Last night we had worship on the Beach, then our final van shift from 11 PM-3 AM. We had quite a few good conversations, and we were able to get everyone home safely. I had 3 memorable conversations on the van during the night.
One was with a freshman named Spencer from Texas Tech. We talked about the difference between going to church and having a personal relationship with God. He said he feels far from God because he doesn't go to church much in Lubbock. I talked to him about the importance of being involved with Christian community and suggested he check out some student groups on his campus. I prayed with Spencer that God would renew his passion to seek Him.
The next guy I talked to was named Greg. He grew up in Illinois, went to high school in California, and goes to Sam Houston State University in Texas, the same school as my sister. Greg heard Xiaolei, my friend from China, share his testimony of how Jesus transformed his life after he came to America. I asked Greg what his spiritual background was and found out that he grew up non-denominational Christian and has been trying to go to church with friends a few times since coming to college. I told him about the BSM at Sam Houston and the Free Lunch on Wednesday that they do there, and prayed with him as well.
The last good conversation I had was with Craig, who is from Australia. He is friends with Sam, the guy who urinated on himself in our van a few nights ago. I talked to Craig about the existence of God, who he doesn't believe in. I had the chance to share my testimony of how Christ is transforming my selfishness, and how I have experienced a personal relationship with him. I asked Craig if he has ever experienced God working, and he said he notices beauty all around him in nature and people. We talked about how that beauty comes from God. I encouraged Craig to seek after God and prayed for God to reveal himself to him.
After we finished our van shift and cleaned up the midnight pancake breakfast, we headed back to the hotel to sleep from about 4 AM until 9:30 AM. Then we loaded up and left by 10:30. On the van ride back, we slept until we stopped at Chili's in Kingsville for lunch. After lunch, all the way back to Austin, we discussed what we had learned then affirmed each person on our team and prayed over them. We finally made it back to Austin around 6 PM.
It has been a great trip, and I have learned a whole lot about how God moves. Tomorrow I'll write a reflection on what I've learned and how Beach Reach 2010 is going to affect my life from here on.
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