Beach Evangelism

What is it?

Spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ by public proclaiming or personal witness.

Why do we do it?

Campus Outreach has a strong commitment to sharing the Gospel with people  on the beach. We believe that this is commanded and modeled all throughout scripture. To help explain the Gospel we use verses like Romans 6:23 which says,

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We believe that this verse summarizes the Bible and includes two main characters, God and man. On the man side there are wages (something you earn), sin (disobedience or action against God), and death (separation from God). On God’s side there is the free gift (costs nothing), God (opposite of sin, perfect), and eternal life (living forever with God in heaven). Through this we can ask different questions to see where they are and ask why they feel like their on either side of the cliff. Then we explain that the only way to get to God’s side is through Jesus Christ who freely takes all of our sins and wages on the cross so that we can be in relationship with God the Father.

Personal Experiences

Jessica Tweeten and I went out on the beach together and walked up to a lady named Brenda. She seemed a little intimidating at first but was very happy to talk with us. I asked her what her faith background was and she explained that she goes to a Baptist church and is very involved there. During part of the conversation she asked us to pray for her brother Don. He was a marine and out of the picture for 20 years. He has struggled through tough times with alcoholism as well as is recovering from a broken hip. Now reunited with his family, he lives with Brenda who has been ministering to him every day about Jesus. Jessica felt like she could relate to Brenda because she has a similar relationship with her brother.

Another story from going out on the beach was with Alberto Ramos who walked up to two teenage guys and talked with them about their faith background. One guy shared that he was from a Christian family but was not sure of his beliefs yet and asked Berto to pray that it would feel real to him.

Evangelism happens anywhere and everywhere. Haley Gibbs went to Goodwill one day and a lady asked where she was from. Haley explained that she is a part of a group called Campus Outreach and the woman said that someone shared with her on the beach 2 years ago. This was really encouraging to hear and helps to give motivation for going out on the beach talking about Jesus.

It can also spring from other conversations or interactions. One day while working at Chick-fil-a, Elliot Larson, talked to a guy about sports for a solid 30 minutes and then that next Wednesday he saw the same man on the beach and shared his faith with him.

Each evangelism experience is unique and not always the best conversation but hearing encouraging stories like these, we can see that it is worth it.

Joy in Jobs

Philippians 2:14-16

“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain”

Walmart or Chick-fil-a may not be everyone’s first choice when it comes to a summer job. but we are thankful for these jobs while working at project. Since Campus Outreach has a great relationship with Walmart and Chick-fil-a, they give over 100 jobs to college students for eight weeks. It’s a win-win situation because they get the help they need for busy summer business and we are able to work for the time we are here.

There are 3 Walmart stores in the area; Garden City, Surfside and the Neighborhood Market. I work in the deli at the Surfside Beach Walmart with a sweet co-worker named John. He is retired and has been working at Walmart for about 16 years! Everyone who comes to the deli leaves with a smile on their face because he truly cares for each customer he helps. The other day he gave a piece of cheese to a little girl who was crying and she immediately stopped. I know this is not our ideal job but we fight to have a good attitude, especially since we aren’t going to be working there for the rest of our lives. Some of our coworkers have been working there for 5, 10, or 15+ years.

Because we are such a large group coming in at once it attracts a lot of questions like; where are you from or why are you working here for the summer? This gives us a great opportunity to share our faith and reason why we chose to come to project. I’ve already had great conversations with coworkers or customers about summer training project. Returning year after year some employees talk about the previous year’s workers and how much they enjoyed working with them.

My hope for myself and everyone on project is that we don’t feel discouraged or burdened but be happy to have a job. I pray that we can be a light glorifying God through our work with our interactions with coworkers and customers.