I was really attracted to Beach Reach in South Padre because I knew that if Jesus was in the flesh today, that’s where he would be during Spring Break. The World flocks to it as a place to relax, unwind and have fun before going back to school. In reality, it’s not very fun at all. Women go there to be taken advantage of and men go there to take advantage of women. There’s lots of booze, lots of drugs, and lots of choices that aren’t thought through. At the end of the week people are spent and have nothing left.
Before going I realized I had a prideful attitude towards that place. It’s not an ideal vacation spot for me. It’s the last place I would choose to go for Spring Break. “I would never go there because I’m a Christian. It’s a sinful place.” I would look at places like South Padre and Cancun and just shake my head, “Worldly People, just making a mess of things. They don’t know what they’re doing.” Everyone has those thoughts, but I found myself face-to-face with my pride when I wondered why I haven’t gone before, even as a mission trip. I separated myself, that’s why. I made a distinction between myself and people God loves dearly and passionately.
The night before I left I got scared. I thought about how I’ve grown up in church and haven’t gambled with sin the way the people I would meet have. I knew that people can pick up on when others aren’t being genuine and I wanted to be real. So I asked God to help. I prayed for some sort of bridge or even a leveler so I could be humbled and meet them where they are. I feel like God showed me my neediness. All my neediness. I get scared, angry, bitter, jealous, and worried just like everyone else who would be there. The only difference between myself and the people I would meet in South Padre is the fact that I have a generous God to be needy to. I have a God who loves giving gifts to his children; gifts that satisfy the deepest wells of want. That common ground is where I would meet people.
One of my first stories is about a guy who played soccer. Our group met up with him while passing out our hotline number. He said he played soccer and was going to be on TV next week. He showed us his really big biceps and also pulled up his shorts to show us his quads. Before he left he said goodbye to our group. This guy (being a little drunk) looked at my chest, remembered my name and tried to give me a hug. I lovingly shook his hand instead. When I told this story to the rest of our group, my friend Grace showed concern. I shook it off and said it was ok. I really wasn’t upset. I was offended, but I knew I was safe with the guys in my group. One guy named Seth responded and said, “No, it’s not ok.” It took me aback. He showed a brotherly love for me and was offended for me. It meant a lot to hear that from him as my friend. It reminded me that not all guys think the same and that he truly had a high view of women.
By the second day we were all exhausted. Our sleeping schedules were so crazy. We were going to sleep at around 4am and waking up at around lunchtime. It was nuts. So, it was really hard to keep up my time with the Lord. Not to mention I was around people all the time. We had to give people rides up and down the island, serve meals sometimes, hang out with the Beach Goers, etc…and there was hardly a time where I was by myself. Sometimes I would wake up before the other girls in my room to have my quiet time and other times I would do it when everyone was getting ready. It was so hard to be consistent. I remember there was one time I truly met with the Lord alone. It wasn’t but 15 minutes. I went into a hallway in the motel and my soul exhaled. This is significant because I thought I had relief and was experiencing God’s closeness, but it was really busyness. It made me realize that intentional time with God is important and really does give relief.
Something else I learned in South Padre is that people want God’s truth. There was a girl there that Grace and myself met that really brought it home for me. Her name was Lauren and she was kind of drunk at the time of our conversation. She told us that she was here with a guy who was going to take her out to dinner. She pulled out her crinkly three dollars and said she was waiting for him. She said he was still with his girlfriend but they had come to South Padre to have sex. After she told us this, she hesitantly asked, “Is that bad?” and braced herself for judgment. I told her that the only reason it would be bad is because it would hurt her. That she deserved someone who was going to be faithful to her and want only her. After hearing this she was surprised and her face lit up. She said, “Really?” but then quickly tried to cover it up and said “Well all he wants is sex, and that’s really all I want too.” But I could tell that it really wasn’t what she wanted and I said, “No, that’s not what you really want.” She shook her head and said “No, I don’t want that either. I want him to be my boyfriend.” So, that encounter taught me that people want God’s truth. Cases like Lauren’s make me believe that people want what God has to say about themselves but they just need people to affirm that in them. They need us to say things like “Yeah, you ARE special enough for a guy to be faithful to you, but it’s because God’s says you’re special.”
There was this one particular van ride where I met this girl that caused me to see how God felt about the Lost there. She said she had come down from college with a large group of guys and wasn‘t very happy (one of them was particularly old and had a handlebar mustache. ßNot relevant to the story but it’s funny). She stayed in the same room with them, they were gross, she’d wake up with sand on her and just wasn’t having a good time because she was the only girl. She said all this with a very matter of fact attitude, very nonchalant-like. It didn’t make sense because she seemed like a very smart girl and I wondered, “Why don’t you just leave? Why don’t you just hang out with others? You know all this stuff isn’t ok and it’s not fun for you, yet you still decide to be in this situation. Why?” It dumbfounded me that someone who knew the cause of their unhappiness and wouldn’t do anything about it. I went into our prayer room to pray for her and I started crying. The experience reminded me of the people in Isaiah who rejected God after he had done so many good things for them. He called them stubborn and stiff-necked. I saw God’s heart for those he considers his possessions but doesn’t have yet in Isaiah. That’s how he felt about the people I had encountered. He sees them as His Bride that’s left that he jealously pursues to get back. I felt God’s passionate, and jealous love for the people in South Padre.
The end of the week came sooner than expected and we were cleaning out the church we used for our hub. When we finished cleaning a guy came in with a painful earache. I can’t remember his name, but for the sake of the story let’s call him Manny. Let me tell you about Manny. He was at least 6 feet, Hispanic, and bulky. He was a bouncer that worked at club Chaos that had recently quit. He quit because God grabbed hold of his attention (he found 2 dead bodies in the club and wanted to get out before anything else happened). He was one of the toughest guys I’ve seen and this earache brought him down. The earache was really a busted eardrum from a speaker. As he laid on the floor, shaking and sweating from the pain it tore me up inside. Chaos was a really bad place and though he had worked at the club they wouldn’t pay him. God had brought him to that church to take care of him. Even though he had lost everything, God still loved him and wanted to help him clean up the mess that was made. We gave him medicine and a ride back to Houston where he could start over. It reminded me of when we get wrapped up in sin. You think you’re in control, but eventually you lose more than what you bargained for. When you get out because of God’s grace, He doesn’t just leave you. He doesn’t tell you, “Ok, now you’re free. Don’t do it again,” He helps you clean up the mess.
We had a baptism at the beach at the end of the week and I heard a guy ask, “Why are they doing this?” I thought “Oh, a wonderful opportunity to talk about the Gospel.” So I said, “Do you want me to explain it to you?” He said “No, I know what they’re doing. But why are they doing this here?” Indicating that it wasn’t the holiest place for a baptism. I said, “I guess to show that even in a place like this, God is still here.” Really, despite the labels that get attached to places like that, God still loved those people deeply.
Thanks to all the people who prayed for me and supported me. Thanks especially to my church Garden Oaks Baptist Church. You gave to me without asking anything in return. It showed so much value and love to me.
Here's a link for pictures! http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150130683851801.272726.566016800
