338 accept Christ during Beach Reach

A total of 338 people accepted Christ during Beach Reach.

Hundreds of Baptist Student Ministry students across Texas gathered in South Padre Island for Beach Reach to share the gospel with spring breakers.

Students provided free van rides during late-night hours, and a free pancake breakfast each morning.

The Sunday-through-Thursday-night evangelistic event was based primarily at Island Baptist Church, which served as the “home base” for Beach Reach’s ministry.

A hotline was open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for spring breakers to call and request rides.

Vans were staffed by teams of five BSM students and a BSM director each who responded to ride requests.

On each ride, a student served as a “navigator,” sending a tweet to an online prayer wall so others could pray for riders in real time.

Located on the other side of South Padre Island, Texans on Mission set up a tent at Louie’s Backyard, an entertainment venue, for midnight pancake breakfasts where BSM students engaged visitors in spiritual conversations.

Testimonies

Brenda Sanders, consultant for Go Now Missions at Texas Baptists, encouraged students serving on the hotline shift.

“[Obedience is] decision by decision, by decision. It’s prompting of the Spirit and following it every single time,” Sanders said.

“Great moves of God are typically preceded by simple acts of obedience. Is the obedience going to end on Friday, or will it continue? Will you walk in obedience when you get back to your campus?”

Paul Woodby, a Dallas Baptist University freshman, and first-time Beach Reacher, admitted he felt “super nervous” about the experience, saying he “had to keep stopping like every 10 seconds to pray and ask for courage and boldness.” When he arrived at the beach, Woodby asked his ministry partner, fellow freshman Matthew Gage, to pray with him.

“The Lord really spoke to me and said, ‘I will meet you in the first step,’” Woodby recalled.

Choosing to act in obedience, Woodby stepped out in faith and shared the gospel with the first person he and Gage encountered that day.

“We started talking to Lee,” Woodby said. “We asked if he had heard of the gospel. He said ‘yes,’ but he didn’t really know what it was. So, we began explaining it. He expressed interest in Jesus, and we were able to pray the prayer of salvation with him.”

“After we talked with Lee, a guy named Lino came up to us and asked, ‘Can y’all pray for me?’ So, we prayed for him, shared the gospel, and he gave his life to Jesus as well,” Woodby continued.

From March 7–20, Beach Reach provided 14,389 van rides, had 10,491 spiritual conversations, 9,366 spring break attendees prayed for, 87 people recommitted their lives to Christ, and 55 baptisms.

Assembled from a report by Jessica King, Texas Baptist Communications.