MARSHALL—Spring break at East Texas Baptist University meant a break from studies for the students, but also provided an opportunity for students to use the time off to serve others.
ETBU students join in a baptismal service in the Gulf of Mexico during Beach Reach. (PHOTO/ETBU/Crystal Lopez)
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ETBU students shared the gospel and ministered in two areas of the state—Beach Reach on South Padre Island and the Hospitality House in Huntsville.
The Hospitality House, built in 1986, assists hundreds of families each year who arrive in Hunstville to visit family members incarcerated in the area prisons. The ministry, started by Texas Baptist Men and supported for many years through the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions, provides temporary shelter, food, counsel and witness.
"The first three days we did a lot of relational ministry with those staying over the weekend," said Kellie Thompson, a junior elementary education major from Crandall. "We visited with wives, mothers, and children of the people that were in prison.
East Texas Baptist University student Mike Donahoe gathers items from the Hospitality House food pantry. A group of ETBU students spent spring break serving at the Hospitality House in Huntsville. (PHOTO/ETBU/Emily Prevost)
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"The issues these families have to go through while they are visiting their family members in prison can bring restlessness and uneasiness. As I watched Joe and Debra McCammon, the leaders of the ministry, be so intentional with their time with the families, I saw God using them to bring peace, hope, and comfort."
Emily Prevost, interim director of the ETBU Great Commission Center, intentionally took a small group to serve at the Hospitality House.
"This allowed us to be very fluid and responsive to the emerging needs of the director and volunteer staff," she said.
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"My hope for the students is that they came away from the experience with a clear reminder that our everyday life and work can be a service to God and that God can use even the quietest work to further his kingdom when we do those things with great love and intentionality."
Thompson, a leader of an ETBU Kid's Club ministry, chose to serve at the Hospitality House for a specific reason.
"Many of the kids I work with in Kid's Club, an after-school ministry in various apartment complexes in Marshall, have parents or relatives in jail. I felt like I needed to do more to try to understand what they were going through so I could learn how to better relate to them and their families," she said.
ETBU student Barronique Duncombe marks verses in the New Testament book of Romans regarding the Christian plan of salvation at the Hospitality House in Huntsville, which ministers to family members viting loved ones in prison. (PHOTO/ETBU/Emily Prevost)
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"When we are doing ministry, we should not worry about where people have been, where they live, or what they have done. We should look at their heart the way God sees it and see that he wants them to know his grace, love, and freedom that is found in his name."
The ETBU team also helped with the spring cleaning at the Hospitality House, worked in the ministry's garden and marked Bibles showing the Roman Road to salvation.
Another group of ETBU students went to South Padre Island to serve at Beach Reach. Since 1980, the Beach Reach ministry has provided free van rides and pancake breakfasts to spring breakers. The acts of kindness by the ETBU students teaming up with over 700 students from various Baptist Student Ministry groups from Texas colleges and universities provided opportunities for participants to engage in evangelism.
"I had a fear that I would not be able to witness to people on the spot," said Amanda Gill, a freshman psychology major from Austin. "But once I got on the van the first night to provide free rides, I was able to witness to someone on the spot. God used that to reassure me that he could use me share Jesus with those I just met."
Travelle Robinson, a senior majoring in international studies, asked each person she encountered if he or she had a relationship with Jesus and then requested permission to pray for them.
"One specific guy I spoke with genuinely seemed so appreciative and taken back when I asked if I could pray for him," she said.
Crystal Lopez, a veteran Beach Reach participant, emphasized the role of prayer.
"This is my third ETBU trip to Beach Reach, and I am blown away as I watch God work in and through our teams by the power of prayer. Prayer is essential," said Lopez, a senior mass communication major from Humble.
"As we war for souls through prayer, it is extraordinary to see God soften the hearts of the spring breakers whom we ministered too. We even witnessed over 70 new believers be baptized out on the beach."
Casidhe White, a freshman education major from Stonewall, La., saw God take a personal fear away. "The spring break environment was never my atmosphere. I feared of what to say because I have never talked to someone drunk or of that atmosphere. I did not want to freeze up," White said.
"After getting over the initial shock of my surroundings, I finally invited God and allowed him to come into my heart and for his spirit to work through me, instead of taking it upon myself to try and be God myself. I was so broken for the spring breakers and how they chose to be numb and escape reality."
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