LIFTED
A Dying Tribe Encounters New Life.
What is LIFTED?
Lifted: A Dying Tribe Encounters New Life tells the incredible true story of the Schoen family, an ordinary American family called by God to the jungles of Suriname in the 1950s. Inspired by the sacrifice of Jim Elliot and his fellow missionaries, Ivan and his wife moved their young children to live among the Wayana and Trio peoples—tribes once marked by warfare and fear. Through decades of risk, prayer, and relationship-building, the Schoens witnessed God transform lives and raise up Indigenous leaders to share the gospel with their own people. Today, their legacy continues through the ministry of their son and ongoing outreach in the Amazon. Lifted invites viewers to see the power of God at work and consider their own role in reaching the unreached—through prayer, giving, or even going.
“You will not walk away from the film thinking, ‘Wow, the Schoen family is a really unique, powerful missionary family.’ You will walk away thinking, ‘They serve a very powerful God,’” says Perry.
The Vision For LIFTED
The vision for Lifted began about three years ago with an unforgettable Zoom call. On the screen was Tom Schoen, the youngest of the Schoen children, who now serves as a missionary with TWR among Indigenous communities. Joining him were his parents, the very ones who had moved their young family into the jungle decades earlier.
But what caught everyone’s attention was a tribal man sitting in a hammock, holding what looked like a Bible. It was the completed Word of God in the tribe’s language, being presented to the village chief for the very first time. This powerful moment helped inspire the creation of Lifted and captures the heart of the Schoen family’s story — generations faithfully serving and seeing God’s promises fulfilled.
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