When the Music Ends
Since 2023, over 150,000 people have come to Benton, Arkansas, for Amplify, the nation’s largest free Christian music festival. Every summer, crowds of young people, families, and church volunteers gather on the festival grounds behind Holland Chapel Baptist Church. Once a small airport, this sprawling space has become a stage for large-scale outreach, resulting in 5,000 people giving their lives to Christ in the last three years alone.
“Amplify is incredible music and inspiring messages that we believe can change people’s lives. We see it happen every year,” says Nick Hall, the evangelist who shares the gospel every year at the festival. “Amplify is all ages coming together, not for a political or sports rally, not because we are against anything or anyone—but rather because there is hope, life, and joy offered to everyone because of Jesus.”
For over a decade, the festival has weathered ups and downs to keep the music going. But there was a time in 2022 when the music nearly stopped.
A New Partnership
That year, Nick’s organization, Pulse Evangelism, was looking for opportunities to connect with large crowds. Festivals looked promising. Jay Anderson was on the Pulse team over ministry expansion. When he discovered Amplify, he saw potential for a partnership.
“This is a long-running Christian festival, and it’s free,” says Philip Blunk, Amplify’s Church Relations Coordinator. “That’s always been Nick’s heart. That there be no barriers to the gospel.” Jay reached out to the festival’s co-founders, Matt Brumley and Josh Turner, asking if Pulse could help or support in any way.
But Matt and Josh were reluctant. They both had full-time jobs, and the festival had become too large for them to manage on their own. They were considering shuttering the festival altogether. If the festival were to continue, they knew they would need help.
“With a festival, a lot of what you do at the local level is relationship building among churches and promotion in the community,” says Philip. “Matt and Josh didn’t have the time to give those areas the focus they needed. My role has been just one of the areas where Pulse has supported Amplify by bringing me on as the Church and Community Relations Coordinator. I’m so blessed to be part of an incredible team that has given an amazing outreach like Amplify the support it needed to grow and flourish.”
CityFest
Nick Hall spent years learning under Billy Graham and Luis Palau’s evangelistic organizations. In 2009, Nick came to Little Rock to serve at CityFest, an outreach led by Luis Palau and church partners of the Nehemiah Network, which later became CityChurch Network of Arkansas.
“I remember sharing the gospel at the skate park and helping emcee the festival, seeing God move in miraculous ways,” says Nick. “I remember Governor [Mike] Huckabee praying for me backstage, and feeling a dream and burden that someday I might be able to regularly partner with this great state.”
When Luis Palau’s team came to scout the area, Ray Williams said Philip Blunk would be a great Church and Community Relations Coordinator for the event. In that role, Philip helped bring over 100 churches together for the two-day outreach. CityFest drew 55,000 and saw over 1,100 professions of faith.
“It was a dream come true,” Philip says. “Church mobilization is an answer to Jesus’ prayer in John 17:20-23 when He prays for His body to be one as He and the Father are one. It’s like Nehemiah, who had a monumental task to accomplish in building the wall and bringing safety back into Jerusalem. He was a connector of people, and Jesus’ heart is for His body to be connected and flow together. And I appreciate Pastor Ray for blessing me with the opportunity.”
The Evangelist & the Teacher
In their relationship, there were moments of iron sharpening iron between Ray and Philip. “I’m the evangelist guy, and he’s the teacher,” Philip says. “His focus was more on ‘teaching them to observe all I have commanded you.’ I would say, ‘We got to reach the lost,’ and he would say, ‘Yes, but we have to get better at establishing them in the faith. But we both had this mutual epiphany a few years back when I was telling him about Amplify. He told me, ‘Well, Philip, what about all these people that just got saved? Where are they now? What’s going to happen to them?’”
“Somewhere in that conversation, the Lord touched both of our hearts for each other,” Philip says. It dawned on them that they shared the same goal but were coming at it from different perspectives. God showed them how they actually complement one another.
“God is definitely melding the two together—evangelism and teaching. They’re supposed to work in tandem,” Philip says. “We’re ministers of reconciliation. Follow me, and I’ll make you fishers of men. That is the full circle of discipleship. You go and fish for men, but you’ve got to disciple them to make them fishers of men.”
An Evangelistic Gift to Pastors
A lot of time, effort, and resources go into making this two-day festival happen. But Amplify is more than an event. “For twenty years, I have seen that when people put their hope in an event, it will leave them disappointed,” says Nick. “Events don’t save people. Jesus does, through His people. That’s why we work so hard uniting churches, providing our Make Jesus Known training, and providing tools for prayer and follow-up. Every person matters to God, so they should matter to us.”
“This is the greatest free local missions outreach opportunity in existence,” says Philip. “We’ve done the work for you. All you have to do is promote, pray, and encourage your people to invite their unsaved family and friends.”
“Amplify exists to serve your church,” says Nick. “It’s a high-quality event you don’t need to plan, but you can feel confident rallying your people to it. For those who know Jesus, Amplify will inspire them to share their faith with confidence, while also providing an amazing opportunity to bring friends and families who might not feel comfortable stepping into a church. For churches that are part of Amplify, we point new people back to your community of faith.”
When someone makes a decision for Christ at Amplify, they’re invited to text “Jesus” to 73738. Everyone who sends that text is immediately connected to a real person on Amplify’s follow-up team. In addition, contact cards help connect new believers to someone from a church in their local community within 24 hours. “We want to send new believers to strong, healthy churches,” Philip says. “Amplify’s evangelistic heart to reach the lost is a gift to the Body of Christ, as are the pastors and the churches, and we should all be working together.”
“The local church is the hope of the world,” Nick says. “For twenty years, we have seen God use our humble efforts to meet this generation right where they are and change the entire trajectory of their lives.”
The Greatest Harvest
Amplify is the one event Nick’s family plans their entire summer around. His kids volunteer and are inspired by the displays of faith they see at the festival. “I think of our young evangelists taking bold steps of faith and feeling the joy of a community behind them. I think of the volunteers, praying for people in the prayer tent, driving shuttle buses, and cleaning up trash. This truly is a grassroots move of God that is changing families, mine included.”
“We’re on the cusp of the greatest harvest for the Church this world has ever seen,” Philip says. “It’s already happening. Look at the reports from college campuses. These are prominently Gen Zers, which is amazing and harkens back to the Jesus Movement of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. I think the Church is ready to receive these young people and disciple them in the love of God.”
“When churches unite for something bigger than any of us, and when believers pray for friends and families who need Jesus and boldly bring them to something like Amplify, communities and families are changed. That’s what Jesus does,” Nick says.
This June 12-13, thousands of young people will gather at the festival grounds once again. Pastors and church volunteers will be there, ready to welcome them. Those young people will hear great music and inspiring stories from the stage. But they will also hear the good news of someone who can give them hope and fill the God-shaped void in their souls.
And when the music ends, our churches will be ready to receive them and establish them as disciples in communities of faith.
For more information on how your church can volunteer at this year’s festival, visit Amplify’s website.
