Student Perspectives: Beach Reach 2016

Amman Beeftu is a senior communications major at LETU from Colorado Springs, CO. He's a proud resident of Tyler Hall and enjoys soccer and acrylic painting when he's not longboarding around campus. 

Spring break at a typical university involves parties, beaches, and drinks all around. LeTourneau, however, isn’t a typical university. Instead of traditional spring break partying, I had the opportunity to serve with LETU’s Beach Reach team. 

Beach Reach is a 36-year-old mission to reach out to people who are partying on South Padre Island during their spring break. It shows God’s love in a practical way by offering free van rides to anyone who may need one. During these van rides, Beach Reachers have the opportunity to share the gospel with their passengers or challenge them to think about their faith. Beach Reach effectively shares the love of Christ while keeping students safe and intoxicated drivers off the road. 

This spring break, I went on Beach Reach for the first time. From what I heard about previous years, God did amazing things in and through so many people who went on the trip. I knew that it would be a challenging environment, but I was excited for what God planned for me.

Beach Reach 2016 team

Looking back at my trip, I can say that I was a completely different person going into Beach Reach than I am now. I was so nervous about sharing my faith to strangers or how I would bring up God in conversations. I was looking at my own life and seeing how broken I was, but God showed up in the midst of my brokenness and healed my heart. He showed me His unconditional love; love that doesn’t give up on the broken, love that always heals, love that I can never fully understand. He gave me a heart for the countless broken people in this world and He showed me how His heart breaks for all His lost sons and daughters. He challenged me to rely on Him when I am completely physically, emotionally and spiritually drained. He taught me that the gospel isn’t just shared through eloquent words and refined speech, but can be expressed through actions as simple as loving someone regardless of what they do. 

When I first signed up for Beach Reach I was so excited for the opportunity to impact and change people’s lives with the love of Christ. I didn’t realize that God would so greatly impact my own life.

Beach Reach South Padre began in 1980 with 20 college students and has since grown to hundreds in number. The mission of Beach Reach is to provide for physical and spiritual needs of college students during their spring break.