Final Nights at Beach Reach

The last two nights at Beach Reach were incredible and awesome. We had the opportunity to serve in all of the evening activities. The van rides were there usual awesome and fun selves. These last two nights we also had the opportunity to serve in the midnight pancakes breakfast. This was a unique experience that also allowed our group to have some more time serving in street teams. All of our group had an incredible time doing this. They were able to meet some Spring Breakers and have some incredible conversations.

The time of evening pancakes also allowed me the chance to take some Beach Reach staffers out in our van to pick up other students. I had a blast doing this. The staffers were so much fun. They had all been doing this for a number of years and were pretty relaxed and excitied to be out of the Base. It was during one these van rides that I had the opportunity to meet a young lady who introduced herself as Pringle. She was by far the most interesting character of the week for me. She started off talking in a little 4 or 5 year old voice and kept telling us how selfless we were to provide the rides and pancakes. In the process of doing this she would periodically cuss. She would almost immediately apologize. The cuss again. Then apologize again. And so on and so on. This eventually devolved into her making the assertion that if Jesus were here that He would cuss and then she proceeded to tell us all of the words He would have been using. Her friends tried to calm her down but to no avail.

This story is both sad and funny at the same time. I think if you can not laugh at something like this then You will get too bogged down in the tragedy of where she was and how she lacked any real control over herself, her body, or her mind. It is also scary because if not for her friends being there to watch her then she would have been easy prey for any person who wanted to do harm to her. What makes it even worse is that she was not alone in this. She is one of thousands of men and women who, because of their choice to get drunk, were easy prey.

Our week at PCB was incredible. I know without a doubt that we were able to directly touch the lives of thousands of students. I also know that many seeds of Truth were planted or watered. We may never see the fruit of these efforts this side of Heaven but that does not make them any less valuable to meaningful. Please continue to pray for the Week 3 crew as they have a couple of days left of ministry. Please also continue to pray for the Beach Reachers as they go back to their campuses and look to continue to plant the seeds of Hope and Faith. And finally pray for those students who are searching for truth and meaning in their lives. Pray that God will send brothers and sisters who will "help feed the hungry and stand by the broken"