Incredible Scenes From Oprah's New Passion Project Belief

Oprah calls it her "love note to viewers"—a special event that's been three years in the making. Belief, which airs on OWN October 18, is a globe-spanning exploration of love, spirit and the mystery of faith. Here, a look at what it took to bring the series to life.

Kindred Spirits

A dervish whirling in a brilliant sea of white. A man and his grandson walking along the coast of northern Australia. A scientist peering at a star-drenched sky through one of the planet's most powerful telescopes. None of them have ever met, but they all have one thing in common: a deep faith in something bigger than themselves.

Belief will tell their stories and others as it explores mankind's primal search for meaning. "Eight years ago, Planet Earth made me fall in love with Earth," says Oprah. "I want Belief to do the same thing—help people connect to their own faith, learn who they are and discover who they are meant to be. This is my Planet Spirit."

When production company Part2 Pictures brought the idea to Oprah in 2012, the OWN team was inspired. "Storytelling is in our DNA," says OWN president Sheri Salata, an executive producer on the project, "so we didn't want to just interview faith leaders or a panel of experts on religion. We wanted to meet real people and see their passion, feel their emotions." A plan was hatched to send the Part2 crew all over the world in search of moving and relatable experiences. "Yes, there were moments at the beginning when it seemed like a completely crazy task—like we were out of our minds!" says Salata. "But we all knew if there was anyone who could do this kind of story justice, it was Oprah."

Culled from over 800 hours of interviews with more than 100 people, Belief is a blend of personal, provocative vignettes and breathtaking imagery. The series introduces believers across the globe, from a 9-year-old Pacific Islander proving his courage and faith by leaping from a 65-foot wooden tower to a grieving mother struggling to forgive her son's murderer.

Creating the series took three years, dozens of cross-country flights between Part2 Pictures in New York and OWN in Los Angeles, and Oprah's own funding: "This idea came up when the network couldn't afford to take many risks, so it became my passion project—literally!" The challenge was worth it. "So many people say 'I'm not religious, but I'm spiritual,'" Oprah says. "Well, you cannot move through life without a belief system, whether that's art, music, fashion, science, or God. Whatever you devote yourself to, that is your belief. I'm in a good place now because I know that we've captured that. In my soul, I'd be proud for this to be my life's work."

Rena Greenberg, Brooklyn
Greenberg, a Hasidic Jew, has never had a moment alone with her fiancé. But as she prepares for her wedding day, she stays confident in her faith. "The soul is constantly seeking its other half. God sends you down into this world, and he's setting you up for success."

Karen Cavanagh, Konya, Turkey
After recovering from a brain injury caused by a surfing accident, Cavanagh trains to become a whirling dervish, a follower of a mystical branch of Islam who meditates through a spinning dance. "The dervishes wouldn't allow our crew just to film them—we had to practice with them, too," says Eric Strauss, one of four directors of the series. "It's hard shooting a story when you're trying not to topple over!"

Hindu Worshipers, Vrindavan, India
Every year at the start of spring, Hindus the world over celebrate new life with a festival of colors called Holi, in which believers shower themselves in a riotous palette of vivid paints and powders. "During filming, the cameras and the crew were covered in protective plastic," says executive producer David Shadrack Smith, "except for our feet, because we couldn't wear shoes in the temple. My toes were yellow and pink for months."

Enedina Cuellar Pacheco-Ramirez, Guanajuato, Mexico
With thousands of other dedicated riders, Pacheco-Ramirez makes a pilgrimage to a 65-foot statue of Jesus Christ to pray for a miracle to heal her son's brain injury, the result of a horrific car crash. "Riding alongside the cabalgata was like stepping into a real-life Western," says Strauss.

Shaolin Monks, Zhengzhou, China
"We filmed this group of monks in the middle of August, during the worst heat wave China had seen in 50 years," says series director Peter Richardson. "But even while performing extreme martial arts, they barely broke a sweat. Now, that's discipline."

Mais, Nazareth, Israel
Bridging the divide between Israel's Jewish and Arab communities, two young girls—17-year-old Muslim flutist Mais (left) and 18-year-old Jewish cellist Hagit—join forces to perform classical music with the local Polyphony Orchestra. "Something as simple as music was able to bring these girls together," Strauss says. "Their story shows that a spiritual experience doesn't have to happen in a church or a temple."

Terry Gandadila and Grandson Lucas, Northern Territory, Australia
"I deeply connected with this story," Oprah says. "An Aboriginal grandfather teaches his grandson that you can't know who you are unless you know where you came from. That's a principle I live by. Who would've thought I'd have something in common with an Aboriginal grandfather?"

Cha Cha, Hamilton, Alabama
After being raped, college student Cha Cha is hoping to reconnect with her faith at an evangelical Christian youth retreat. Says Oprah, "Of course, she reminded me of my own story. We were both raised and baptized in the Deep South, we both turned to faith after tragedy, and we both learned that true confidence comes from believing in something bigger than yourself."

Mendel Hurwitz, Budapest
"When we set out to film this series, we wanted the subjects to be as broad as possible," Oprah says. "We see a 13-year-old in Budapest preparing for his Bar Mitzvah juxtaposed with a Pacific Island boy completing a rite of passage into manhood. They're very different, but they're searching for answers to the same question: Who am I?"

Marcelo Gleiser, Atacama Desert, Chile
When we meet Gleiser, an astrophysicist, he has traveled to Chile for a look at the universe through one of the world's most powerful telescopes. "This is our modern temple of worship," he says, "our bridge between who we are and the mystery of the unknown."

Alex Honnold, Moab, Utah
A world-renowned climber, Honnold considers himself an atheist: He's devoted himself to the art of free solo climbing. But as he scales a towering desert cliff, he searches for meaning in his life. "I think the impulse that drives some people to religion is the same impulse that I have—to push my limits," Honnold says.

Anju, Madhya Pradesh, India
A former cadet in the Indian Army, Anju is cutting all ties to her family and her former life in order to become a Jain nun. But she must first pass three tests designed to challenge her faith in Jainism, one of the world's oldest religions. "My heart was in my throat while we filmed Anju plucking every hair from her head before a crowd of more than 10,000 people," says director Michael Davie. "Seeing that kind of pure faith was awesome, and I really mean that word: We were full of awe."

Donna and Bob Winzenried, Colorado Springs
"A lot of the crew saw parallels with their own life during filming," says Salata. "I was dealing with my mother's battle with cancer while we were editing this segment about a military wife's stage IV pancreatic cancer. Seeing how Donna and Bob leaned on their faith inspired me to tap into my own."

Howard and Shane Fallon, Black Rock City, Nevada
Howard is trying to move through his grief after losing his wife and youngest child. Along with his surviving daughter, Shane, he decides to try something radical: Burning Man, an annual week-long celebration of self-expression that was founded as a place of transformation. Oprah calls it "the craziest party you ever saw." Executive producer Greg Henry agrees that it's "known as a place of excess. But it was one of the most powerful spaces imaginable, filled with grief, love, passion—and healing."