This year we were excited to be able to plan a spring break mission trip again for the first time since 2020. During the week of March 18-25th, we took of group of 12 (including Isaac Whitman who is on staff and me) to Beach Reach ’22 at Panama City Beach, Florida. Beach Reach is an outreach cooperation among Baptist Collegiate Ministries that has been running since the 1990s.
Every night from Sunday-Wednesday nights, we provided free shuttle rides to the nightlife college crowds that came to party. Each night from 9pm-2am, half of our group prayer walked the road that lines the beach hotels and businesses, distributing cards with a phone number to call for the free shuttle and sharing the Gospel as often as possible. The other half of our group rode in our van to facilitate conversations with college students who called for a ride.
In the four nights of this ministry, our team gave rides to 253 college students, prayed for over 300 people, had 48 Gospel conversations and 84 spiritual conversations. As a whole ministry, our week of Beach Reach gave rides to 2,280 shuttle passengers, prayed with over 1,300 students, had 1,117 Gospel conversations, and saw 27 students trust Christ! What a privilege it was to be a part of this ministry. Lord willing, I hope we can participate again next year.
One of my favorite parts about Beach Reach this year was that all 12 of us who went had at least one Gospel conversation during the week. Introverts and extroverts alike had the opportunity to step out of their comfort zone to share the Gospel. Some of our group preferred riding in the van with a captive audience to share with, but others actually preferred the street ministry where there wasn’t such a tight window for sharing the Gospel.
In all, this week was kind of like an evangelism lab! We had so many opportunities to debrief conversations and then try to make the next one better. As we returned to campus, students felt even more equipped for ministry here at Missouri Western, and they had new stories to share of how God had worked in their life during Spring Break.
