By Tony Martin
Editor
This spring break, students didn’t just find the beach — they found boldness, purpose, and a mission to share the hope of Christ.
Thousands of college students head to the Gulf Coast each year for spring break on the beaches of Panama City Beach, Florida. Since the early 1990s, BeachReach has been an effective ministry to spring breakers as hundreds of Christian college students from across the nation join together to share the gospel of Jesus.
By meeting the physical needs of spring breakers — providing food and transportation — BeachReachers are able to share the love of God in the midst of brokenness among students’ lives at Panama City Beach.
Several Mississippi teams served this year, including groups from Copiah-Lincoln Baptist Student Union (BSU), Itawamba Community College BSU, Meridian Community College BSU, Mississippi Gulf Coast BSU, Northeast Mississippi Community College BSU, the University of Southern Mississippi BSU, William Carey University BSU, and Bridgeway Church – Starkville College Ministry.
According to Sam Ivy, director of the Collegiate Ministries Department at the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board, “I am thankful that our BSUs and college ministries are involved in BeachReach because it allows students to grow in their boldness and urgency to see the gospel shared among their fellow students.
“This generation is hungry for authentic relationships, so to see 200-plus college students from Mississippi leveraging their spring break for the Kingdom shows me this generation is taking up the missionary task among their peers and friends,” Ivy continued. “Join me in praying for more college students to be laborers for the Lord among the lost at BeachReach and on their campuses for the years to come.”
“BeachReach provides college students the opportunity to impact their generation with the Gospel,” said Jedd Moak, BSU director at Copiah-Lincoln Community College. “Van rides allow BeachReachers to share the gospel with their generation. Students are able to have gospel conversations with spring breakers in Panama City Beach.
“Street Teams walk down the PCB strip or hang out in a restaurant and share the gospel with people they encounter,” Moak said.
Statistics testify to the effectiveness of BeachReach:
BeachReach PCB Totals for Over Three Weeks
- BeachReachers: 1,847
- Rides Given: 25,264
- Prayed for: 17,665
- Gospel Conversations: 13,905
- Salvations: 745 (and many more spiritual decisions)
Hasen Caldwell, a sophomore at Meridian Community College, said, “BeachReach really showed me that there are so many people just in our everyday lives that have never even heard the gospel. It challenged me to start reaching out to people in my hometown and go into a gospel conversation.”
Caldwell continued, “The very last conversation I had that night ended up changing it all. All four of the guys I talked to accepted Christ! It was amazing and proved to me that God has a plan, even if I do not see it. This trip proved to be not just a small mission trip — we left a huge impact. I’m glad I went!”
“I think what gets to me really is that the students are really appreciative of the ride no matter where they are, that they’re all very open to actually hearing the gospel when they get on the vans with us,” said Chris Thomas, BSU director at Meridian Community College.
According to Thomas, referencing the van rides, “What we do the first night is we pass out cards for the free shuttle all around. Every group is split up into about four different groups. And you go throughout the town and you pass out the free cards the first day you’re there. Then you have worship every night. But right after worship, you take your vehicle out into the part of town everybody’s at, and you have your name plastered on the side and you have the free shuttle and they have the number. So people are getting the number and calling.
“They call back to the Laguna Resort where we have the call center set up. You have students running it. So, for instance Joe calls back, says, ‘Hey, I want the free shuttle ride.’ And they ask, ‘What are you wearing? Blah, blah, blah. Where are you going?’ Then they hit the button and it goes to the other side of the call center. They have a list of the vans and I have a navigator in the front seat with me so they know exactly where we are.”
Thomas added that an Uber ride can cost anywhere from $30 to $50. “So they get in with us and we take them back to wherever they’re going. It’s those 20-minute rides you really want because you have a longer time to get to know them,” he said. “Our students are taught to have a conversation on the van on the way so they can share the gospel with them.”
Lanie Crawford, a senior at Mississippi State University Meridian, said, “I grew closer to God in a way I’ve never experienced — learning to truly obey, listen, and depend on Him with everything I am. God told me there would be three salvations before we even went out — and I got to see Him fulfill that promise through me. It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever experienced.
“A girl who didn’t even know why I was there came up to me and said, ‘You’re Jesus.’ She said she saw Him standing with me — and I believe she truly did,” she continued. “The biggest thing I learned is that if we have true, unwavering faith and choose obedience, God will absolutely use us as vessels to reach others.”
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