**NOTE:
The paragraphs with asterisks are the important ones, if the nearly four pages of text seems daunting. You’re welcome.
For those of you that have been praying for me over the past few weeks in preparation for Beach Reach, I’m writing to tell you of all the amazing things that God showed me this week. Thank you for your prayers, they were answered in such an astonishing ways.
**For those of you that don’t know, I was on a mission trip this week. For the past 20 years or so, groups from all over Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado have been heading down to South Padre Island over spring break to serve the students that go there to party, and we call it Beach Reach. The Beach Reach model has been adopted in Panama City, FL and other spring break sites all over the world, and I got to be a part of that this year, along with around 700 other college students in Padre.
So. That’s basically the gist of it, if you want more info on Beach Reach itself, feel free to ask me, however this letter of sorts is more for the purpose of me thinking out loud, of sharing what God did specifically in my life this week. So, here it goes.
I’m honestly not sure how to start this. I wanted some sort of poetic approach, some way of casually but beautifully expressing what it was that happened in me this week. However, I’m afraid the only way I can think to get through this is somewhat chronologically. I have a story to tell, and often times the easiest way to tell a story is from the beginning.
I went to beach reach last year. And loved it. I saw God do amazing things through myself and many others. But I really didn’t want to do it again this year. Part of it was the desire to go see my boyfriend in NYC, however after it became clear that wasn’t going to be an option, I just felt too tired for it. Sharing your faith, spending days baking under the sun, endless time in 10 passenger vans… the spiritual attack that always comes with missions… I just wasn’t up for it this year. I wanted to use my spring break for rest… For myself.
But soon, it became clear to me that God wanted me there. Even a few days before we left, I had missed many trainings due to work and was supposed to be kicked off the team, however the director of the UTEP BSM and my adopted father in Christ basically said, “You’re not getting out of it that easy”.
After that, I began to get excited. Specifically about who my partner was going to be. Chris decided to wait until the very last training this year for us to find out who our partners were going to be, and for some reason, the anticipation was EXTRA hard to bear this year. My fellow beach reachers can speak for me as well, I was just SOOO excited to find out who my partner would be. When I finally did find out, I found out it was going to be some guy I don’t even know. I was a little bummed about that, and really nervous I guess… I now had to spend a week with some guy I didn’t even know… wasn’t really looking forward to that. But God turned that into a beautiful story as well.
We started our journey to south padre on Friday afternoon, with a pit stop in San Antonio that night. We had the most gracious hosts, a family of one of the girls on our team, ended the day with worship and reading the word, and then hit the sack in preparation for a long week of ministry.
**That morning, my partner came and I finally got to meet Paul Wojciechowski. Pretty sure I spelled that right. He is now my best friend, my dearest brother in Christ, whom I love immensely. God knit us so close together this week, and I’m so grateful for the man of god I got to know through this partnership.
We ended up in Port Isabel (the mainland side of the bridge to SPI) around 3 or 4 that afternoon, I think, and spent the evening enjoying the company of the other beach reachers, praying for each other as we drove over the bridge collectively, and spent the evening getting to know each other and praying for one another.
The next morning we went to breakfast, to church at the lovely First Baptist Church of Port Isabel, and used the rest of the day walking around the island telling people about the free van rides and pancake breakfasts we would be offering that week. That’s what beach reach does- we have a fleet of vans that act as a taxi service for the spring breakers, as well as free pancakes every 12am-3am and 8am-12pm. That afternoon is I guess when Paul and I really became inseparable.
We ate dinner, went to worship with all 700 beach reachers at the civic center (which we did every evening before we started van rides) and then to the vans we went!
We had some great conversations, really got revved up for what Jesus was going to do through us and with us this week. Headed back to FBC on the mainland and rested up.
**The next morning we went to eat and talk with the spring breakers at the pancake breakfast that morning. Paul, my dear friend Tess, and myself ended up holding up a sign advertising the pancakes to passersby, which basically gave us an excuse to dance and be silly and attract as much attention as possible. DONE and DONE. After that we spent some time picking up random folk and taking them to the beach or wherever they needed to be taken, maybe shopped or napped or something… all the days kind of blend together in my mind. Went to dinner and then worship, and god just filled the civic center with his presence. It was amazing. Beauty and awe stirred in our hearts, and we reflected on the mystery of our faith, and bonded as a team knowing that God had all of us here for a very specific reason.
