Kathy Hillman: Breaking down defenses during spring break

Patient persistence pierces through indifference; gentle speech breaks down rigid defenses. (Proverbs 25:15)

Growing up, our children thought I was spring-break deprived. I graduated from college the year before spring breaks came into vogue. When I became a Baylor librarian, the libraries stayed open that week. However, Marshall, Michael and Holly didn’t know Mother told me she would take the Hillman three each for a week by themselves in the summer. Kathy HillmanBut she gave John and me a spring break by entertaining them all at the same time. 

Today, spring break offers a myriad of possibilities just as the word “break” has numerous meanings. For most students, the week brings escape from the ordinary. For many, the interval presents opportunities to give others a break by sharing the love of Christ. Some will take church or family mission trips. 

However, nearly 1,500 teens and young adults will serve through Texas Baptists’ Collegiate Ministries or Disaster Recovery everywhere from Arlington and Austin to Brownwood and Brownsville, to Tallahassee and Beaverton, to Nicaragua and Guatemala. 

Students from UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas will help patients in Grand Guave, Haiti, during spring break. (Photographs provided by Brenda Sanders, Go Now Missions consultant with the BGCT)Through Disaster Recovery, 50 youth and adults will mobilize in Eagle Pass following two years of massive flooding. For the first time, students ages 12 to 20 will participate in spring break Bounce, a missions experience that helps communities bounce back from devastation following disasters. 

Some 250 girls and boys along with their sponsors will help restore hope, rebuild the community and reflect Christ in the Dove Springs-Onion Creek area of south Austin that suffered severe damage from the 2013 Halloween floods. They will build and repair fences and gather each evening for worship and reflection. 

Students will lead sports Champs Camps during spring break.For 40-plus years, Baptist Student Ministry students have served through spring break mission trips. The young women and men represent Baptist institutions. But they also come from large state universities like Texas A&M, Texas Tech and the University of Texas as well as smaller state and community colleges like Sul Ross, Prairie View A&M and Grayson. Medical students from UT Southwestern and Baylor and UT medical schools in Houston will conduct clinics in Texas and Guatemala.

Ministries vary. Hundreds will enjoy sports Champs Camp led by the collegians. Special-needs children will attend their own camp, providing them and their caregivers much-needed respite. A Nicaraguan village will have fresh water from a well drilled during spring break, and families in Tallahassee will move into new homes built by students.

Free breakfasts are part of Baptist Student Ministry’s Beach Reach mission during spring break.During the two weeks of spring break, more than 50,000 undergraduates will invade South Padre Island, most to party. However, close to 1,000 Baptist Student Ministry students from 28 campuses also will descend on the island—but not to play. They will serve and share the gospel through Beach Reach. Their efforts will take on a variety of creative forms, including one massive sand sculpture, scores of conversations with those waiting in long lines at city hall to pay fines for disorderly conduct or worse, and hundreds of van rides. 

The young women and men will cook and serve thousands of free pancakes during breakfast in the parking lot of South Padre Island Baptist Church and from midnight until 2 a.m. at Louie’s Backyard, a bar with nightly packed-out crowds. All of these ministries open opportunities to break down defenses and share the gospel message. Some students like Saira and Marie will choose to follow Christ. Others like Husain will consider him for the very first time. Many Christians like John and Randy who come to party will leave drawn back to their Lord. 

“Jesus said, ‘Come off by yourselves; let’s take a break and get a little rest’” (Mark 6:31).

During spring break, the students operate a 24-hour prayer station. Whether we stay at home or travel, let’s take a break as Texas Baptists to join them in praying for our students, their sponsors and everyone they will touch. 

• Thank God for parents, families, churches and other partners who support spring break ministry.

• Pray the students will stay safe. 

• Ask the heavenly Father to give them divine appointments to share Christ’s love through their actions and their voices so that many come to him.

• Pray that patient persistence will pierce the darkness of indifference and gentle speech will break down rigid defenses.

• Ask God to help students develop missional lifestyles during this spring break that will last through a life-time of spring breaks.

For information and stories about Beach Reach, click here. 

To learn more about Bounce, click here.  

Kathy Hillman is president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. She also is director of Baptist collections, library advancement and the Keston Center for Religion, Politics and Society at Baylor University.