By Maggie Meegan | Reporter

For most college students, the week of spring break is a time for them to relax and vacation with friends and family.

But a group of Baylor students spend their spring breaks spreading the gospel and teaching other college-aged students about Christianity. Through Baptist Student Ministries, Baylor students have the opportunity to spend their spring break week on a trip called Beach Reach.

Throughout the week, students go to South Padre Island to preach to spring-breakers. Participating students offer different services from morning until night for those who aren’t Christians, those finding Jesus or those hearing about the Christian faith for the first time.

Abilene senior Trevor Cox, who will complete his fourth Beach Reach trip this year, has learned from the ups and downs of the annual trip.

“It is so different being on a mission trip where you are evangelizing rather than just serving,” Cox said.

Baylor students join multiple groups of students from different college campuses to create the outreach over spring break. Students are trained for going on the trip, possible scenarios to expect and what a lifetime of missions work might look like.

“It has greatly impacted how I view my own faith and defend my own faith,” Cox said. “Just interacting with people on a day-to-day basis, like every person I come in contact with is a soul that Jesus yearns for, and that is something not taken for granted to be able to partner with Jesus in that mission.”

According to the Pew Research Center, there is a stabilization in claims of religious belief in adults living in the U.S. after decades of a steady decline. In the last five years across college campuses, there has been more word of mouth about religious revival, and data is starting to show an answer over time.

Dickinson sophomore Victoria Galvan, who is about to attend her second Beach Reach trip, has an optimistic perspective when it comes to Baylor students and vacationers being moved by God during the trip.

“I think moving is growing in a way that not only shares the gospel but also to kind of understand it deeper,” Galvan said. “Seeing the love that was given to these people on the island is fantastic.”

Nacogdoches sophomore Cade Hinton is preparing to go on his second trip with BSM and reflected to give advice to anyone new to Beach Reach.

“The enemy is there because I feel like a lot of times we ignore the enemy in our lives, especially here on campus, where it is all very comfortable,” Hinton said. “But the enemy usually goes where you feel isolated at times.”

Beach Reach’s goal is to bring together Baylor students who share a passion and a mission to make a difference not only on Baylor’s campus, but also out in the world when they can step away from school.

“My freshman year, when I did Beach Reach for the first time, I was in a huge lack of community,” Cox said. “I didn’t have a lot of friends, I didn’t really know where my place was and in Beach Reach I was introduced to a lot of BSM people, and that quickly became like my community.”