Movie buffs who finish I Still Believe and want to learn what happened in the next chapter of Jeremy Camp’s life can do so thanks to a new book.
In Unison, by Camp and his wife, Adrienne, tells how the Camps met, why they fell in love, and how they’ve seen their marriage grow over the years. Essentially, it picks up from an emotional scene in the movie’s final minutes, in which Adrienne’s character tells Jeremy’s character she was impacted by the testimony of his first wife, Melissa, who died of ovarian cancer.
That scene, Adrienne told Christian Headlines, “actually happened” in real life.
After Melissa’s death, Camp met Adrienne, who was the lead singer for the Christian rock group The Benjamin Gate, while on tour together.
Adrienne had heard Melissa’s story while listening to Jeremy’s on-stage testimony.
“I was deeply impacted and changed by both Jeremy and Melissa's faith,” Adrienne said. “That really caused me to be protective of this story and in a sense, an advocate for it. Because along the way, I just felt if I was one of those people that was so deeply touched, who am I to stand in the way of that powerful testimony reaching others?”
Still, Jeremy wasn’t her type, as In Unison says. Adrienne had always assumed she would marry an artist – maybe a “painter, sculpter or photographer – perhaps tall, skinny and oozing creativity,” the book says. The muscular and athletic Camp was not that. They also played different styles of music. Besides, Camp was an America. Adrienne, who was from South Africa, had “vowed” never to marry someone from the U.S., she says in the book.
“Post-grunge, athletic, American Jeremy did not fit my description of the guy I thought I wanted,” she writes in the book.
Of course, God had different plans. They became friends, fell in love and married in 2003. They have three children.
“We've learned a lot of things in marriage so we thought, “Let's just write down what we've learned,’” Jeremy told Christian Headlines.
The goal, he said, is to help readers build a Christ-centered marriage.
“We've had a lot of friends that have been through divorce – and it's hard to watch,” Jeremy said. “And if you can get a tool in people's hands that will help them further along or deal with certain situations, that's what we want to do.”
The Camps hope the book helps couples coping with grief. In fact, one chapter examines how they worked through the emotions from Melissa’s death.
“I've often said to people, ‘The Jeremy that I married was very different from the Jeremy that Melissa married because of grief,’” Adrienne told Christian Headlines. “... We just want it to be able to provide hope and an encouragement [to others] to not give up in those moments.”
In Unison was published by Harvest House. I Still Believe is on video-on-demand. It releases on DVD and Blu-ray May 5.
Related:
‘I Still Believe’ Challenges Society’s ‘Narcissistic’ Definition of Love, Directors Say
K.J. Apa: ‘God Really Anointed’ the New Faith Film ‘I Still Believe’
Director: I Still Believe Is a 'Huge Opportunity' to Reach the Unchurched
4 Inspiring Spiritual Lessons from I Still Believe
5 Reasons I Still Believe Is One of the Best Films You'll Ever Watch
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Matt Winkelmeyer/Staff
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
