Stephen's Test of Faith (1998)

Stephen's Test of Faith is for evangelical children aged 12 or so whose parents want to begin to discuss with them how to grow in courage for their witness to Christ and the Bible -- to not back down. The staging and acting is so-so and the script is overly didactic but the sets and costumes are pretty good for an ultra-low-budget production. (It's not The Hiding Place.) Daniel Kumatz gets credit as the young leading man whose classmates ridicule him after he makes a touching presentation about his grandfather's WWII Bible. He then has a series of dreams about St. Stephen, John Wycliffe, and other Christians being persecuted throughout the ages -- some of the scenes probably too intense with implication for children under age 10. There is what could be construed by Catholics as a shot at the pre-Reformation hierarchy, which did in fact oppose and persecute those who translated the Bible into English. The message of the inspirational song at the end is that persecution brings joy in the morning. This movie could use some polish -- though it seems suitable for family or Sunday school class discussion -- so for technical reasons I give it 2.5 stars.