Miner said the man didn't know him at all, but the blessing addressed extremely personal issues for him.

"It just spoke to me," Miner said.

For the shoot, Miner visited an orphanage for African children whose parents had died of AIDS. Some of the children have AIDS.

Zambia is a Christian nation, so the kids are familiar with the figure of Christ.

Crofts had been filmed in 2001 greeting American children. The youngsters had laughed with him, tickled and wrestled.

The scene in Africa was completely different, Swindle said.

The orphans froze and whispered among themselves before approaching Miner.

One 12-year-old girl who has AIDS wept openly. Other kids cried as well. Then they all started hugging Miner, and burst into song in broken English: "Heavenly Father, you are wonderful."

Miner told the children his name was Phillip and he wasn't really Jesus. But the children found it hard to believe.

During the Zambia trip, Miner got to know Kathy Headlee, 54, of Cedar Hills. He saw the work she did directing projects for Mothers Without Borders, such as building homes and schools and digging wells.

Miner and Headlee became close friends. The last night in Zambia the pair stayed up talking for hours.

Miner says he went home, broke up with his girlfriend and then asked Headlee to marry him. They were married in September.

The two have merged their two families. Miner has two sons, ages 12 and 15, from his previous marriage. Headlee has five children, with ages ranging from 18 to 34.

They attend an LDS ward in American Fork.

"I feel this is the first time I have gone to church," Miner says. "I feel I have never known the Lord until now."

The children in his American Fork ward can't help but stare at the new member of the congregation who looks so much like Jesus. Last Sunday, a 3-year-old boy was walking down the aisle while staring at Miner. The boy ran right into a pew, Headlee said.

Swindle says Miner makes a wonderful Jesus, with a fresh perspective.

"He has a light around him," she says. "I can feel the spirit so powerfully when I sketch him."

They just finished shooting a "Last Supper" scene that Swindle is going to paint. Her artwork of Miner in Zambia is called "The Worth of a Soul," and is now completed. It can be found at Deseret Book, Repartee Gallery or the Mothers Without Borders Web site at www.motherswithoutborders.org.

---

E-mail: astewart@desnews.com