PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. — In the world of Baptist Collegiate Ministry, mission trips come in all shapes and sizes. From construction ministry to ministry among youth, Tennessee BCM specialists aim to strike a balance between ministry opportunities and experiences that challenge college students to recognize missions as a potential calling on their lives.
Throughout March, 340 Tennessee BCM students and staff joined individuals from 47 other campus-based/church-based college ministries from across the U.S. to share the gospel with spring breakers in Panama City Beach, Fla., through BeachReach.
Though jumping into a gospel conversation can cause anxiety or even fear, BeachReach creates opportunities for college students to share their hope in Jesus with their generation. But these challenging experiences can in turn develop spiritual growth.
“During BeachReach, I witnessed incredible growth in my students,” said Ashlyn Trice, associate collegiate ministry specialist at the University of Memphis.
“Many arrived nervous about sharing their faith, but by the end of the week, they gained confidence in proclaiming the Gospel and expectant for the Lord to move. They returned to campus eager to make His name known with their renewed commitment to faithfully and fervently pray for their campus.”
BeachReach has had a powerful impact on the lives of college students for over 29 years. But in recent years, Tennessee BCM Campus Ministers have placed greater emphasis on participating in BeachReach over spring break because they have seen students become more equipped to share the gospel on their own campuses.
According to Ben Maddox, collegiate ministry specialist at Tennessee Tech BCM, “BeachReach is one of the most transferable mission trips back to the college campus a college student could attend.
If a student overcomes their fears of sharing the Gospel with spring breakers at BeachReach, their confidence level greatly increases in sharing the Gospel with their fellow students on their college campus.”
Maddox has been blessed by seeing students return to Tennessee Tech with creative ideas in reaching their campus with a great fervor for evangelism.
BeachReach places a value on “gospel conversations.” Over the four weeks, students had nearly 14,000 gospel conversations and saw 753 individuals placed their faith in Jesus!
Tiffany Hudson, collegiate ministry specialist at Vanderbilt University, said, “There is truly nothing like learning how to share the gospel, sharing the gospel, praying for those hearing the gospel, and watching God work and move through His gospel to transform lives all in real time.”
She added, “I love taking students to BeachReach because of the all-encompassing ministry experience they receive.”
Every BCM leader agrees that the experience is truly eye-opening and fulfilling for students and themselves.
“One of the most fun things to see and for our students to experience is the excitement that comes from salvation celebrations,” said Rodney Norvell, collegiate ministry specialist at UTK.
“In our group chat we would have one team say, ‘pray for this person, they just gave their life to Christ’ and the group chat would go crazy. A few minutes later a van team would say ‘we have a new brother in Christ, pray for this person.’ The students get to celebrate the harvest in real time, and it helps them realize how valuable their witness is to the kingdom!”
While BeachReach focuses in Panama City Beach, what makes this ministry truly special is its tremendous impact on students’ interest in missions and ministry service. Jonathan Chapman, collegiate ministry specialist at East Tennessee State University, appreciates how BeachReach focuses on evangelistic training and gospel fervor.
“I love how it is all about advancing the kingdom,” Chapman explained. Over the last four years of mobilizing students to go to BeachReach, Chapman has seen students “catch a fire for missions. Our summer missions, semester missions, and journeyman interest goes up a lot after BeachReach.”
Over my 22 years at UT Martin BCM, I have been amazed at how God has used BeachReach to impact tens of thousands of college students and lead thousands of spring breakers to Jesus. The approach of BeachReach helps Christian students develop a great passion to share the gospel with their peers, an impact that goes beyond the beaches of PCB and into the memories of students who are making a kingdom impact in the world. B&R