Most followers of contemporary Christian music in America need no introduction to Melissa Lyn Henning-Camp, the late former wife of one of the genre’s top musicians Jeremy Camp. Jeremy has won numerous accolades for his talent, including a Grammy nomination for Speaking Louder Than Before, one of his 11 albums. The name and person of Melissa Lynn Henning-Camp were introduced to a wider audience in 2020 following the release of the movie I Still Believe, adapted from a book of the same name that Jeremy Camp wrote about his relationship with Melissa.
The book detailed the struggles she went through with her health before her sad death in 2001. Of course, the movie has the Christian faith at its center, and it was produced by the Erwin brothers, makers of the equally successful film I Can Only Imagine (2018). I Still Believe seeks to inspire Christians like the former, and it educates the wider audience on the realities of the Christian faith, which was Melissa’s utmost dying wish.
Profile Summary of Melissa Lynn Henning-Camp
- Full name: Melissa Lynn Henning-Camp
- Date of birth: 7th October 1979
- Place of Birth: Southern Carolina, United States
- Date of death: 5th February 2001
- Age at death: 22 years
- Occupation: Homemaker
- Mother: Janette Henning
- Siblings: Heather and Megan Henning
- Husband: Jeremy Camp (October 21, 2000 – death)
- Nationality: American
- Religion: Christianity
Melissa and Jeremy Met At a Bible Study in 1999
There are many similarities between what happened to Melissa and Jeremy in real life and what is depicted in the film, and one of them is how Melissa met Jeremy. The couple met in 1999 at a Bible study in Calvary Chapel Bible College in Murrieta, California, while Jeremy was leading worship. While he sang, he looked into the crowd and saw Melissa lost in her worship, hands lifted. “No one else is around me. I don’t care who’s around me. It’s me and Jesus right now,” Jeremy described how he perceived Melissa’s rhapsodized posture in worship. His perception of her as one who had a serious relationship with Jesus Christ was the single most important thing that attracted him to her.
It was love at first sight. He approached her after the fellowship ended and struck a conversation. They became closer and began fellowshipping together. While Melissa was 20 years old at the time, Jeremy was 22. Although it was love at first sight for Jeremy, it was not the same for Melissa, who, like in the movie, found herself in what looked like a love triangle. While the film depicts the other guy as Jeremy’s mentor Jean-Luc La Joie from the band The Kry, this was not so in reality as the other guy was just another person in the fellowship. The movie creators had gotten enough character; thus, Joie had to be picked for the role.
Jeremy Camp said he had to seek his mentor’s permission before urging the film creators to go ahead. Having two men fall for her made things complicated for Melissa, who had also made a vow to herself to stay away from entering a romantic relationship that year and focus on her faith and academics instead. However, she did not expect to meet a charming young man in the person of Jeremy Camp, who would ultimately force her to go back on her vow. After a while, Melissa and Jeremy Camp began dating, but their relationship did not last long.
After a few weeks of being together, apprehension pushed them to end the relationship. He had told her he was in love with her, but unfortunately, Melissa said she could not say the same at the time. The break-up left Jeremy devastated as he thought Melissa was the one. Weeks turned to months with the two still broken, and Jeremy began to think that it was over for good.
They Walked Down the Aisle in October 2000 After Melissa was Declared Cancer-free
Melissa Lyn Henning-Camp and Jeremy reconnected months later after he received a call that she was hospitalized. He immediately ran to see her at the hospital, where he learned that Melissa had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer that had spread to her major organs. Upon reaching the hospital, Melissa made a statement to Jeremy that rekindled their love. She told Jeremy that if she were to die of cancer, but her death would bring even one person to God, then the pain she has suffered would be worth it.
With Jeremy sitting by her hospital bed, Melissa told him she loved him. At that moment, Jeremy said a trail of “what if’s” flowed through his mind. He was worried, thinking, what if Melissa gets sick for too long that it affects their marriage and his feelings for her would be short-lived. Against all odds, the Christian musician said he found strength in God and knew that no matter what, he wanted to be with her.
In the months that followed, the couple went through emotional highs and lows; while Jeremy’s music career seemed to be doing well, Melissa’s deteriorating health left them with mixed feelings. After his performances, Jeremy would ask his audience to pray for Melissa. The prayers seemed to work when Melissa Lynn Henning-Camp was declared cancer-free in September of 2000.
The following month, on the 21st of October 2000, Melissa and Jeremy Camp got married. Unlike in the film, where their marriage is held at a beach, in real life, the couple got married in a church and were wedded by Jeremy’s father, Tom Camp, the pastor at Harvest Chapel in Lafayette, Indiana. Unfortunately, their marriage was so short-lived, lasting for just three and a half months, as Melissa passed away on the 5th of February 2001.
Their Union Lasted Three and a Half Months Before Melissa Lynn Henning-Camp Died of Cancer in 2001
Although Melissa Camp had been declared cancer-free before their marriage, doctors discovered that cancer had returned right after her honeymoon and spread throughout her body. While the couple spent their honeymoon in Hawaii, Melissa began feeling tummy pains, and when they returned to the United States, she got checked at a hospital, where the sad news was revealed to her. The cancer did not only return but was worse than ever as she was given just weeks to a few months to live.
Unfortunately, on the 5th of February 2001, Melissa Lynn Henning-Camp passed away aged 22. Her widowed husband, Jeremy Camp, agonized by her passing, yet firm in his belief in God, penned the song “I Still Believe” two weeks after her death. The song became a hit Christian song across the nation and ultimately brought him to meet his next wife, Adrienne Liesching, whose life had been affected by Melissa’s story.
