Although there were many great things that went on during beach reach, the biggest thing for me was being able to conqueror my fear of talking to others about Christ. I have always heard the importance of telling others about the Lord, but I wasn't sure how to do that exactly. This week I was able to meet some awesome students who love the Lord and I learned so much from them. Through different conversations with other becah reachers and just alone time I spent in the word and in prayer, by the end of the week I was able to talk with others and turn the conversations into spiritual ones.
Mr. Bell,
I would like to thank you for the very kind donation you gave our team! A nice southern meal was eaten and we thank you for that! I have family who live down south but it has been a year since I have seen them, so it was great to get a taste of the good 'ol southern cooking!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Thoughts from Denise
SO, as many of you know, I went to Panama City Beach, FL this spring break. The experience I had there was amazing, to be able to minister to students and be ministered to was priceless.
I was fortunate enough to share part of my experience with my church when I came back to Macomb and even more fortunate that it was able to be recorded.
I haven't been able to articulate my experience as well as it is here. So I'm pasting the website...so that you can hear how God worked.
http://www.ubcfellowship.com/otheraudios/Denise%20Testimony%20031608.mp3
I was fortunate enough to share part of my experience with my church when I came back to Macomb and even more fortunate that it was able to be recorded.
I haven't been able to articulate my experience as well as it is here. So I'm pasting the website...so that you can hear how God worked.
http://www.ubcfellowship.com/otheraudios/Denise%20Testimony%20031608.mp3
Favorite Beach Reach Moments
From Vicki Lantz
My favorite part of Beach Reach was probably holding the signs out by the road at the pancake breakfasts. It was so crazy and such a high-energy thing that you couldn't help but have fun. Plus, there were the random half-conversations that you got to have with people passing by.
My favorite part of Beach Reach was probably holding the signs out by the road at the pancake breakfasts. It was so crazy and such a high-energy thing that you couldn't help but have fun. Plus, there were the random half-conversations that you got to have with people passing by.
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"
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"
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Reflecting on Beach Reach - Vicki
When Patrick first talked to us about Beach Reach (I think it was sometime first semester), my initial reaction was to says no. First of all, I had never been on a missions trip before, so I would have had no idea what to expect. Also, I had been to South Padre Island for Spring Break a few years ago with my family, so I was thinking "Oh, it's just a bunch of drunk college students." Duh, that's why we're doing this.
Then, Patrick mentioned it again in January. This time, I was like, "Maybe, I need to think about it." I kept putting it off and putting it off, not wanting to have to make the decision. I kind of wanted to go, but I also didn't because I didn't know what to expect. I talked my parents about it, and they were like, "If you want to do this, we'll give you the money that you need." I had also promised Patrick that if I did not go this year, I would for certain go next year.
Finally, about a week or so before the final deadline, I told Patrick, "Ok, before I make my final decision, we need to talk." So, we sat down one Monday night after the BCM meal and hashed the whole thing out. Basically, the main reasons I didn't want to go was because a.) I had never gone on a mission trip before, b.) I had never really had a lot of experience with witnessing before, and c.) it was something really out of my comfort zone. There were also reasons for me to go, though. First of all, it would be an opportunity for me to grow; you know, that whole 'get out of your comfort zone' thing. Secondly, I felt that God really wanted me to go. Evenually, some missions trip would have to be my first missions trip, so why not this one? Patrick and I talked for a really long time, and we finally agreed that I should go, so I finally said yes.
That seemed like the easy part. In the weeks leading up to the trip. I totally started freaking myself out. I had no idea what to expect, and all that jazz all over again. Then we finally got there, and I was like, "Why was I freaking myself out so much? This is so much fun!" If you ask my parents, they will tell that I said I felt like an idiot for freaking myself out so much.
Looking back on the week, I had so much fun. Like I said in my other post, the worship services were just awesome; pretty much the best ones I have ever experienced. Wednesday night was probably the best. Those of you who heard Denise talk this morning in church will know what I'm talking about. Near the end, the worship leader said something to the effect of, "Didn't you guys just feel like the roof could have flown off?" I agree with that a lot. There were a couple times during the different worship services throughout the week when I just got so choked up by some of the songs we were singing that I started to tear up a little. It was just awesome.
The street teams/van rides/pancake meals weren't quite what I expected. As I said before, I had never done a whole lot of witnessing before, so I was not really comfortable just walking up to a person and saying something to the effect of, "Want to hear about how much God loves you?" To be perfectly honest, I didn't really do a whole lot of 'witnessing' while we were there. My first night on street teams, we got into a really good discussion with two different pairs of people (the infamous "Salty's guys" and then at the midnight pancake meal), but never really had the actual "Do you want to accept Christ?"-type of discussion.
For the van rides, I worked as navigator. When you're trying to find stuff on a map, it's kind of hard to get into a discussion with the people behind you. I was actually good with that, though, because then that gave other people to have those discussions.
At the pancake breakfasts, I pretty much stood out on the side of the road with the banners trying to get people to come in to the breakfasts. I was also good with that because it was such a high-energy activity, what with all the yelling at the passing cars and random half-discussions with people in passing cars. I helped bring the people into the pancake breakfast so that the people inside could have the discussions with them.
