Marc Persing was inspired to “Do You For Others” after attending a conference this summer and hearing about organizations and movements like JamQuest. He decided to use his passion for music to put on an incredible benefit concert, called “Campstock” to support Camp HOPE for Kids in Pennsylvania. The impact was amazing and Marc and his team helped inspire hundreds of people! Read his story below…
Campstock 2015: The Power of One Idea for God
The power of one idea is a spectacular thing. Ideas have carried the world for generations and have always kept us going. It is has never ceased to amaze me what our human brains can come up with. God has given us the amazing gift of imagination that allows us to see visions. This past summer God gave me a dream. During the summer of 2015, I had the honor to serve on the full time staff at Camp HOPE for Kids in Pennsylvania as the head of media and videography. I woke up every day thrilled to capture on film what God was doing. During a staff meeting the second week of camp, we discussed how to fundraise to keep the camp going. I have always loved camp since I was a young boy and have always felt at home and at peace while I’ve been there. It has always been a refuge for me. When ideas for fundraising came up at the meeting, my heart immediately wanted to help. The camp has had an incredible impact on my life and I wanted to help give that to other kids.
The first idea that came to my head was doing a concert of some sort. I’m a musician myself and have always loved the power of music. In July, I attended the International Campus Ministries Conference (ICMC) in New Jersey and was very inspired by one specific class. The conference was entitled Change The World and the class I went to was focused on service in the church and specifically serving with the non-profit, HOPE worldwide. Students from different cities spoke about their own experience serving in their communities, including JamQuest. The main idea that I took from attending that class was that changing the world is a lot simpler than I thought. Everyone has their own unique talents, passions, and desires to tap into. These passions lead to innovative ideas. Instead of just using these ideas and passions for yourself, do it to serve others. In short, do what you love and do it for others.
On my drive back to camp after the conference I couldn’t stop thinking about how I wanted use my own passions and talents to serve the camp. I knew that God could do greater things than I asked or imagined. The idea for a concert came back to me once I arrived back at my camp office. After praying and brainstorming, God gave me the perfect name. “Campstock” would be an epic benefit concert where all proceeds would go towards helping to support the camp so more kids would continue to be impacted. I remember saying to myself, “I know plenty of talented musicians and artists here at camp and in the church! This can happen!” The idea was simple. Throw a great concert and invite absolutely everyone you know. What happened over the next few weeks was miraculous and truly a team effort.
Before we knew it, we had over six artists lined up to play, new hats and shirts to sell, food, housing, free camping on the lawn, a stage with a tent, lighting, games, and people to film the night. When August 1st, the day of the concert, came I was excited to see what would happen. As the night went on, I was so encouraged by all the people that came out to support. All I could say to myself was “Wow, one God-given idea really can make quite the impact.” All the performers brought so much passion and spirit to the stage and it spread into the audience.
We closed out the night with our camp theme song and celebrated all that camp has done over the years. The lyrics of the song are “You know we got a good thing goin’, and I don’t want to see it end.” That lyric truly came to life that night. Every ticket sold, hot dog devoured, hat bought, t-shirt worn, and music played was all out of a common love for camp. My fundraising goal was shattered as we raised over $5,000 for camp and had over 300 people come out. I was shocked and smiling from ear to ear. We did it! I immediately started to dream about the Campstocks to come and the amazing things it could do! However, it’s not about the money. It’s about making an impact and giving kids the chance to embrace themselves. I know our team is excited about what future impact Campstock could make!
Towards the end of the summer, I was reminded about the class I sat in 4 weeks earlier, and how I was inspired to use my talents to serve others. I was blown away that God would use a simple decision to touch the lives of hundreds of people. When you choose to make a decision to act on your dreams, miracles truly happen. Now, I encourage you to act on your visions and ideas. Use your passions to help make the world a better place and spread positive change. I am just an ordinary college student that acted on a dream, used my passions, and watched it unfold.
What can you do to change the world? What do you love? What are you passionate about? Here’s the good news I would like to leave you with: you can love your work, work for what you love, and change the world all at once. It all starts with one idea. Do what you love, do it for others, and watch the world change.Marc Persing
On my drive back to camp after the conference I couldn’t stop thinking about how I wanted use my own passions and talents to serve the camp. I knew that God could do greater things than I asked or imagined. The idea for a concert came back to me once I arrived back at my camp office. After praying and brainstorming, God gave me the perfect name. “Campstock” would be an epic benefit concert where all proceeds would go towards helping to support the camp so more kids would continue to be impacted. I remember saying to myself, “I know plenty of talented musicians and artists here at camp and in the church! This can happen!” The idea was simple. Throw a great concert and invite absolutely everyone you know. What happened over the next few weeks was miraculous and truly a team effort.
Before we knew it, we had over six artists lined up to play, new hats and shirts to sell, food, housing, free camping on the lawn, a stage with a tent, lighting, games, and people to film the night. When August 1st, the day of the concert, came I was excited to see what would happen. As the night went on, I was so encouraged by all the people that came out to support. All I could say to myself was “Wow, one God-given idea really can make quite the impact.” All the performers brought so much passion and spirit to the stage and it spread into the audience.
We closed out the night with our camp theme song and celebrated all that camp has done over the years. The lyrics of the song are “You know we got a good thing goin’, and I don’t want to see it end.” That lyric truly came to life that night. Every ticket sold, hot dog devoured, hat bought, t-shirt worn, and music played was all out of a common love for camp. My fundraising goal was shattered as we raised over $5,000 for camp and had over 300 people come out. I was shocked and smiling from ear to ear. We did it! I immediately started to dream about the Campstocks to come and the amazing things it could do! However, it’s not about the money. It’s about making an impact and giving kids the chance to embrace themselves. I know our team is excited about what future impact Campstock could make!
Towards the end of the summer, I was reminded about the class I sat in 4 weeks earlier, and how I was inspired to use my talents to serve others. I was blown away that God would use a simple decision to touch the lives of hundreds of people. When you choose to make a decision to act on your dreams, miracles truly happen. Now, I encourage you to act on your visions and ideas. Use your passions to help make the world a better place and spread positive change. I am just an ordinary college student that acted on a dream, used my passions, and watched it unfold.
What can you do to change the world? What do you love? What are you passionate about? Here’s the good news I would like to leave you with: you can love your work, work for what you love, and change the world all at once. It all starts with one idea. Do what you love, do it for others, and watch the world change.Marc Persing