Shining Armor

Jason Whittaker flies back to the village where he helped build a church and a missionary radio station - and finds everything falling apart. Rebels are closing in on the town, and a smooth-talking newcomer named Victor has lured away fifty church members with a stronger radio signal and a false gospel that promises people can become gods. Jason vows to his friend Manuel that he'll straighten it all out, but when he storms Victor's prayer meeting and dares the crowd to walk out with him, no one moves... and Jason is thrown out, alone and humiliated. Convinced Victor is only after money, Jason asks Manuel's young son Luis - a boy who worships him - to quietly plant questions around the village. Luis does far more than that: he sneaks into Victor's station and announces over the air that its leaders don't believe a word they preach. Then someone grabs him mid-broadcast, and Jason, hearing the struggle over the radio, races to save the boy whose daring he inspired but never intended.

Found on Countermoves Album 37 · 12 episodes

The run See every episode

1 of 2 0468 Chains When Whit chooses a struggling neighborhood over the safe suburbs for his new Whit's End, he discovers the community's resistance runs deeper than he imagined - and so do the needs of two children he finds in its path.

2 of 2 0469 Chains When vandals halt construction and a hostile neighborhood rejects his new shop, Whit gambles that an open invitation - and stubborn trust in two runaway kids - can change hearts in Oswald Heights.

0470 Break a Leg When an accident sidelines the quiet assistant who keeps the Harlequin Theatre running, the pompous Edwin Blackgaard must pull off a children's bicycle race on his own.

0471 Fifteen Minutes A young mini-golf champion and a washed-up sitcom star both discover how quickly Odyssey's spotlight can move on.

0472 Welcoming Wooton When Odyssey's cheerfully unconventional mailman starts pitching in around the local soda shop, his habit of putting people before schedules puts his job on the line.

0473 Breaking Point With the new Connellsville shop stretching Whit impossibly thin, a chaotic day at Whit's End and a malfunctioning Imagination Station force him to decide how much of his life's work he can trust to strangers.

1 of 2 0474 Shining Armor When missionary Jason Whittaker returns to a war-threatened village, he finds his church's radio ministry under siege by a charismatic rival whose seductive message he's determined to defeat single-handedly.

2 of 2 0475 Shining Armor When his hero's crusade against a rival preacher backfires, a young missionary must learn whether the village needs a champion or a servant.

0476 Relatively Annoying Stuck for a week with the grandparents he can barely stand, a boy schemes to win back his confiscated video game - and stumbles onto secrets that change how he sees them.

0477 O.T. Action News: Battle at the Kishon When a household visit in ancient Israel is interrupted by breaking news of rebellion, OT Action News covers Deborah's bold prophecy and an outnumbered army's stand against nine hundred iron chariots.

0478 Strange Boy in a Strange Land A quiet camping trip unravels when two girls discover a strangely familiar boy hiding in the woods with spy gear and secrets he refuses to explain.

0479 Happy Smilers Forced to help host a convention of relentlessly cheerful "positive thinkers," a resentful teenager's blunt honesty sparks an unlikely friendship that challenges what both of them believe about happiness.

0480 The Popsicle Kid A new kid at school must choose between fitting in with the town bully and standing by the odd, creative boy whose handmade gift he publicly mocked.

Featured characters

Jason Whittaker Townsend Coleman

Minor characters & crew 6 more roles

6 supporting roles

Maria Luisa Leschin Celia Dyana Ortelli Manuel Gil Ellis Santo Keith Silverstein Victor Scott Rummel Luis (b) Alvin Alvarez

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Marshal Younger Writer · Director · Producer Rob Jorgensen Sound Designer · Producer Bob Hoose Producer Paul McCusker Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 3 min

Jason Whittaker returns to a village where he has helped establish a church and missionary radio station. His friend Manuel meets him at the airport amid heavy security. Rebels are again trying to force out the country's president, violence is increasing, and people who once trusted each other have become suspicious. The church itself has also changed during Jason's six-month absence.

A man named Victor arrived shortly after Jason left and founded a rival religious group with a stronger radio transmitter. Victor presents his teachings as Christianity, but his popular dramas and sermons tell listeners to seek divine wisdom and power within themselves. He claims people can eventually become gods. The message appeals to villagers who feel helpless under the threat of civil war, and about fifty members have left Manuel's church to follow him.

Victor's station deliberately overpowers the missionary broadcasts. Whenever Manuel's group changes frequencies, the competing signal follows within days. Jason treats the conflict as a personal challenge. He declares that only one of the two stations can survive and looks forward to proving that he can play as tough as Victor.

Manuel brings him home to Celia and their son, Luis. The family remembers that Jason introduced them to Jesus and gave them hope. Young Luis admires him intensely, copies his expressions, and has carefully preserved a gift of cotton candy because no one realized it was food. Jason promises that he will always return when they need him and confidently tells the family that he will straighten out the problem with Victor.

Neither the government nor equipment provides an easy solution. Officials refuse to intervene in the frequency dispute, and Manuel's station cannot afford a more powerful transmitter. Another church member, Santo, is angry that Jason left after allowing everyone to depend on him. Jason believes a conversation can resolve that hurt later. For now, he decides to attend Victor's weekly prayer meeting and confront the rival leader himself.

Victor tells his followers that no one can limit them because the Bible promises they can do all things. A young woman named Maria testifies that she left her parents' home after they objected to Victor's assembly and now considers herself free. Jason interrupts with jokes before correcting Victor's quotation: its promised strength comes through Christ, not from power hidden within a person.

The exchange rapidly becomes hostile. Jason calls Victor's teachings lies and accuses him of brainwashing people. He names former members of Manuel's church and reminds them of their earlier faith, then dramatically invites everyone who wants truth to follow him out. No one moves. Victor uses Jason's insults against him and orders him to leave the meeting and the country. Jason departs alone and humiliated.

Gunfire erupts outside as rebels try to frighten the neutral village into joining them. Manuel warns Jason not to confront the armed fighters because they are too dangerous, but Jason's frustration only deepens. He listens to Victor's broadcasts, identifies more verses used out of context, and hears repeated pleas for money. Convinced that Victor is exploiting frightened people for profit, Jason begins looking for a way to expose him.

Luis admits that Victor's radio dramas can be attractive even though he believes Jason. The boy longs for enough power to stop the guns, create food, and heal friends who become ill. Jason tells him that only God has such power, yet the conversation helps him understand why Victor's message reaches people living with constant fear.

Certain that Victor does not believe his own teachings, Jason asks Luis to spread the word that the station's leaders are deceiving their audience. He means for the boy to quietly plant questions among the villagers while Jason requests an educational tape series from a missions office.

Luis interprets the assignment far more boldly. He slips into Victor's station and interrupts a broadcast. Over the air, he announces that the managers do not believe their own message, promise godlike power only to win listeners, and care more about popularity than truth. Someone catches him in the middle of his warning. Hearing the struggle through the radio, Jason abandons his telephone call and races to help the young admirer whose courage he has encouraged but whose actions he never authorized.