**That night, I met Lucy.
She was such a beautiful soul, but she was troubled. Her heart was heavy, her spirit was tired. The Holy Spirit spoke to her through me, I didn’t know why the words I was saying struck her in different ways, but I could see a change happening on her face. I shared the gospel with her. I told her how were both sinners, how all fall short of the glory of god, how we all think we deserve all these fancy, temporary things, but in reality we deserve death. I told her how all the wrath of God that we deserved was poured out onto Jesus, how he took everything we REALLY deserve into himself, and through that graced us with everlasting life. I told her how the emptiness she felt, the hole inside her heart that seems to ache at all the wrong times, could be filled only by one man, who loved her always. The spirit spoke of his true love for her, of his desire and passion for her heart and just… so many other things. I shared with her my testimony, how I felt lost, unloved, uncared for by the church, how I fell away and stopped sharing my heart with God, about my drug use and deceit in high school, and how even after all of that, God still swooped down and blessed me with his grace, and how he never stopped loving me, not only that but how he never stopped PURSUING me, and… so many other things. I can’t remember everything the spirit put on my heart, but at the end of it all, she knew she wanted something more to live for. She prayed the most beautiful prayer asking for forgiveness, acknowledging her savior and lover, and committing her life to serving and loving her creator. I gave her a new testament, told her to start reading john that night (which she started doing immediately, rather than listening to me any longer), and shortly after she left our van and went to her hotel room.
I was floored. I was humbled. I was… absolutely in awe of my Lord. He spoke such truth to Lucy, and as I heard the words coming out of my mouth, they ministered so much to my soul as well. It was absolutely awe-inspiring. God did so many amazing things in our van that night, but Lucy I will never forget.
The next morning we woke up for lunch, and hit the beach/more van rides. Paul was definitely a fan of the vans, so I was usually able to convince my director to let us stay in the vans rather than going out. That day was tough, the people in our vans weren’t all that receptive, and there honestly weren’t very many people in our vans… After our shift ended, we walked around some shops and just relaxed until dinner and worship. We traded off van and prayer room shifts, and hit the sack knowing what a good night we’d had.
The days followed in similar fashion, with so many stories of grace and love.
**One night, I met JB. My partner Paul and I along with half the UTEPers were going to be on prayer room/intercession duty the whole night, which I was slightly bummed about, just because I love being able to witness the action first hand. We get to the breakroom to stock up on the best bad coffee there is and sugary snack cakes, and I hear someone ask if anyone knows sign language. I turn around, eager to practice my sign for the first time in a long time, and was asked to explain that the food in the room was for the beach reachers, and that the pancakes were specifically for spring breakers. I told the deaf guy there what the deal was, but he already had some nachos and so I just basically said, “well, you already have your food, so let’s just sit down and talk anyway.” I learned his name was JB, we talked about his background a little, and I ended up explaining what beach reach was. I told him how we were college kids just like him, but absolutely madly in love with our creator and just trying to love others the way He loves us. Again I just… I shared the gospel with him. It was really cool, he just *happened* to sit down at the only table that had a bible on it, so I opened it up and shared some scriptures from romans and revelations with him. He prayed for forgiveness for sins, that he believed Jesus was the son of god and died and rose to give him new life, and that he wants to love and serve his lord with his life. I’m not sure what happened in him, but I know I will be praying him for all my days. He is my brother in Christ, and it was one of the most amazing things getting to know him. He hung out a little longer with us, just laughing and talking with many of my friends.
**He came back later that day, ate dinner with us, and ended up coming to worship with us that night. I was nervous about that… I mean. Joining 700 people for a time of worship is kind of daunting. But it was really cool. I dance when I worship… it’s just how God and I communicate, and that night I just wasn’t feeling it. I wanted to curl up into a ball and just pray and cry and love my lord with my words, but that’s not what god wanted. I heard Him say to me that this was something he’s been preparing me for my whole life, and that now more than ever he wanted me to dance with him. So I did, and at the end, I’m not sure what or how or why, but I think it touched JB and his friend Lucas in some way or another…
We ended up hanging out with those guys every day we were there in some way, and it was just so much fun. I loved using my now rudimentary sign for the first time in years, and as always I just love sharing this joy and peace and grace I’ve found with others.
**I wish I could share every story that happened this week, however I could go on forever and ever. As it is, there is already 3 pages of rambling to sift through. God taught me 3 main things this week though:
1) He makes all things beautiful.
So no matter what we say, do, are… through his grace, it’s all made beautiful.
2) He is light, and everything that is not darkness is darkness because it is yearning for the light.
So, basically, everything that is not walking with god, everything that we do that is not for god, we do because we’re trying to replace that spot in our hearts for him with something else. We know we’re searching, we know we need something else, we’re yearning for our Lover.
3) The most important one, the one I never seem to fully understand: He loves me.
He sent me so many beautiful gifts this week. Gifts that were just for me. A best friend In Paul, the accountability I’ve been needing in my friend Skye, sunrises and seashells… He just. He loves me. He loves me He loves me He loves me.
And he loves you just as much.
