Life Changing Pancakes

     When you think of college students on Spring Break, my guess is that the image is not a very pleasant one. Partying hard, indulging in sinful activities, living for the moment...these are actions that my generation seeks fulfillment in. But what if there was more to Spring Break than these things? What if there were people who saw all of this and rather than condemn those actions sought to show love and offer help. The truth is that those people do exist and they created something called Beach Reach.

      This Spring Break ministry is composed of different Christian organizations from around the country who come to Panama City Beach, FL (the Spring Break capital of the world) to offer services to the Spring Breakers in the most practical way possible. Free van rides are offered at night and a free pancake breakfast happens each morning. These events allow "Beach Reachers" to engage in conversation with the college students which hopefully leads into opportunities to share the Gospel and lead people to Christ.
     I went to Beach Reach with a group from the BCM at my school, and we saw the power of God work in truly miraculous ways throughout the week!!

The whole gang from my school.

I stood in awe as my teammates witnessed to the Spring Breakers confidently and without shame and some amazing conversations were had as a result!
     Our group was composed of mostly first time Beach Reachers, and I was the only "veteran" girl. With this in mind, I found myself approaching everything with a different mindset than the previous year. I realized that God brought me back to PCB, not to dominate every conversation and to overshadow my teammates, but step back and let them lead the way. 
     As Christians, we've all been given gifts and talents to use to serve and bring honor to God; furthermore, those gifts are different and vary with each individual. 1 Corinthians 12:12-20 talks about how the body is made up of various parts that work together as a whole. Verse 12 says, "The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ," and this analogy is extremely applicable to Beach Reach!

The guys from our group.

     Each night we had street teams walking up and down PCB's Strip spreading the news of free van rides and free pancakes; similarly, there were teams on the vans to engage Spring Breakers in conversation. These two groups represented the feet and mouths of the above mentioned body, and while I served on each team during the week, I didn't believe those places were where I belonged.
     I ended up being a navigator (this means I received the van ride assignments, communicated with the driver, and helped him find our pickup and drop off locations) in the vans for most of the week, and even though I'm not the most directionally savvy person, I had a great time doing this job! While I got to converse with some of the people we picked up, being the navigator

really allowed me to pray for my teammates, listen to the talks happening in the van, and be an encourager for the people I worked with. It was through this that I realized what parts of the body I was meant to be during the week: the ears to listen and the hands to help out in any way possible.
     It's amazing how God uses certain events to teach lessons, and I learned through Beach Reach that it's okay to not always be the one up front and that those in the background have important jobs, too. God blessed me with a precious group of girls,

The girls from our group.

and we had the biggest time beginning every day with a group devotional and ending every night with hours of sharing the night's stories (and there might've been a few cups/pots of coffee in between). It brought me such happiness to see their beaming faces as they told about sharing the Gospel in the vans or telling their testimony to people they met on the streets.
     Now that I'm back at school and Beach Reach is over for me forever (by this time next year I'll be a college graduate and will hopefully have a teaching position somewhere), I'm left with a peace about everything that occurred during the week. I now know why God lead me back to PCB and why He gave me the teammates that He did. I'm just filled with such happiness and am so proud of those who choose to answer God's call and serve Him during the break.
     I want to send a special shout out to all of my teammates: Thank you all for serving and making Beach Reach an unforgettable week filled with memories and God moments. 
     Thanks for reading everyone!!!

If you're interested in learning more about Beach Reach and the ministry that occurs there during Spring Break I encourage you to check out the websites below:
Beach Reach Facebook page 
BeachReach - LifeWay Christian Resources