Author: AIA Beach Project

Praise God! While here at Beach Project, 3 different days we saw 5 different baptisms in the ocean. 5 student-athletes publicly proclaimed their faith in Christ. Their outward expression of an inward decision was celebrated by the entire project.

 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Romans 6:4

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8,9 

Last Day Next Steps /// Began wrapping up the week of equipping today. Students leave for home and to be SENT back to their cities and campuses to be used for the Lord. The sessions today gave the students a framework for their next steps and specifics about how they want to take steps of faith to be used by God beyond this project. Nobody wants their experience this week to fade into just a memory of a one-time spiritual high.

They were reminded about what God says in the Bible: Love God, Love Others, Make Disciples. They broke up again into small groups to tangibly process and encourage one another in their next steps. They wrote down individual names or people groups they want to invest in spiritually this year.

The student-athletes enjoyed some free time together to play games, volleyball, pool time or enjoyed the beach before a final dinner and banquet time together to “Call Out Greatness” in each other and their intern/group leaders. A sunset baptism was the perfect way to end the final full day: Baptisms

Day 9 /// Tonight the campers groups were sent off on a different competition- a scavenger hunt of course, but with a twist. This competition had an evangelistic twist as they were sent off near the public beaches and tourists areas of Gulf Shores. As they began enjoying dinner together, they were able to check things off the scavenger hunt list as they took steps of faith to share. Here are some of their experiences:

• “We asked our waitress about her views on God. Turns out she was a believer. She shared her testimony first, and after that [one of the campers] shared theirs. It was natural and flawless. We got to pray with her as a group before we left.”
• “Our group had a good time doing perspective cards to hear about what people believed spiritually.”
• “We ran into some about high school aged kids. As we began to do the picture cards, we could sense they were maybe believers. When we asked on a scale of 0-100% how sure they were about eternal life, they said 100%. It was encouraging to hear them at that stage of their life be excited about Jesus and was cool to share with them.”
• “Well our group had a hard time. Many people we asked to share with told us “no.” Eventually, we did get to share with a group. When we asked at the end if that [forgiveness & eternity with God] was something they wanted, they said,”No thank you.” It was very sad and after we walked away we decided to be praying for them.”

Day 6 Equipping & Sharing /// This morning, everyone learned the importance of making space in our conversations for the spiritual. It was encouraging to process how to engage people in spiritual conversations and learn how to share the gospel. Then, we told campers they were going out, in pairs or small groups, on the beaches of Gulf Shores to practice sharing their faith and what they had just learned.

Taking the step of faith to share Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit, and leaving the results to God.

Definition of Successful Evangelism

For most of them it was the first time they had ever even considered sharing the gospel with another person. Once at their beach locations, the intern they were paired up with prayed with them and then modeled the sharing process with the first group they ended up initiating with. Sometimes it takes a while to find the right person or group to share. It isn’t a forceful process, but you do have to initiate a conversation with someone until they allow you to share & practice what you’ve been learning at camp. If someone says “No, thank you,” it’s easy to just thank them and walk away. But the hope is that people are curious or interested enough about how they were approached to continue the conversation. There is always some type of relationship being built throughout the entire conversation, start to finish.

Here were some students’ thoughts after the process:

• “I liked writing and talking at the same time and using a visual to share. It was hard at first, we got rejected four times in a row [when initiating, developing the relationship and asking to share]. But it was also rewarding & convicting about how much brokenness and sin there is in the world, and how much people need Jesus.”
• “I felt equipped and glad to be given the opportunity to practice what I had just learned. It made me glad to go in pairs. Afterward, I felt fulfilled, like I had achieved a purpose.”
• (Intern/Leader perspective) “We had to step out immediately in obedience to share. It was a different experience modeling- showing that yes, it’s scary but to still go out and do it.”*
• “Interesting to learn others perspectives about the future and God. They were all very different. “
• “Very different to share with a stranger. I felt like I was intruding on a very personal part of someone’s life. I learned to be sensitive to talk about these things with people I didn’t know.”

Day 5 SUNDAY /// Today students were challenged to think about the importance of church and the role the body of Christ plays in our lives as we have a relationship with Jesus. The project attended First Baptist Gulf Shores and we are so thankful for their hospitality to host us. Their worship team has so graciously come to the Beach Club multiple times already to lead us. It was a great experience to have together as a project.

An afternoon of time together we were treated to a special dinner and time to hang out together at the Beach Club Food Truck Yard. There was live music playing while campers enjoyed corn hole, spike ball and other outdoor games. While wrapping up a game of Spike Ball, basketball player Erin spontaneously took the initiative to ask the musician if she could play a song on his guitar. She began to lead the crowd first with the song “Oceans” [Hillsong] and the entire project sang along. Our staff & emcee Zach also joined in on vocals for the last song (See videos at the end of this post). Some of our staff and campers even had the chance to get in spiritual side conversations with the musician & other patrons during the praise. What a fittingly perfect way to wrap up the day together. It was a powerful time to see what God had orchestrated under an awesome evening sunset.

