HSU BSM Spends Spring Break Sharing Gospel on South Padre Island

(ABILENE, Texas)– In 1980, 20 college students set out to serve their peers and South Padre Island during spring break. The program, known as Beach Reach, developed into an extensive ministry, with hundreds of Christian college students traveling to south Texas to share the gospel with tens of thousands of spring breakers. This March, Baptist Student Ministry Director Tanner Clarke will lead a team of 11 Hardin-Simmons University students in assisting with the Beach Reach program’s efforts.

“Beach Reach is one of those unique mission trip opportunities where students will have countless opportunities to share the Gospel,” says Clarke. “I have been surprised, but people at spring break are really open to hear the Gospel and every year there and many to come to Christ for the first time. For our HSU students, this is an opportunity to show the love of Christ in a really tangible way without judgement.”

The primary goal of Beach Reach is to share the gospel while providing spring breakers’ physical needs for food and transportation. Volunteers rotate through a series of six stations from Saturday night to Friday morning of spring break: Beach Reach Hotline, beach/street work, beach cleanup, Morning Pancake Breakfast, Midnight Pancakes, and prayer.

The Beach Reach Hotline transports spring breakers around the island from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. each night. Beach Reach volunteers liken the service to Uber, but in church vans with messages displayed on the windows. While driving around the island, Beach Reachers can converse with other students about the love of Christ.

 Since most spring break activities take place in the evenings, Beach Reachers spend their days handing out Beach Reach Hotline contact cards and talking to tourists on the beach and the streets. Each morning, a team of Beach Reachers also serves the city by picking up trash along Rockstar Beach.

During the fall semester, the BSM hosts a weekly free lunch on campus for HSU students.

Pancakes are a recurring theme in the Beach Reach program, as Beach Reachers prepare pancake breakfasts for spring breakers in the Island Baptist Church parking lot, and again at midnight in front of Louie’s Bar, which is said to be one of the busiest spots on the island. These meals allow spring breakers to share a meal with the Beach Reach volunteers while discussing the gospel and being prayed for.

Throughout the week, one Beach Reach team continuously prays over their fellow Beach Reachers, spring breakers, and the island. During the week, the sanctuary of Island Baptist Church becomes a round-the-clock prayer room where volunteers can go to cover the island in prayer.

“I am most excited to meet and interact with other BSMs who are passionate about sharing the Gospel in seemingly unconventional ways,” explains HSU student Jennifer Harwood. “We are all praying that hearts would be transformed, and bonds would be created that ignite a passion for pursuing the Lord among everyone involved in Beach Reach.”

At the end of the week, the Beach Reach team hosts a baptism in the ocean for those who have come to Christ through the Beach Reachers’ outreach.

Before attending Beach Reach, all teams are required to undergo five weeks of ministry training. Beach Reach leaders provide the curriculum so that all participants are equipped and ready when spring break comes around.

“Personally, I most look forward to being able to bring people to Christ and share the love that I have found in Him along with the growth that I will experience while doing so,” says HSU student Jonathan Lumpkin.

BSM is a ministry of Texas Baptist Churches that encourages students to follow Christ and transform the world.

HSU’s BSM hosts several events on campus each semester and is composed of seven student-led ministry teams. For more information about the BSM, visit the Baptist Student Ministry page of the HSU website.