{"id":32175,"date":"2022-09-10T15:59:22","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:59:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/spring-break-gets-spiritual-college-students-share-jesus-with-their-peers\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:59:22","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:59:22","slug":"spring-break-gets-spiritual-college-students-share-jesus-with-their-peers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/spring-break-gets-spiritual-college-students-share-jesus-with-their-peers\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring Break Gets Spiritual: College Students Share Jesus With Their Peers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Almost 800 college students along with ministry leaders took the gospel to the streets and beaches of Panama City, Fla., over spring break. – photo via Bill Noe<\/div>\n

By Aaron Wilson<\/em><\/p>\n

For many college students, spring break is synonymous with catching some rays at the beach by day and partying hard all night. But over the course of three weeks in March, almost 800 beach-bound college students used their spring break not to kick back and relax or party, but to serve others and share their faith.<\/p>\n

Students from across the country along with student ministry leaders gathered in Panama City Beach, Fla., March 3-22, to participate in BeachReach, an annual collegiate ministry event coordinated by Lifeway Christian Resources. BeachReach provides spring breakers free van rides, pancakes, and prayer as students demonstrate a willingness to meet people where they are with the gospel.<\/p>\n

BeachReach also added a disaster relief component this year\u2014partnering with local churches to help underserved schools repair playgrounds and other facilities that were damaged by Hurricane Michael.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Christian college students who came to be a part of BeachReach were so bold in loving spring breakers and pointing them to Jesus,\u201d said Bill Noe, collegiate ministry specialist for Lifeway. \u201cThey weren\u2019t saying, \u2018behave better,\u2019 but \u2018let me point you to Jesus who\u2019s better than any other kind of life you might be living.\u2019 We had thousands of gospel conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a result of these acts of service and the conversations they sparked, 42 spring breakers expressed faith in Christ this year. To help students visualize how the Holy Spirit was working over the course of the three-week period, each new believer\u2019s name was written on a beach ball and attached to a display known as the Salvation Wall.<\/p>\n

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Need a lift?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

At BeachReach, many gospel conversations originate in church vans and buses converted to free shuttles that transport students around the popular spring break destination. Lifeway employees serve as dispatch coordinators to handle the logistics of this service, which this year provided 13,247 free rides.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt 9 p.m. we turn on the phones, and the spring breakers start calling in,\u201d Noe says. \u201cWe take them where they need to go and try to engage in conversation along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students often give vans creative names like Van Gogh or Sir Vancealot and write the phone number for rides on the side. Spring breakers also learn about the service through street teams that hand out cards and engage people as they\u2019re walking around.<\/p>\n

Each 12-passenger van is arranged with at least four BeachReachers\u2014a driver, a navigator who handles logistics, someone in the back to monitor the safety of the vehicle, and one person in the \u201chot seat\u201d to take the lead in steering conversations toward Christ.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s often passengers, however, who initiate the conversations.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are curious why we\u2019re willing to serve them for free so they\u2019ll ask, \u2018Why in the world are you doing this?\u2019\u201d Noe says. \u201cIt gives our teams a perfect opening to tell them about Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, street teams pursue similar conversations on foot around town. They pass out cards, help people call in for rides by letting the dispatcher know how many people are in a party and where they\u2019re traveling, and start conversations while waiting for vehicles to arrive.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe street ministry is always interesting because you never know what you\u2019re going to find,\u201d Noe says. \u201cWe have BeachReachers who go into 24-hour diners to buy folks a meal and strike up conversations over waffles. Others might help students who\u2019ve gotten separated from their group. We help them get somewhere safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jared Gregory, college pastor at First Baptist Church in Denton, Texas, offers a prayer and a challenge for BeachReach student volunteers circled in front of church vans that will deploy into the Panama City Beach community to serve as free shuttles for spring breakers. – photo via Bill Noe<\/div>\n

Prayers and pancakes<\/strong><\/h3>\n

While teams in vans and on the street are serving people and sharing the gospel, another group of students covers them in prayer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have prayer shifts that run until 2 a.m. each night,\u201d Noe says.<\/p>\n

Back at the BeachReach home base, students gather in the prayer room to watch a large screen with a live feed of information texted in from BeachReachers in the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose in the prayer room are always the first people to hear what\u2019s happening and celebrate,\u201d Noe says. \u201cI\u2019m always surprised at how many students say the prayer room was their favorite part of the week.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the prayer room and phone lines close at 2 a.m., BeachReachers serving in vans might not finish their runs until an hour later. For that reason\u2014and to accommodate the sleep-in habits of spring breakers\u2014a pancake breakfast is served in a bowling alley each day from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. BeachReach volunteers served more than 12,000 pancakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pancake breakfast serves as a great opportunity for people to continue building relationships,\u201d Noe says. \u201cA lot of times, a good conversation starts on a van ride, but the passenger then has to get off. People will often make appointments to meet over pancakes the next day to continue the discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n

A catalyst for evangelism<\/strong><\/h3>\n

BeachReach is much more than pancakes and van rides, Noe says. It also serves as a classroom for teaching students to share their faith.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of folks where it\u2019s their first time being thrown into a kind of environment where they\u2019re seeking to share the gospel multiple times a night,\u201d he says. \u201cFor many students, it\u2019s the first time they\u2019ve ever shared their faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

For this reason, Noe and other college leaders see the event\u2019s greatest impact happening in the lives of students who learn how to share their faith over the course of BeachReach.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the best things about BeachReach is that the impact lasts well beyond the month of March,\u201d Noe says. \u201cBeachReachers are now going back to campuses all across the U.S. to more passionately and effectively engage the lost students on their own campuses.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Aaron Wilson<\/h2>\n

@AaronBWilson26<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Aaron is associate editor of LifewayResearch.com.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n