Rogers
For 30 years, college students across the U.S. have been taking the gospel to the beaches of Panama City during their spring breaks. Hundreds of spring breakers each year encounter God through the witness of other faith-filled college students.
This year, BeachReach included participants from nine Tennessee schools, universities and church-based college ministries: Belle Aire, MTSU, University of Memphis, University of Tennesse-Knoxville, East Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, University of Tennessee-Martin and Vanderbilt University.
As a ministry leader, one of the greatest privileges I have is witnessing transformation in the lives of students on mission in PCB. There are typically four ways I see student missionaries (BeachReachers) impacted by BeachReach.
First, BeachReach cultivates their hearts for missions.
BeachReach is an easy on-ramp into deeper missions experiences. The logistics of the trip are simple, making it an accessible commitment for students with little or no missions background. The brokenness of their peers is impossible to ignore at BeachReach.
They witness hopelessness, vanity, and extremely unhealthy lifestyles firsthand. For most students, regardless of missions experience, this is a sobering reality; students are burdened by what they see. God often uses BeachReach to cultivate His heart for the lost within students.
Students from ETSU during the 2026 BeachReach. – Submitted photo
Second, BeachReach transforms their relationship to evangelism.
Most students who arrive at BeachReach are terrified of the ministry they’ve signed up to do — evangelism. Whether they are brand new to the faith, stagnant, or maturing in their walk, I have found that BeachReach transforms their relationship to evangelism.
New believers gain exposure to the rhythm of sharing the faith that has just saved them. They arrive with a fresh ability to relate to those far from God, while timid or stagnant Christians gain a burden for the lost and are challenged to enter gospel conversations.
There are always a few students who arrive terrified and leave emboldened. Growing believers encounter new opposition to the gospel and often demonstrate evangelistic leadership to those younger in their faith.
Third, BeachReach trains them in apologetics.
While learning apologetics isn’t the primary goal of BeachReach, it is an outcome. Students are confronted with difficult questions they must work through in real time.
They deal with a variety of theological beliefs and traditions, and they are challenged to explain apparent discrepancies in the Bible. One of the most recurring themes is the question of God’s relationship to suffering and evil in the world.
Many spring breakers come hurting, questioning why God would allow certain things to happen in their lives. BeachReachers are challenged to both empathize and speak to God’s character — no small task.
Fourth, BeachReach launches them back to campus with renewed purpose.
“Why haven’t I been doing this?” This is one of the most common questions I hear near the end of BeachReach.
Students spend a week watching the Holy Spirit work in and transform their peers — sometimes in a matter of minutes. They are reminded that God is making new people out of those they least expect. He’s doing something spectacular in students’ lives, and Beach-Reachers return to campus wanting to be a part of it.
Week after week, year after year, I’ve watched BeachReach do all this, serving as a launch pad for campus evangelism. The students who participate never come back quite the same as they went. And hopefully, it will continue to do just that for the next 30 years and beyond. B&R
