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He cites End of the Spear, which cast a gay man as martyred missionary Nate Saint, and The Nativity Story, the teenaged star of which became pregnant shortly after playing the Virgin Mary, as examples of Christian films that got "hit hard" by casting lead actors who "play the person who gives that message in the movie but doesn't believe it himself or is living a life completely contrary to that."

At the same time, relying on little more than friends and family does give the Kendricks some extra hurdles to overcome. "It's kind of a two-sided coin," says Alex, "because we love the novelty and the nature of what we're doing with a church making a movie. But the flip side of it is, it's much more difficult to shoot and edit bad acting. Because you're left with wonderful people doing it for the right reasons, pouring themselves into it, but they're not experienced Hollywood actors."

The solution, he says, has been to cast people in roles that are very similar to their actual selves. "In all three of our movies, [the actors] are basically playing somebody very similar to themselves, so it's less of a stretch," he says. On Fireproof, they got a couple of acting coaches and spent more time on rehearsals—and, of course, they cast Cameron in the lead.

Caleb (Cameron) and wife Catherine (Erin Bethea)

Cameron—the former Growing Pains star who has since worked on such Christian films as Miracle of the Cards and the Left Behind trilogy—had seen Facing the Giants with his family and liked what he saw. He then surprised the Kendricks by asking if he could be in their next movie—he even auditioned—and, like all the other actors, he essentially worked for free. (Instead of paying Cameron a fee, the church made a donation to Camp Firefly, the non-profit camp he founded.)

"We were so grateful for Kirk, because he strongly believes in this movie and what it's about—the principles and the message," says Alex.

"And he's trying to model and live it in his own personal life," adds Stephen.

For the Kendricks, the fact that they got a Hollywood actor in their newest film—and one who shares their vision for ministry—is just one of many ways in which God made it possible for them to make an ambitious movie on a shoestring budget.

When they asked a fire chief for permission to use his reserve trucks, he offered them the free use of some brand new vehicles that hadn't even been used by any of the fire crews yet. ("We had trucks as nice as a $200 million Hollywood movie," says Stephen. "Oh yeah, nicer than Backdraft," Alex concurs.) And when they asked if they could shoot some scenes in a hospital, they were given free rein of a wing that was about to be remodelled and was thus free of patients and hospital staff.

"Does it make sense that everybody rolls over and says, 'Here's our best stuff, for free. What can we do to help you?' Does that make any sense?" asks Alex. "We didn't pay a dime for any of that. So we saw the favor of the Lord go before us in every aspect."

So many things "should not have worked" the way they did, he says, "but we've learned that therein lies the reason that God is glorified, because when you're in a position where he has to come through for it to work, then he gets the credit."

Alex Kendrick gives direction to Cameron

Thanks to DVD and their distribution deal with Provident, which is owned by Sony, Facing the Giants is now available in 13 languages, in 57 countries, and is spreading the ministry of Sherwood Baptist Church much further than any of its makers could have imagined. Time will tell if Fireproof gets that kind of recognition, but for now, the Kendricks are enjoying the opportunity to learn about color tones and the other various subtleties that give their efforts the look and feel of a regular movie.

"Hopefully, on a storytelling level, we're engaging. Hopefully, on a spiritual level, the Lord's speaking to hearts," says Alex. "From an artistic level, we're learning. If you look at Flywheel and then Facing the Giants and then Fireproof, you will see some progression.

"And we're not content to stay where we are. We want to continue to get better in that regard. But there's something fun, too, about this. There is a blessing in being able to use church people. They're doing it for the right reasons."

For more info, go to FireproofTheMovie.com. See also FireproofMyMarriage.com.

Photos by Haley Catt and Todd Stone

Copyright © 2008 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

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Kirk Cameron, best known as a teen idol in Growing Pains, has been in a lot of Christian movies lately—including Fireproof, from the makers of Facing the Giants.