Day 2 of the S.P.E.C.I.A.L /// After approximately 3-4 hours of sleep, teams were up and in competition again for the obstacle course. What could be worse than waking up at 4:30am, on 3 hours of sleep? Army Crawls at 4:30am after 3 hours of sleep.

Here’s an approximate list of Day 2 Activities:

• 2 Hour Obstacle Course
• Relays (in the sand)
• Relays (on the grass)
• Kickball
• Volleyball
• Basketball (again)

Every athlete has a different breaking point. Here’s some of what was said on the second day:

• “It was the moment my alarm went off in it the morning. It was very hard. I didn’t want to be late and let my team down, but I also didn’t want to move.
• “When they made my teammate redo their army crawls [relay] I was terrified [I would have to redo mine]”
• “Having to do The Devil’s Beard (chain link fence crawl) twice, the second time in a sticker patch, was terrible.”
• “The Plant Relay (or Caterpillar relay) was mine; I cried during the whole thing.
• “The Plank Relay was the worst. I didn’t think my body would physically be able.”
• “The wheel-barrow/crab walk/bear crawls relay because my wrists felt really fragile.”

Day 1 of the S.P.E.C.I.A.L /// The teams have been drafted and the lineup are set. As of 6pm today we were ready to begin what has become known as “the S.P.E.C.I.A.L”- a 16-20 hour sports-marathon designed to force the athlete to remember the biblical framework for sport and competition to survive, and experience faith + sport like never before. They have been learning these 5 principles all week. Now, it is time to put it into action.

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The S.’P.E.C.I.A.L stands for: Scripture Principles + Exhaustion = Confidence In the Almighty Lord. Everything they’ve learned in sessions, small group and volleyball labs is about to be tested all-together in this endurance competition. They will compete in a variety of different athletic scenarios including:

 Partner Relays (on sand)
"The Devil's Beard" (on sand)
Ultimate Football (on sand)
Tire Throws
Sandbag Sit Ups
Spear Throws
Tug of War
 Plank-off 
 Push-up Relays 
Basketball
Dodgeball
Human Tic Tac Toe
(Day 2) 2 Hour Obstacle Course (begins at 4:30 am tomorrow)
Relays (in the sand)
Relays (on the grass)
Kickball
Volleyball
Basketball (again)

Other thoughts from the first day:

• “Tug of War was the worst event of the day because I had to use every muscle of my body.”
• “Flag-football was a wake up call. This was definitely harder than I expected. Teammates started dropping. [With the way I was feeling] I thought we were at a disadvantage and my team would have to pick ME up [instead of the other way around]”
• “I felt defeated and discouraged, but hopeful time was inevitable. I knew the end was going to come.”
• “Our team ended on a high note, and in second place, so I was excited about the next day.”

Day 2: Principles 1-3 /// “The Gospel applied to sport, experienced through sport, in the language of sport” -The day started off hearing from Zach and Jeff about 2 of these principles of faith + sport that help give purpose to and glorify God in competition.

Audience of One: God alone is worthy of your worship (Who or what do I worship?)

Inside Game: God’s love moves you from fear to freedom (What motivates me?)

Jeff showed these two videos today:
What's my Why
We are adopted and loved by God

After lunch, the campers participated in learning from Holly about principle 3 and discussion in small groups before heading out for another volleyball lab session.

Holy Sweat/Wholly Surrender (How do I grow?)

Normally, these athletes are consumed by expectations, what others think, self pride and are motivated by results, scores and how others see them. Some of the responses of students in the labs today when asked what was going through their minds when applying the principles instead:

-Were less frustrated
-Valued teamwork more over results
-Having more fun
-Not losing faith
-Focused on the why over the result
-When conscious of the Lord: Serve team, not self

Usually, success and scores are what Coaches use to motivate. But what is the difference when they know their coach is on THEIR SIDE? They were encouraged to have a new “Habitude:” before they stepped on the court (playing field) to thank the Ultimate Coach, the Lord their creator, the one that gave them their ability and opportunity to be there. Some examples to be thankful for:

-Their opponent
-Fun in competition
-Teammates
-To approach teammates differently
-Peace in the outcome

The final game in the morning session, dubbed “the All-Star” game, this year between Central Arkansas and Tulane, was an experiment in motivation. One team was being cheered for by the crowd while the other was treated unfairly and negatively by the crowd (none of the players were aware of this though). After the game, the “losing” team compared it to playing an away game. One of their responses in how to remember the principles: “Find motivation in something that doesn’t leave when you play away.”