DOCUMENTARY SYNOPSIS

 

Port Macquarie, on Australia's east coast, had never seen an evangelist like Zac Young. For people right across the city, from all walks of life, he was a picture of what it meant to love somebody. He was only 19.

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And then he was taken in a shark attack. 

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It was only at this point the true size of his impact became apparent. Crowds came together for his funeral, the largest Port Macquarie has ever seen. People lined the beach, with hundreds and hundreds paddling out to form a circle in his honour. People gave their lives to Christ in the surf, people flocked to churches, and people were baptised at the beach. By all accounts, what unfolded was extraordinary.

 

Zac had only been a Christian for two years. Before this, he was, in his own words, drunk most weekends, the attention seeker at parties and a troublemaker at school. Nobody could have imagined who he was to become. As told by his friends, Zac's transformation came after a very real and personal encounter with God. He was, in his own words immersed in 'God's love.' From this point, with increasing passion, Zac was the picture of a 'no questions asked' follower of Jesus Christ. And now fully surrendered to Jesus Christ, truly strange things began to unfold, not just for him, but also for those around him.  

 

Zac, about 3 months before he was taken, began to tell people that God was soon going to take him home. He insisted that his friends not be worried, it was a part of God's plan. Inexplicably, Zac also spoke with complete conviction that God was going to use him to share the love of Jesus Christ, not just in Port Macquarie, not just in Australia, but in every major city in the world. And those exact words are the last he wrote in his diary, the day before he died.  

 

"I, Zachariah Micah Young, am a passionate follower of Jesus Christ, and it is my mission to share the love of Jesus Christ in every major city in the world." 

 

So here we now find ourselves, ten years on, attempting to make sense of Zac's life and death. Inexplicable. Complex. Supernatural. 

 

Hidden within the story of Zac and his friends are messages of profound importance. Critical messages for the Church before Jesus Christ's return.

 

Time is short. Time is really short. But God can do more with a surrendered person in one year than the rest of us can do on our own in a lifetime. 

 

Death. The art of dying is lost. The bitterness of its bite is all that's known. Yet, death, in the hands of God, is a pathway for his children to see all things renewed. 

 

Courage. Fearless courage comes to those who truly die to themselves. And this is the truth of Zac's story - he died twice. The death he died at first was the death of his pride, and down into this grave also went all his fears. Fear of man, fear of pain, fear of death, all gone. 

 

The biggest message is the message of love. A love way beyond what we've previously known. 

 

God's love for us is what overcomes us. God's love for us is what overcomes our fears, our insecurities and our inabilities. And his love in us is what overcomes our world. This is what we saw, in startling colours, in Zac Young. By the love of God, Zac Young changed his city. And by this same love, each of us can change our world. 

 

When all is said and done, Zac Forever Young is a documentary that presents Jesus Christ: the love of God, made alive among us. 

 

I say to people, I'm ruined for 'normal Christianity.' Normal Christianity, for me became walking down the street and seeing people saved and healed, people actually experiencing Christ. Once you've tasted and seen how good it is, there's just nothing else. And that was Zac.

- Jakayla Gover