College students say God moved powerfully during BeachReach 2025
PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. — More than 340 Tennessee Baptist Collegiate Ministry students and leaders used the draw of the Gulf coast’s sand and surf to share the gospel with thousands of spring breakers in Panama City Beach.
Over a three-week period last month, Tennessee BCM groups joined 47 other campus-based/church-based college ministries from across the U.S. to have a kingdom impact on their generation through BeachReach.
With a total of 1,847 participants in 2025, BeachReach had the largest attendance in its history.
Many students expressed that they will always remember being a part of such an outpouring of God’s work.
This year’s BeachReach was made all the more special by the fact that it occurred in the midst of BCM celebrating its 100-year anniversary. Students sharing the gospel is a fitting way to honor the milestone.
“BeachReach is an incredible opportunity to share the gospel with those who desperately need it in a unique way,” said Bella Bone, a UT Martin Mass Media and Strategic Communication major.
“It was an opportunity for personal spiritual growth and to step out of your comfort zone to reach the lost,” Bone said.
While this was Bone’s second year of attending BeachReach, first year attendee Aubrey Penney, an Integrated Studies major from Middle Tennessee State University, said, “BeachReach exceeded my expectations. It was amazing to see God work in so many tangible ways. It was so good to grow in fellowship with other believers.”
College groups utilized street teams and free shuttle rides for spring breakers to share the gospel. Teams use these shuttles for evening ministry with defined roles: drivers transport, navigators communicate with the call center for ride assignments, doormen locate spring breakers, and backseat security ensures safety. Several students occupy the ‘hot seat,’ engaging spring breakers in conversations they hope to steer toward the gospel.
The shuttles gave rides to over 25,000 passengers, allowing BeachReachers to pray with 17,833 and have nearly 14,000 gospel conversations.
A total of 753 individuals placed their faith in Jesus — another historical marker for the ministry.
The challenges of sharing the gospel with peers can be overwhelming and difficult. Yet, Nathan Fawver, a student from the UT Knoxville, said, “BeachReach forces you past the barrier of social awkwardness. Once you get past the transition to a spiritual conversation, it becomes much easier.”
Peyton Crawford, also from UTK, agreed. “BeachReach helps us get over our fear of peers and it is simple because you have one job — to get to the gospel. When you are at school there is so much more to think about like class, but when you are away you can focus on sharing Jesus.”
Alyssa Stanley, a senior from East Tennessee State University, explained, “My favorite aspect of Beach Reach is seeing God’s sovereignty. God is working behind the scenes to orchestrate everything from where someone sits on a van to the people we meet in line for the bathroom. In every conversation, God had gone before us and prepared the way.”
Katie Gell, a Vanderbilt University Molecular and Cellular Biology major shared a vivid memory from a shuttle ride she was on. “All of us were a little disappointed because there weren’t many ‘gospel-conversations’ happening.
“The next guy who got in the van started asking about God out of nowhere. It was so encouraging, and it was a great reminder that God reaches His people through us, and that we are not capable of bringing people to God by our own strength.”
Students also had the opportunity to be on street teams, which were groups of three or four students who hung out in a high foot trafficked areas. Many street teams had powerful gospel conversations.
Jeremy Hatley, a General Education major at Southwest Tennessee Community College in Memphis, said, “Street teams were more appealing to me because a lot of people who we talked to weren’t limited to the time in a shuttle. This gave the people on the receiving end the time to think about what’s been said.”
The way that shuttles and street teams worked hand-in-hand was vital to effective ministry in PCB. As Bone explained, “when I think of street teams and shuttles, I see how intentional God is in every moment of each one. My heart goes quickly to Ephesians 3:20 that reminds us that our God can do immeasurably more than we could ever, ask, think, or imagine!”
Groups were also assigned to spend time in the prayer room each night.
“Prayer is powerful, and the prayer room during the week was nothing short of that. It was an intimate time that allowed for preparation for the work to be done and reflection of the work the Lord had already done,” said Braden Morris, a Tennessee Tech Architecture major shared.
During prayer time, students focused both on personal spiritual growth and PCB ministry activities. They prayed for specific shuttles, street teams, and followed a real-time prayer feed showing shuttle passengers on one side and ongoing prayer requests from gospel conversations on the other. Occasionally, the feed would announce new conversions with messages like ‘we have a new brother (or sister) in Christ!’
Penney described, “One specific aspect of BeachReach that I loved was the prayer room. I appreciated that we were able to see a live prayer feed; this helped me know how to pray for others.”
After their PCB experience, many students gained a new understanding of gospel-sharing importance, returning home better prepared to share Christ with peers and family — a longstanding BeachReach priority.
As Morris noted, “There is so much opportunity on campus to spread the Word,” while Penney observed students returned with “renewed boldness to share their faith,” inspiring hope that God will work powerfully as they continue evangelizing on campuses across Tennessee.”
During April, pray for the hundreds of BCM students who will be faithful to sow the seed of the gospel on their campuses across Tennessee in the years to come. Beyond their week with the surf, sand, and sharing the gospel, may God work powerfully as the spring semester closes out.
As Gell put it, “We spent a week dedicated to evangelizing college students, and we’ve come back to a place full of college students. Why would the mission stop?” B&R