First Baptist Church in Riverview was the location for the Tampa premier for a new faith-based movie starring Erik Estrada on Sunday, March 24. Estrada was present at the church for the film to meet and chat with more than 400 parents and teens in attendance to see his movie, Finding Faith.
Estrada is best known for his role as Ponch, the motorcycle police officer, in the television series, ChiPs. Since then, he has appeared in movies, television shows and reality programs. Estrada is now embracing his new role as the spokesperson for the Safe Surfin’ Foundation, the creators of the film Finding Faith.
Finding Faith is a full-length motion picture that tells the true story of how a 14-year-old Christian girl, named Faith, fell victim to an on-line predator. The 30-year-old predator pretended to be a 16-year-old boy online in order to lure the girl into meeting him. After gaining her trust, he set a time to meet. It was then that he kidnapped and held her captive for several days, as he planned to sell her into the sex trade. The family prayed with their church and community while the authorities worked the case to find and rescue Faith.
After the movie, Estrada spoke to the audience and explained that he is currently a law enforcement officer that works specifically with the Crimes Against Children Task Force, in an effort to rescue children from predators and to use his celebrity status to educate families.
“The FBI recently released a disturbing statistic that if your teenager is on the internet, there is a 100 percent chance that they will be approached by an online predator,” said Estrada. “We made this movie to inform the parents and children, because education is the best defense.”
The screening at First Baptist Church of Riverview is part of a national awareness tour where Estrada and the Safe Surfin’ Foundation are bringing this important message to the forefront in communities throughout the nation.
Estrada also told the audience that next year he is releasing another faith-based film about Religious freedom.
For more information about the film, visit www.FindingFaithFilm.com.
