Discover Top Posts Tagged with #pcb15

My Musings on Soul Surf

A week in Panama City Beach, the spring break capital of the world, not partying - but evangelizing? So much happened in that one week, and so much has changed because of that one week, but putting it all into words and a single cohesive thought in my head has left me struggling to journal out a post. But this helps me process, so here goes:

Overall, the experience was positive. (Sorry, that’s the only word I could come up with.) Being in Florida with a bunch of friends while Illinois was experiencing cold and snow was pretty great. We hung out on the beach a lot and the weather for the most part was really great. The food was awesome, the people were fun to be around, and the shopping was super fun. In terms of the “missions trip” aspect, beach time was hands down the best. The first day everyone was terrified of the people partying on the beach, and yet the very next day, it was almost normal to see everyone with a huge jug of alcohol or beer cans in their hands. The people wearing shirts were the ones who were weird, and the people you talked to were real people with real lives and real struggles, not just those stupid, upper-middle class, white, college students everyone thinks they are- that I thought they were. But just being on the beach, listening to people’s lives, their joys, their sorrows, and then trying to guide them closer to God, had a profound effect on me. I have no idea how much it affected the person I was talking to, but for me, it changed everything. I was able to see a little more the love that God has for each and every single person there, and I was less hesitant in talking to them because I saw that I had something to offer each and every one of them. And that’s Jesus.

Although beach time had the most tangible impact, I think the most important aspect of Soul Surf however was the prayer we had every morning. Every morning we looked into ourselves, the Bible, and our partners to push our boundaries for these people we would meet on the beach. And honestly, I can’t think of a single prayer that I had that was unanswered. The most prominent ones was that the first day I prayed for my own barriers to be broken that would inhibit me from speaking to others, and then that afternoon I was talking to white sorority girls, huge African American guys, gay people, Muslim people, and even people from across the world. Then the last day I prayed for one last conversation. One conversation where I could see how to make that one last push for someone to take the next step in their faith. Whether that was to start going to church or to maybe pick up a bible and start reading some of it, I wanted to have a conversation like that. However I also prayed that God would show me something unexpected because I know God has so much planned for us and yet our own misconceptions get in the way. So I prayed that He would bring me someone that I would never have expected to talk to and have a good conversation with.

Then in comes Ingrid. She’s Peruvian, BUT she has a lot of Colombian friends. And that day, I was on the beach with one of my best friends, Angie, trying to find someone to talk to, and she’s Colombian. The connections were small, but by some stroke of luck (or godly intervention) one of Ingrid’s friends was wearing a shirt with the Colombian flag on the back of it. Obviously, we run up to them and start talking to them about Colombia, how Angie’s Colombian and how I’m not. They all start speaking in Spanish and I’m just like chillin’ on the sidelines trying to make sure their drunk friends don’t drown themselves in the ocean. You know. The normal stuff. Anyways, the conversation keeps going, and Angie and I are getting nowhere with these Colombian guys. They just want to have fun on the beach, and their friends are still in the background getting high and drunk. Then in comes Ingrid. Again. (She left when the Colombians got their Spanish on, and changed into a swimsuit.) Angie and I had already established that we were from a Christian group, and we wanted to talk to them about their lives, and so Ingrid just kind of walks up to us and starts talking to us. Angie is asking all these great questions, and we’re just listening to her tell us her life story and getting deeper and deeper into her spiritual life. A lot of the reasons why she stopped going to church and meeting with other Christians was because her friends are all not Christian, and I tell my own testimony to her. We keep on talking, and Angie is prompting her to recommit her life and to start going back to church and this small group that her co-worker had invited her to. She accepts, and all of a sudden it’s time to go. We pray in a hurry with her and then she gives each of us a hug, and before you know it, we’re walking away from a two hour long conversation with those people, and one re-commitment to Christ.

IT WAS COMPLETELY MIND BLOWING.

Just HOW exactly that happened was unknown to me. God had answered my prayers and brought us Ingrid and with Angie there with me, we had pushed her to take the next step. LIKE HOW GOOD IS GOD? SO SOSOSOSOSSOSOSOSOSOSOOOOOO GOOD!!!

Well, I got a little more time to process what happened during Soul Surf, but I don’t think I’m even close to done yet. But this was the biggest and most amazing part of my experience there, and I really hope I can make another post soon about everything else I need to talk about. But alas, this post was long, so here’s a summary:

TL:DR

Soul Surf is awesome! It’s at a great place, you go with great friends, you make great friends, and you learn a lot about the people you would think are the furthest from God (who really aren’t the furthest). Talking to people on the beach becomes your favorite time, and God answered EVERY SINGLE ONE OF MY PRAYERS during the trip. He’s amazing! And I met INGRID! She’s so amazing too! I still cannot believe that happened!

#Soul Surf #spring break 2k15 #pcb15 #god is good