11 Years After 'Heaven,' What Life is Like for the Burpo Family

By Michael Sewall

As a pastor in Nebraska, Todd Burpo speaks every day about faith and the afterlife. Now he hopes the film adaptation of his book, "Heaven is for Real," can ignite further discussion in communities across the country.

If you aren't familiar, "Heaven is for Real" tells the story of Burpo's son, Colton, who said he left his body during an emergency appendectomy around age 4 and visited Heaven. His parents, Todd and Sonja, believed the story after Colton described details about his great-grandfather and miscarried sister about whom he didn't know.

"I think this movie's real strength is that it's a conversation starter," Todd Burpo said. "I think we have people who would never join us in a conversation about God in a church, but to see in a film that there is a Heaven, I think this movie is a great medium to share the story and get people talking."

For the Burpo family, it's a conversation that has been going on for the past 11 years. They discuss what it's been like to see their story played out on the big screen in the Walmart exclusive The Burpos: 11 Heavenly Years Later. 

In this bonus footage, they say a few events were sped up for the sake of the movie, and the kids aren't big fans of the extra kissing in the movie—but the message of the film stays true to the book. 

"I think they really showed pastors are real people, pastors' wives are real people, and we struggle with things but we can still get through them," Sonja Burpo says in a clip of the bonus footage. 

The incredible claim the title suggests is of course divisive, but Burpo said there are messages in the film to which anyone can relate.

"I think this is a movie about family," he said. "It's a real mom and a real dad and they're going to see us struggle, they're going to see us hurt and work through things. But they'll also see that we're honest about faith—faith doesn't mean you have answers all the time."

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In addition to family, Sonja Burpo believes the film can be an inspiration to anyone experiencing loss. Her miscarriage was the "biggest hurt," she said, but out of that she's been able to help others.

"We've all lost somebody and everyone will lose somebody, and people wrestle with this whole idea of whether Heaven is for real," she said. "Many times we think we're the only one in the world with a problem, but we're not. We can pray for each other and support each other."

While the Burpo family maintains the validity of Colton's story, they recognize there are skeptics and people who won't be convinced. Todd Burpo said he hopes people will still be able to take something away from the film and use it to discuss faith and be good people in their communities.

That sense of community was something Colton said he experienced while in Heaven. Besides meeting family members who had passed, talking with angels and seeing Jesus ride a multicolored horse, Colton shared this about the community in Heaven:

"It's a lot like Earth in many ways, but everybody there would help you out just because they wanted to help you out and not because of their own interests," he said. "So that's a pretty good community."

This story originally appeared on Patch on April 11 and has been updated to include information about the bonus footage. It is sponsored by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's "Heaven is for Real," on Blu-ray and DVD July 22.