie-writer, his story is one worth listening to.
Born in Liverpool, faith played little role in Alan’s early life. His parents were divorced and while he was baptised, he says “religion wasn’t in my family”.
Growing up, he spent many years in the “criminal world” of Liverpool and Glasgow. It was during this time that a freak accident caused him to re-evaluate his faith.
“In the criminal years I was in and around so much violence where death occurred, and found myself owning a gym, which accounted for the membership of around 30-40% of the criminal fraternity,” he explains.
“At this time I went off on a trip to Thailand and within three days had fallen from a 70ft waterfall, which saved not only my life, but saved my soul.”
Alan believes that God saved him on the waterfall as a plummet from that height meant certain death. With a second chance at things, Alan decided to focus his efforts on making faith films.
“I knew God had a plan for me, and that was to write, and make films, and I have continued this path since, having to find more about myself, and God at every step,” he says.
Alan had written alongside Jimmy McGovern for the first series of The Street, which won numerous awards for the best drama series. After this, he co-wrote and produced a feature film called Act of Grace. However, he began to focus on Christian films and documentaries as faith became ignited.
With this intention in mind, Alan decided to walk the Camino de Santiago and made a documentary called The Road to Santiago. It was on this trek that he heard about the annual pilgrimage from Derry, Dublin, Belfast and Cork to Knock.
“This pilgrimage began over 30 years ago as a peace pilgrimage during The Troubles, after a vision by one of the original members at Medjugorje. In the vision he saw 4 bolts of lightening with Our Lady at the centre and for many years believed this to be the destruction of Ireland and the Catholic Faith,” Alan explains.
“It was after one pilgrimage had started from Derry for peace with the local Cursillo group there that the word began to spread, and Belfast began their pilgrimage, then Dublin, and four years ago Cork began their pilgrimage – only then was it realised this was the vision being realised, four corners of faith coming to Our Lady at Knock, this was about hope.” Now thousands walk the pilgrimage each year.
Alan decided he wanted to make a film about this pilgrimage which teaches us about the importance of the Rosary and praying. Titled The Road to Knock, the film captures the story of how the religious site came to be so well-known today and includes different pilgrims’ testimonies about their experience of doing the walk, along with Alan’s own feelings about it.
Making faith films “suits” Alan because it joins his two great passions in life, and is a great way to evangelise.”
“I hope [Irish viewers] would get to understand more about Knock, Our Lady of Knock, about the history of Knock, about the hope there is when seeing groups of young and old, male and female, all walking from different parts of Ireland and coming together in unity and love,” he says.
Making faith films “suits” Alan because it joins his two great passions in life, and is a great way to evangelise. He notes that even if one person is reading your story, you might not know the impact it could have on them.
“…When I receive emails from people who have bought the films I’ve made expressing their emotion after watching it, then that’s the reward, the payoff so to speak, that anyone doing the Lord’s work seeks – not the praise, that belongs to God – but the emotion in the words that someone might write to you,” Alan says.
When he’s not making inspirational films, Alan speaks out about his conversion story in the hope that others will listen to his important message about a God that saves and wills the good for everyone, even those on the margins.
“I have gone into prisons, and spoken to Christians and youth groups to tell my story from the criminal days to the waterfall and about my being given another chance at redemption.
“The story I tell is one of a simple twist of fate, from the streets of Liverpool to the hope and dreams that many can share with their own belief of destiny and of faith.”
Most people begin their faith journey after being plunged into baptismal waters, but it seems Alan started his after escaping from the ravaging currents of a waterfall. Unlike the one in Genesis, it’s a fall that changed his life for the better.
For more information about The Road to Knock, see: https://www.noaharkproductions.co.uk/