‘Sound of Freedom’
Actor Jim Caviezel and Real-Life Character Tim Ballard: ‘God’s Children Are Not for Sale’
New movie releasing July 4 sheds light on terror of human trafficking and real heroes that are bringing light to this darkness
June 28, 2023: Excerpts from the National Catholic Register
“God’s children are not for sale.” So said Jim Caviezel, who portrayed Jesus in The Passion of the Christ, and the man he plays in the movie Sound of Freedom, Tim Ballard, in separate interviews with the Register. Both men have put their lives on the line for this true story about saving children from human trafficking.
It is a line spoken in the film based on the incredible true story of former Homeland Security Special Agent Tim Ballard, who embarks on a mission to rescue children from human traffickers in Latin America. It begins with him catching pedophiles, but when a young boy he rescues from traffickers asks if he can find his captive sister, Ballard quits his job to embark on a dangerous journey into a Columbia jungle to rescue her.
Jim Caviezel [who plays Tim Ballard] pointed to the growing travesty of human trafficking. “The United States is the biggest buyer of trafficking pedophilia in the world, and Mexico being the biggest producer of it, with over 300,000 children being taken into the United States under the age of 18,” he said. “It looks like a good fight to pick” to highlight in film.
He described the experience of portraying Ballard as “a meaningful journey,” like The Passion of the Christ. “This is the best film I’ve done since that movie,” he said.
Caviezel has a message for predators and others, too: “God’s children are no longer for sale, and we are not afraid,” he said. “Can we love God’s children enough that we don’t fear evil any longer? Christians, we cannot fear the cross. We have to protect our children. Let’s start today.”
Angel Studios releases Sound of Freedom in theaters nationwide on the Fourth of July.