This year, I mostly served as the conduit for other Beach Reachers to have those discussions. Next time (either next year or my senior year), I'll probably go the next step and start to do more of that actual witnessing-type stuff.
Then, Patrick mentioned it again in January. This time, I was like, "Maybe, I need to think about it." I kept putting it off and putting it off, not wanting to have to make the decision. I kind of wanted to go, but I also didn't because I didn't know what to expect. I talked my parents about it, and they were like, "If you want to do this, we'll give you the money that you need." I had also promised Patrick that if I did not go this year, I would for certain go next year.
Finally, about a week or so before the final deadline, I told Patrick, "Ok, before I make my final decision, we need to talk." So, we sat down one Monday night after the BCM meal and hashed the whole thing out. Basically, the main reasons I didn't want to go was because a.) I had never gone on a mission trip before, b.) I had never really had a lot of experience with witnessing before, and c.) it was something really out of my comfort zone. There were also reasons for me to go, though. First of all, it would be an opportunity for me to grow; you know, that whole 'get out of your comfort zone' thing. Secondly, I felt that God really wanted me to go. Evenually, some missions trip would have to be my first missions trip, so why not this one? Patrick and I talked for a really long time, and we finally agreed that I should go, so I finally said yes.
That seemed like the easy part. In the weeks leading up to the trip. I totally started freaking myself out. I had no idea what to expect, and all that jazz all over again. Then we finally got there, and I was like, "Why was I freaking myself out so much? This is so much fun!" If you ask my parents, they will tell that I said I felt like an idiot for freaking myself out so much.
Looking back on the week, I had so much fun. Like I said in my other post, the worship services were just awesome; pretty much the best ones I have ever experienced. Wednesday night was probably the best. Those of you who heard Denise talk this morning in church will know what I'm talking about. Near the end, the worship leader said something to the effect of, "Didn't you guys just feel like the roof could have flown off?" I agree with that a lot. There were a couple times during the different worship services throughout the week when I just got so choked up by some of the songs we were singing that I started to tear up a little. It was just awesome.
The street teams/van rides/pancake meals weren't quite what I expected. As I said before, I had never done a whole lot of witnessing before, so I was not really comfortable just walking up to a person and saying something to the effect of, "Want to hear about how much God loves you?" To be perfectly honest, I didn't really do a whole lot of 'witnessing' while we were there. My first night on street teams, we got into a really good discussion with two different pairs of people (the infamous "Salty's guys" and then at the midnight pancake meal), but never really had the actual "Do you want to accept Christ?"-type of discussion.
For the van rides, I worked as navigator. When you're trying to find stuff on a map, it's kind of hard to get into a discussion with the people behind you. I was actually good with that, though, because then that gave other people to have those discussions.
At the pancake breakfasts, I pretty much stood out on the side of the road with the banners trying to get people to come in to the breakfasts. I was also good with that because it was such a high-energy activity, what with all the yelling at the passing cars and random half-discussions with people in passing cars. I helped bring the people into the pancake breakfast so that the people inside could have the discussions with them.
This year, I mostly served as the conduit for other Beach Reachers to have those discussions. Next time (either next year or my senior year), I'll probably go the next step and start to do more of that actual witnessing-type stuff.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Thoughts from Johnathan
One of the things God has really been teaching me this week so far is that we humans, as creations in His image really can’t rely on our feelings very much. This seems to be true even if our desire is only about Him. I am learning that feelings can be trusted, but that we must trust our situations more. No matter how we feel, God decides to put us in situations He desires us to be in. Those situations are very often uncomfortable for us, but to really allow ourselves to be taken by God’s presence and trusting in the situations He puts us in, for me at least, has been one of those ultimate characteristics of obedience. Faith, hope and love are some good things he gave us, but the greatest is love. The situations I have been in here at Beach Reach have not always felt comfortable. I have wanted to jump out of the van a few times just to get away, but the toughest people to love for me sometimes is the people I used to work so hard to fit in with. Even though I want no part of the desires of the flesh, all those memories come back concerning the corpse I was yesterday. I have always seen love as an action and not a word, and it really never meant the extent of what it does now before getting saved and even as it has been redefined through my relationship with my significant other. Regardless of any feeling I have, The ultimate trust in God is simply to let Him take me into these uncomfortable situations where I am continuously reminded of that corpse, of that broken me. I don’t wish to ever be arrogant again like I was when I was 15, but the world sometimes lays it down on us to listen more to our feelings of hurt that the faith in God that is capable of coming through from it. Ever since I was baptized in October I have come across so many challenges that I was so blind to before. I am so much more aware of my surroundings along with the feelings I feel. It is so true that the decision to allow Jesus into your heart makes such an impact, but nothing fulfills the holes of our hearts like giving up everything just to walk in the way of the lord. It sounds so crazy, love is somehow defined by the way Christ denied his own glory for just a few moments in the eternal time spectrum to show us how he cares for his people. If not for that moment of Christ placing his full concern on us, we may have never acquired the perfect example we have to live by. It is never easy to walk the walk, but if I am not seeking the lord, what am I worshiping? I find myself here in
Thoughts From Sarah G.
This week has been beyond description. God has been preparing me for this moment. He has filled me up and sent me out. If we pray for our hearts to be broken, that is exactly what God will do.
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