Spring break student volunteers are ‘missional for life’

During spring break, 199 student volunteers from 10 churches completed 11 construction projects through Bounce student disaster recovery, a ministry of Texas Baptists.

Projects included hanging drywall and insulation, painting, installing flooring, demolition and other miscellaneous construction in Houston and Katy.

Residents there continue to recover from the devastating effects of Winter Storm Uri in 2021 and Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

David Scott, director of Bounce, estimated the student volunteers—known as “bouncers”—contributed 2,640 hours of labor over two work days.

Though the results largely were tangible, some transcended the temporal. During their service at multiple sites across town, students recorded 16 spiritual conversations, nine gospel presentations and one decision to follow Christ.

Cultivating a love for missions

Scott noted the importance of seeing young people grow in missions when serving others beyond the church’s walls.

“The thing for me is seeing those kids, seeing that love for missions and ministry cultivated in their lives,” Scott said. “That’s the big win.”

“We have the opportunity to create kids that are going to be missional for life,” he said. “The opportunity to be missional is all around you.”

Palmer Jones, youth minister at First Baptist Church in Stockdale, similarly described the importance of instilling a heart for missions in his students.

“We have so many hearers of the word but not doers,” he said. “I want my youth ministry to be marked by that, by doers.”

While it was initially difficult to recruit students for service over spring break, Jones noted it was just the right time for his group to serve.

“I’m convicted that serving Christ rarely comes with convenience,” he said. “Rather, it is sacrificial. If you give God just three days of your spring break, God is going to bless that.”

Jones saw his students give up their comforts to help others in need.

“I want to teach these students you are going to have to give things up to follow Christ,” he said. “Christ is worthy of that sacrifice.”

Bouncers tallied 42 acts of kindness in Houston and Katy, and additional groups will return to the city later in the year to complete more projects.

Student disaster recovery and church planting trips are scheduled for June and July. Student disaster recovery trips will visit Lake Charles, La., and Mora County, N.M. Student church planting trips will take place in Fort Worth and Seattle, Wash.

Summer trips will include mission work, Bible study time, and worship and speakers each evening. The trips are purposefully pre-packaged so student leaders can focus on their students and serving others.

On the final night of First Baptist Stockdale’s Bounce trip, before heading back home, Jones told his students the mission experience would always stand out.

“You will never forget this trip because what you have done is eternal,” Jones said. “It is kingdom work.”