They say the best songs come from personal experience and newcomer Jeremy
Camp’s music certainly comes from a very personal place. A unique brand of rock
and progressive pop, his music was born out of a heart that’s been broken and a
faith that’s been tested. Yet, despite all this 24-year-old has walked
through—or maybe because of it—he’s compelled to praise the God who has proven
Himself faithful through it all and has a passion for telling others about Him
through music.
Camp’s journey began when he left his home in Lafayette, Indiana, bound for
Bible college in Southern California. He wasn’t sure what God had planned for
him, but he knew he wanted to be ready. As he soaked up all the biblical
knowledge he could and pondered a career in ministry, Jeremy filled his downtime
strumming a guitar, a skill he picked up from his musically inclined father. One
day, as he was playing in the dorm kitchen, the school’s worship leader
overheard him and encouraged him to get involved in the music ministry
opportunities available on campus.
It wasn’t long before Camp was leading worship at the school and all over
Southern California. One of those gigs would even lead him to his future wife
and a relationship that would shape him in ways he couldn’t imagine. He was
playing for a small Bible study group in the San Diego area where he was living
when he noticed her. “I started to play a worship song and she raised her hands
high above her head to praise God,” Jeremy recalls. “I was in awe of this woman
who obviously loved Jesus so much.”
They talked afterward and Jeremy and Melissa spent that summer getting to know
each other better through church events, prayer meetings and college group
activities. So it came as quite a shock when, after four months of dating,
Melissa suggested they break up. Camp couldn’t find fault with her reason,
though. She said she needed to spend more time with the Lord, that she felt He
was preparing her for something.
Jeremy nursed his broken heart on the road, traveling around the country and
overseas, introducing his original songs to anyone who would listen. His music
made a connection with audiences as his lyrics pointed them to the God Jeremy
faithfully served.
While his personal life wasn’t going exactly the way he had hoped, his ministry
was thriving.
And then Jeremy received a call that would change his life forever. He was
summoned to the hospital to see Melissa, then 20, who had just been diagnosed
with ovarian cancer.
“I walked into the hospital and she was just beaming,” Jeremy recalls. “You
could tell she wasn’t bummed out. She was just trusting the Lord. It was
amazing.” During that same visit, Melissa shared a unique perspective with
Jeremy. She told him if she ended up dying from her disease that as long as her
death led one person to Christ that it would all be worth it.
Despite her upbeat attitude, Jeremy left the hospital confused and upset at
seeing someone he cared about in pain. Once in his car he found himself making a
strange promise. “I drove away saying, ‘God if You want me to marry Melissa,
knowing she could die from this cancer, then I will. If she tells me she loves
me, I’ll marry her.’” It seemed like a fairly safe bet. They had never spoken
those words to each while they were dating, why would she say them now?
But during his next visit she did just that so Jeremy went away and fasted and
prayed. The next time he saw Melissa, she was going through chemotherapy and was
days away from losing all her hair. As they talked, Jeremy knew what he wanted
to do. “I told her I loved her and said, ‘let’s get a ring tomorrow.’”
Five months later, with Melissa’s hair growing back and her feeling better, the
young couple married in front of a thousand well wishers. Unfortunately, their
happiness was short lived. During their honeymoon, Melissa started having
stomach problems and when they returned the doctor delivered the news they
dreaded. She had mere months to live. On Feb. 5, 2001, Melissa went to be with
the Lord. As she took her last breath, Jeremy stood with her family and began
worshipping God singing the same songs they had played so often for Melissa
during her hospital stays. “I didn’t want to do it,” he says, “but I knew I was
learning something about obedience.”
Melissa’s life and death changed Jeremy’s perspective on the music he makes.
“Watching Melissa go to Heaven made me realize what’s important. Music is not my
life. Christ is my life. The only thing that really matters is what we do for
Jesus on this Earth, and as a result of what I’ve been through, I express even
more the goodness of God and how faithful He is.”
One of those songs that reflects that perspective is “I Still Believe,” the
first song Camp wrote after Melissa’s death, a declaration of faith from one who
has walked through the fire. Also included on his BEC debut is “Walk by Faith,”
a tune he composed on their honeymoon. Looking back now, Camp feels God knew
he’d need that musical reminder in the months to follow. “I didn’t know what the
song was for at the time, but I look at the words now and I can see God was
preparing me for the path I’m now walking.”
Jeremy’s the first to admit it hasn’t been easy road. “It’s not like you just
bounce back,” he says. “But God gives me the strength and I want to encourage
others who are struggling.” And there’s another motivation. Jeremy knows with
each song that he sings, he’s helping that wish Melissa made that day from her
hospital bed, for her death to impact others for Christ, to come true.