Big Break 2010
120,000 Meals for Haiti Packed -- With the Help of Spring Breakers Just Like These
A genius way to start spiritual conversations with Spring Breakers who thought they came to the beach just to party.
Photo by Guy Gerrard
Not your typical use for a baseball bat.
09 . March . 2010
Writer, Jonathan (left), and photographer, Guy (right) document week 2 of Big Break 2010
Ingenuity: the quality of being clever, original, or inventive. I usually tie the word with Benjamin Franklin or the Wright Brothers, not college students. But what these Spring Breakers do on the beach to consume alcohol can only be categorized as ingenious.
I watched as a group of college students played a game deriving from pure creative gold. They took a wiffle-ball bat, cut a hole at the grip, and filled it with beer. The bat, conveniently possessing the volume of one beer, was then chugged and used to spin around before attempting to hit an oncoming pitch.
As I saw their complacency with sin, I wondered, How are we ever going to get students to leave this destructive activity and help pack meals for GAiN’s Haiti relief effort?
In addition to talking about Jesus on the beach, students are engaging with Spring Breakers and asking them to help pack over 1 million meals for victims of the Haiti earthquake.
Over 120,000 meals were packed just today.
This is the first time the Big Break conference partnered with GAiN, the humanitarian aid ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. The goal of the partnership is to bring students off the beach, have them pack meals, and establish an atmosphere where the gospel can be brought into conversation during that packing process.
I doubted the spring breakers' willingness to help in the effort but, as usual, God silenced my doubts with an inspiring story in the most unlikely of settings.
Matthew Burress went out on the beach with a desire to see life change, but after being turned away several times, he became disheartened. He and his friend went back up to their room and prayed.
After praying for almost an hour, Matthew sensed the Holy Spirit instruct him to go to the hot tub and chat with the two dozen or so people lounging about. That’s where he met Kevin and Dan from Notre Dame.
What began as a simple conversation about Matthew’s involvement with Campus Crusade became a 3-hour conversation about ideology, faith, and the Haiti relief effort at Big Break.
Kevin and Dan didn’t make a decision for Christ in that hot tub, but they both excitedly said that they want to help pack meals over the course of this week.
God took Matthew off the beach today, and put him in a place where he was able to draw people to the Haiti relief effort.
God is so sneaky sometimes, moving us from one place into another according to His will.
God is bigger than any doubt, any fear, and any obstacle.
Pray that all of us here remember that as we go out tomorrow to tell other about the love of God and how they can help save lives in Haiti. See you tomorrow!
Read about Jonathan’s experiences the day before.
RSS Feed